Read Online The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring - Free Book Online

real.”
    As we walked up the porch steps, Winnalee shook her head. “Button, I told you. Anything’s possible. You never know. Now come on, so I can show you that picture and prove to you that fairies exist.”

    I followed Winnalee through the house, and when we passed Freeda’s bedroom to get to the stairs, I could see Freeda stretched across her bed in her underwear, the morning sun resting over her naked back. She was asleep, one pale arm dangling over the edge of the bed, her penny hair dripped over the side. “She was out last night, then came home with some guy,” Winnalee said. “He left the toilet seat up, and I didn’t see it when I got up in the night to pee. I got my butt wet too. Freeda said she’ll pick up a night-light. I told her why don’t she just make her stupid boyfriends put the damn seat down instead. Anyway, she ain’t gonna get outta bed at least till noon—I can tell you that much. And you don’t have to worry about making noise either, because she don’t hear nothing when she’s sleeping.”
    I followed Winnalee into her room, where she put her ma on the window seat, then opened the closet and disappeared inside. She came out with her shoe box. She dug out the folded page of the book, then brought it over to the bed that wasn’t made, and we sat down.
    She unfolded the page and laid it on the lap of her mesh skirt, which was scratching my bare leg and practically hogging up the whole bed. “See?”
    â€œHoly moly!” I said, as I took the picture from her lap. I probably looked stupid with my mouth hanging wide open and my eyes all bugged out, but I couldn’t help it. I ran my fingers over the glossy page where an old-fashioned girl was propped on a bank. Right in front of her were beautiful little fairies, their bare legs and arms dancing, their wings pointing up to heaven. “Wow!”
    â€œSee, I told you! Wish we had a camera to take pictures with when we find them.”
    I was thinking hard now. Thinking about how when Winnalee first told me that she had her ma in that jar, I didn’t believe her then either, but it was true. Now here I was looking at pictures of fairies. I was having a hard time believing my own eyes, but maybe, just maybe, Winnalee was telling the truth this time too.
    The thought of maybe seeing real live fairies made my belly start dancing. But then I thought of seeing Fossard’s ghost, and suddenly it felt like my belly danced too close to a cliff and fell right off in one whoosh. “I won’t be able to go all that ways, Winnalee. I told you. You heard Aunt Verdella tell me not to go anywhere else. She’d spy us before we even reached the edge of the field, so we can just forget about running off to find fairies today.”
    Winnalee took the picture and folded it back up. “I don’t mean today, Button. You can’t go out on a big adventure without thinking everything out first. We have to make plans. We need a map, food, things like that. Then we’ll have to wait for just the right chance to sneak away.”
    My arms stopped itching when she said we didn’t have to go yet.

5

    One thing I thought about while I sat in the Malones’ kitchen with Freeda and Aunt Verdella, while Winnalee splashed and sang in the tub (her first bath since she moved in, even though we’d gotten plenty dirty in the nine days since she got here), was how families are all different. At my house, it was quiet. So quiet that if Ma let a mouse slip inside (which she wouldn’t), I was sure you could hear him breathing. Even when the TV set was on (which wasn’t often), you had to scoot so close to it to hear anything that you had to worry about ruining your eyes.
    Our house was clean too, with everything having a place and everyone having rules they had to follow. The towels all had to match, and after you used one, you had to fold it neat so that the hems