You can read the first installment of Hannah’s novella, which placed third in our 2019 book contest, in the April 2020 issue of Stone Soup. The final installment will appear in our June 2020 issue. CHARACTERS – In order of appearance ELANA (Uh-LAY-nuh) A young furow girl who is the Chosen One MS. SMIT Elana’s science teacher, who later reveals a secret identity HENRY A tiny, green-haired fairy who guides Elana CASEY FLUMPTON An evil rock star and Elana’s mortal enemy ASTREA, DANIEL, HERA, ALLEN, and SOPHIA Henry’s friends TWEETLE and TWOOTLE Casey’s messengers TOONA A Neptune devil MRS. RICHARD Elana’s writing teacher MOM, DAD, MARY, DAISY, JOHN, FIONA, and EDGAR Elana’s family KĀLEKA CAKE (Kay-LEE-kah), TAFFY CRUSTULUM, MEL LIMBUM, SUGAR SWEET, CHOCOLAT TREAT, COCO SCELERISQUE, and VANILLE GLAÇAGE Gingerbread workers in the Palace of Honey GALETTA A snappy owner at a bakery in Sugar Top BUBBLES, GUMMER, LICORE, and CHOCO Workers at the Background Theater SPOTS Coco’s pet dog PRANKSTER Vanille’s pet cat HALLOWEEN and EASTER Bubbles’s pets FILLINUS The ambassador of light HAU’OLI A girl who befriends Elana in Casey’s palace PHILADELPHIA Hau’oli’s pet rat CAPTAIN HAWKINS The police chief MR. REMY and MR. SAGARD Two police officers VI (continued): The Background Theater At the end of the hallway was a theater, but without any seats for an audience. Instead, on stage, everybody was creating beautiful sets. There was everything from fancy houses to beautiful landmarks and unforgettable natural scenes. Elana stood amazed. She had never seen such beautiful backdrops! She looked at Henry, smiling, then noticed that Henry looked completely dazed and unresponsive, which puzzled Elana. What was wrong? Suddenly, all the gingerbread artists scurried over to Henry. “Henry’s sick!” one of them cried out in despair. During the commotion, Elana had wandered over to the sets. Suddenly, there was a deafening crash. To Elana’s horror, she had spilled a paint bucket onto a drying masterpiece! Everyone’s attention suddenly turned to Elana. She turned red. What are they going to do to me? Elana thought to herself. Just then, an angry gingerbread confronted her. “What did you do to my masterpiece?” he shrieked. Elana looked at Henry helplessly. She wished Henry would help her. She was confused What happened to Henry? What was going to happen? Will I ever get back into the cozy hotel room? What am I going to say? Elana thought frantically. Then she thought about the Palace of Honey. She thought about how everybody there knew Henry. Even a gingerbread here had cried, “Henry’s sick!” Suddenly, a plan formed in her mind. “I’m friends with Henry,” she shouted. “You’re friends with—?” the gingerbread man started. “Henry,” Elana finished. Everyone just stared. “I really am!” Elana continued. “What’s your name?” A gingerbread woman asked. “Elana,” Elana said. Everyone gaped at her. “Uh-” Elana paused. “What’s the big deal?” “Well, the Chosen One is Elana,” said a slim gingerbread man with a fake smile, “but I had no idea she was such a cute little chubby-cheeker.” “Well, that’s me,” Elana admitted, ignoring the gingerbread man’s name-calling. What is he talking about? Elana thought to herself. I don’t even have chubby cheeks! “So you’re the one that Henry was talking about!” said the angry gingerbread with the wrecked masterpiece, who suddenly seemed more friendly. “So, what’s your name?” Elana asked the gingerbread, changing the subject. “Gummy, but call me Gummer—I like that better.” “Bubblegum. Bubbles for short,” a gingerbread woman said. “Licore,” another gingerbread man introduced himself. “Choco,” (pronouncing it Choe-coe) the slim gingerbread said, then chuckled and added, “you cute little chubby itsy-poo!” Elana tried not to glare at Choco, because she felt awfully annoyed. She quickly felt better when Bubbles gave her an I-know-how-you-feel face and understanding nod. “Is that all?” Elana asked. “Yes, Coochi-poo,” answered Choco. Elana was burning with annoyance. She was sick and tired of being called names and so confused by what was happening to Henry. She felt like shouting out to Choco how horrible she thought he was—you skinny, fake-smiling, name-calling cookie!—but she knew it wasn’t right. Her mind was bursting with words that she could use to describe Choco. Instead, she took a deep breath and inquired, “Henry’s sick, right?” “I don’t know, Itsy-pie,” Choco replied, handing her a book. “This book is about paint-fainting. Read page 57 and tell us if anything is helpful.” VII: Curing Henry Elana took the book from Choco’s hands. Then she flipped to page 57. After that, she began to read to herself. CAUSE OF PAINT-FAINTING SICKNESS The paint-fainting sickness is caused by a chemical in heavy frosting paints; it is called Europitha (EErope-ee-tha). Europitha can cause fairies to become entranced and then faint after smelling the paint at least five times. The Europitha is deadly for all fairies. A chemical in fairies’ stomachs called Nishto (NISHE-too), interferes with the Europitha and makes a deadly gas. Scientists are trying to figure out why the gas makes the fairies faint, but the mystery still hasn’t been solved yet. Elana looked up from the book. “Done,” she said as she rubbed her finger on a page. “Find anything useful?” Choco inquired. “Fairies have Nisht-” Elana started. “Yeah, yeah,” Choco interrupted. “That’s what I thought. Read page 58 and tell me something important.” Elana wondered why he had said “tell me something important,” not “tell us something important,” but she obeyed Choco’s orders. HOW TO CURE THE PAINTFAINTING SICKNESS Curing the paint-fainting sickness is a very hard job. There are 53 steps in all! This is the easy way to use in case of emergency. Cover your patient with a handkerchief. Touch his or her throat lightly and then check pulse. Rub his or her stomach gently and pat his or her head. Pat his or her right thigh gently, then the left. WARNING: Don’t cradle your patient during the operation. If needed, put your patient on a table to help them balance. “Done,” Elana whispered, because Licore had fallen asleep due to boredom.