WIXLIB

Pixie And The Green Book MysteryCoralineGrace

To my family.And to my library for excusing overduebooks.The inspirationHayao MiyazakiC. G.Pixie And The Green Book Mysterylibraryromps@yahoo.comCopyright 2019All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or byany means, including photocopying, recording, or otherelectronic or mechanical methods, without the priorwritten permission of the publisher, except in the case ofbrief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certainother non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.Printed in theUSAISBN 9781073732593

ContentsChapter 1Too Many Apples .1Chapter 2Library Romp .7Chapter 3Out of Sorts .13Chapter 4One Shoe Cindi .27Chapter 5A Page For Rabbit . 37Chapter 6Alice’s New Pencil . 45

Chapter 7Winding It Up .53Chapter 8A Gift .61Chapter 9Fairy Visit .75

Chapter 1Too Many Apples“Oh, crumbs!” Pixie mumbled.“Why is everything going wrong today?”The morning started out rathercrummy when she showed up to schoolwearing apples from her bows to her toes.It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Pixie tohave apples on her clothes. But she hadnever worn so many. In fact, she was quite1

fond of them. After all, Pixie’s real namewas Marigold. Just like the apple.Pixie’s classmate, Jack, noticed theapples during a math test. He began topoint and snicker. Soon others erupted inlaughter.Alora, Pixie’s BFF, gave her thumbsup and whispered, “Just ignore them,Pixie, okay?”To make matters worse, the teacher,Miss Gruff, called Pixie to the front of theclassroom and fussed at her for disruptingthe class. “I’ve never seen such mutteringand slouching. Now go sit down and finishyour problems!” Miss Gruff had a stormyface and didn’t like kids. Pixie was usedto being the teacher’s pet, except in thisclass.2

She sat back down at her desk andpicked up her blue pencil. It was fish faceJack’s fault, Pixie thought, but saidnothing. Nobody likes a tattle tale. Whatdoes he know? He has eyes like a fish anddoesn’t blink.Pixie blamed her big sister, Caroline,for the fashion disaster. Apparently,wacky clothes and knee socks are GC in3

seventh grade. GC stands for girlcentricand means cool. But this was not the caseat Strawbridge Elementary. Pixie glancedat the ticking clock. Ugh, it was only10:09 a.m.Later, at the water fountain, Pixietook four gulps of water and PING!“Oh no,” she cried looking down ather soggy pencil. It was a special bluefuzzy pencil. Her Aunt G had sent itfrom one of her exotic travels.Gracie Bell Jingleswas her real name,but Pixie calledher Aunt G forshort.Pixie wassure great kingsand queens hadused this pencil to4

sign important papers.“Super gross!” she huffed, pullingit out of the mucky drain. “My day hasgone from bad to worse!”Alora kept trying to cheer Pixie up.She even gave her a soft-centered pieceof chocolate from her lunch box. It wasuseless. Pixie watched Jack show off hishot pink laced shoes at the lunch table.Pink’s a silly color, she said in her head.And to make matters worse, one of Pixie'sloopy ribbons fell into her caramel dip.The only time she perked up was whenthe school bell rang at the end of the day.Usually, she and Alora countedhow many acorns they could crunchunder their shoes walking home. Buttoday she ran home by herself.5

Pixie didn’t even stop to catch the fallingleaves.6

Chapter 2Library RompPixie opened the front door just asher mom was coming out of the kitchen.“Welcome home, Miss Pixie. Get to yourhomework straight away, please!”Today they had plans to romp thelibrary for garden books. This is whenshe and her mom emptied the shelvesmaking book piles to take home. Some7

times they romped for specific things likefairies. And sometimes they just rompedwhatever caught their eye. Normally, Pixiewould be tickled pink about flower-filledbooks. But not this day.She went into the kitchen and ploppedher books on the table. There was somechocolate cake batter left in the mixing bowl.So with one hand in the bowl and the otherholding a pencil, she began her homework.After working for what seemed like an8

eternity, Pixie finally finished. Addingthree-digit numbers takes time. She wasdog tired.Math wasn’t too difficult. She justdidn’t see the purpose of fat numbers.Reading mounds of library books, nowthat made perfect sense.Pixie’s tummy was still growling, soshe walked over to the fridge. She wanted tomake ants on an apple log before going tothe library. Peanut butter apples, toppedwith raisins was the perfect after schoolsnack. But before she could open thepantry, SMACK! She tripped over theirdroopy hound, Nutmeg. Her hand smashedinto Caroline’s half eaten PB&J sandwichon the counter. What a gooey mess!Looking down, Pixie saw her sock charmwas hooked on the dog’s collar.9

She tugged it, breaking the greenstring that tangled around him. Andstuffed it in her pocket. But it wouldtake more than string to get him off thecool tile. That dog loved melting on thekitchen floor. Nutmeg was not brown.He was covered with black and whitespots. Caroline won him in the town’sPie In The Sky contest two years agoand named him Nutmeg. That was her10

secret spice. But to Pixie, he was an Oreokind of dog.It was time to set off for the library.And the thought of a happily ever afterstory brought Pixie a half smile. She lovedreading books of all kinds, especially fairytales. Sometimes, she even checked outsuper scary books. These would keep herup all night long hiding under the covers.Thankfully, that wasn’t very often. Atrip to thelibrary mightbe what sheneeded tocheer herselfup.11

