Read Online A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic by Lisa Papademetriou - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lisa Papademetriou
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around in strange, dark houses, but Leila felt she had enough mysteries already. For example: what was the deal with this freaky book? That was pretty much number one. That and, who was making up new parts to this story? What did sauerkraut have to do with anything? Was someone just messing with her?
Leila padded into the library and pushed The Exquisite Corpse back into the lone empty space on the shelf.Her body loosened the moment she turned her back and walked out of the library. Now she could get a little nap before breakfast.
Back in her room, Leila slipped between the soft white sheets and closed her eyes. She did not bother closing the blinds. Leila liked sleeping with the sun on her face. It made her feel like a cat. Thinking of Steveâs gray tail, she curled her knees toward her chest. Some pinchy pointy thing dug into her thigh.
âOw!â Leila felt for the object and pulled out a book. Then she let out a slight shriek and fell out of bed.
I donât even have to tell you, do I? Fine, I will. It was The Exquisite Corpse .
She stood up and limped to the door, then down the hall. She peeked into the library. There was an empty space on the shelf where the book should be.
Leila knew that she was not dreaming, but she truly wished she were. She had always longed to have a strange, magical adventure. It sounded great when it happened in books! But now that she was having a strange adventure, she wished she could just go home. Well, maybe not home. Not yet. She just wanted to go somewhere nonmagical.Someplace comfortable. Someplace where the books did not follow one around.
After all, she realized, this book situation wouldnât even make a good blog. People would just think she was crazypants. That her brain had gone soft in the heat.
Well! Leila certainly was not about to go back to her room, so she headed downstairs to the kitchen.
The kitchen was an interesting place. For one thing, there were two kitchens. âOne for show, and one for blow,â as her mother would say. There was a beautiful kitchen with granite countertops and knives in a rack. It had a lovely white wooden table and matching chairs, and had a window that looked out onto a mango tree. Along one wall of the kitchen was a door. This door led to the second kitchen: the real kitchen. This was a cramped, narrow place with a concrete floor and pots and pans that looked like they had been used to bash rocks. This was where the servants cooked the meals. The show kitchen was for the family to make toast or heat up something in the microwave.
Leila sat down in a white wooden chair for a moment. Then she decided that she should drink a glass of water.Elizabeth Dear always drank water when she needed to calm down. She crossed to the cabinets and pulled one open. Bowls. She tried the next one and let out a little yelp.
Can you guess what was inside?
âNo,â she whispered, even as she pulled out The Exquisite Corpse . She flipped the pages. It was the same book. There was no doubt about it. It was the same. The same handwriting.
She clutched the book to her chest, thinking about how to destroy it.
There was no point in throwing it away, after all. It would just creep up on her again, like a book boomerang. What else? What else could she do?
Her eye fell on the stove. It was gas.
Iâll burn it, Leila thought. Hah!
The right burner lit with a whoosh, and she held the book over the flame, letting fire lick at the edge of a page. The paper flared and the whole book burst into flame. Leila let out a little squeal, and let go. The pages sat awkwardly on the burner, blazing. âSorry, sorry,â Leila whispered as she watched it burn. Seized with a sudden panic that the fire might burn down the whole house, Leila grabbeda pair of metal tongs hanging beside the stove and used them to grab the book. She tossed it into the sink.
Thick black smoke had started to fill the kitchen, smelling like the hippie gift shop that
Leila padded into the library and pushed The Exquisite Corpse back into the lone empty space on the shelf.Her body loosened the moment she turned her back and walked out of the library. Now she could get a little nap before breakfast.
Back in her room, Leila slipped between the soft white sheets and closed her eyes. She did not bother closing the blinds. Leila liked sleeping with the sun on her face. It made her feel like a cat. Thinking of Steveâs gray tail, she curled her knees toward her chest. Some pinchy pointy thing dug into her thigh.
âOw!â Leila felt for the object and pulled out a book. Then she let out a slight shriek and fell out of bed.
I donât even have to tell you, do I? Fine, I will. It was The Exquisite Corpse .
She stood up and limped to the door, then down the hall. She peeked into the library. There was an empty space on the shelf where the book should be.
Leila knew that she was not dreaming, but she truly wished she were. She had always longed to have a strange, magical adventure. It sounded great when it happened in books! But now that she was having a strange adventure, she wished she could just go home. Well, maybe not home. Not yet. She just wanted to go somewhere nonmagical.Someplace comfortable. Someplace where the books did not follow one around.
After all, she realized, this book situation wouldnât even make a good blog. People would just think she was crazypants. That her brain had gone soft in the heat.
Well! Leila certainly was not about to go back to her room, so she headed downstairs to the kitchen.
The kitchen was an interesting place. For one thing, there were two kitchens. âOne for show, and one for blow,â as her mother would say. There was a beautiful kitchen with granite countertops and knives in a rack. It had a lovely white wooden table and matching chairs, and had a window that looked out onto a mango tree. Along one wall of the kitchen was a door. This door led to the second kitchen: the real kitchen. This was a cramped, narrow place with a concrete floor and pots and pans that looked like they had been used to bash rocks. This was where the servants cooked the meals. The show kitchen was for the family to make toast or heat up something in the microwave.
Leila sat down in a white wooden chair for a moment. Then she decided that she should drink a glass of water.Elizabeth Dear always drank water when she needed to calm down. She crossed to the cabinets and pulled one open. Bowls. She tried the next one and let out a little yelp.
Can you guess what was inside?
âNo,â she whispered, even as she pulled out The Exquisite Corpse . She flipped the pages. It was the same book. There was no doubt about it. It was the same. The same handwriting.
She clutched the book to her chest, thinking about how to destroy it.
There was no point in throwing it away, after all. It would just creep up on her again, like a book boomerang. What else? What else could she do?
Her eye fell on the stove. It was gas.
Iâll burn it, Leila thought. Hah!
The right burner lit with a whoosh, and she held the book over the flame, letting fire lick at the edge of a page. The paper flared and the whole book burst into flame. Leila let out a little squeal, and let go. The pages sat awkwardly on the burner, blazing. âSorry, sorry,â Leila whispered as she watched it burn. Seized with a sudden panic that the fire might burn down the whole house, Leila grabbeda pair of metal tongs hanging beside the stove and used them to grab the book. She tossed it into the sink.
Thick black smoke had started to fill the kitchen, smelling like the hippie gift shop that
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