12

Chapter 3Out of SortsThe smell of honeysuckles hangingin the archway and paper met her nose asthe library door opened. This was Pixie’shome away from home. She was happyhere. When they arrived, Pixie skippedoff to the children’s section and her momwent to look for garden books.Pixie collapsed on a huge yellow13

pillow that almost swallowed her up.She looked around and something wasdifferent. There was no one else thereand Pixie felt like she was being watched.The sun streamed in through the largestained-glass window overlooking thechildren’s section. Pixie followed it withher eyes. The sunbeam stopped over adark green leather book. She had neverseen this book before.Pixie had read most everything andexplored every nook of the library.A mysteriousglowing book wassomething new.So, she rose upfrom the squishypillow and walkedover to check it out.14

It stood upright like a tall soldier. Shepulled the book from the shelf. It was somassive she dropped it on the floor. Apuff of dust swirled in the air. It tickledher face.“Whoops!” she giggled and sneezed.A new librarian was staring at herfrom behind the checkout counter. Evenhe was unfamiliar. The usual librarian,Miss Rita Goode, was nowhere in sight.Pixie saw the title, Catastrophes,Calamities, and Chaos was glowing. Thesewere very BIG words for an almost nineyear old girl. So, she decided to ask thenew library gentleman what they were.The librarian snarled at her, “Don’tyou know little girl?”Pixie shook her head.He glared through the bottom of his15

glasses and growled, “That’s what’s wrongwith kids these days. Don’t read enough.One of these days, there will be no booksto read!”The librarian was dressed in teacherclothes and smelled like stale popcorn. Hewas bald except for a tuft of silver hairabove each ear. And his pasty white skinmade him look like he’d never seen the sun.Pixie was curious why a line went throughthe middle of his glasses,but did not want to upsethim anymore. So, shereturned to the pillow andopened the book. Afterstudying the first picture,she began to read.Once upon a time,Princess Cinderella was16

walking through the woods when she cameacross a White Rabbit that was in a panicabout being late.“Oh my whiskers, I’m late!” gaspedthe White Rabbit.She jumped when someone tappedher on the shoulder. A girl who looked tobe about her age stood with her armscrossed. She had wavy blonde hair andwas wearing a blue dress with puffysleeves. Pixie thought she had seen thisgirl before, but couldn’t remember where.“What are you reading?” the girlasked.“It’s a story about Cinderella. Andshe’s talking to a rabbit that won’t stoplooking at his pocket watch,” Pixie replied.The girl glanced at the picture inthe book. “There you are!” she shrieked.17

“Do you know whose rabbit that is?"She reached out to take the greenbook, but Pixie held it tight. They tuggedit back and forth for a minute.“Let go!” the girl said.“No!” Pixie answered.“I need to see it!” the girl demanded.“It’s important. I know that rabbit!”18

Pixie pulled the book out of herhands. “Okay,” she said. “You can look atthe picture, but I’ll hold it.”The girl stared at the open page.Pixie watched, baffled. Where had shecome from in the first place? She didn’thear the jingle of the library door beforethe girl appeared.“Her name is Cindi and she is talkingto MY White Rabbit,” the girl snapped.“How dare she!” She stomped her foot.“They do not belong in that book.”Then, before Pixie’s eyes, the strangegirl jumped into the book.“My goodness!” Pixie cried out.The librarian turned down the aislepushing a squeaky book cart. He hissedat Pixie to be quiet. “Close your mouthand stop yapping.” His eye slits glowered19

at her. “Shush! And read your book.”She had never seen eyes like this.They were jade green and glowed just likea cat’s eyes in the dark. Pixie had to getout of sight. Clutching the green book, shemoved to the teen section in the back ofthe library. Normally, it was full of noisyboys playing Dragon Keeper cards. Buttoday it was empty. In the corner was ablue couch and she raced over to it. It wasmammoth. Her feet dangled, not able toreach the ground. Pixie swiftly opened thebook and peered backdown at the page. Thegirl who was standingnext to her was now inthe story. She waswaving her finger atCinderella, or as she20

had called her, Cindi. She looked out ofsorts. Pixie started again.Once upon a time, Princess Cinderellawas walking through the woods when shecame across a White Rabbit. He seemed tobe in a panic about being late for something.Then suddenly, Alice in Wonderlandappeared. “Why is my rabbit here withyou?” Alice demanded. Cinderella’s mouthcurved up nervously.“The rabbit says that he is lost and heis late. I am lost, too. Do you know whereour story books are?” Cinderella whispered.Pixie shook her head. Of course!That’s why the girl seemed familiar. Alicein Wonderland. She had just reread thatbook last week. Pixie pinched her handthinking she was dreaming. “Ouch!” shesaid under her breath. “I am awake and21

now have a red mark to prove it.”She turned the crinkly page.“I can talk for myself you know,” theWhite Rabbit said crossly.“Well, in that case you had better goand find our books so that we can get backinto our stories,” Alice replied.The White Rabbit looked down athis feet, and his hands began to shake.“I.I. can’t!” he wailed. “He might catchme!”Alice and Cinderella looked at eachother. “The Book Guardian!” they said inunison.“Wait, wait,” interrupted Pixie. “Whois the Book Guardian?”Three heads popped out of the openpage and Pixie fell backwards. Cindi, Alice,22

and the White Rabbit pointed to thelibrarian.And before she could stop herself,Pixie blurted, “Why are you afraid of him?”“Getting caught could mean bigtrouble!” Alice said sharply. She continued,“When the Book Guardian puts the glowinggreen book on the shelf, fairy tales come tolife. That’s when he tries capturing uscharacters inside the book. And once inside,we forget where our books are shelved.”23