The Land of Stories: Gleefully Ever After

Into the Laptop

Summary: Chris Colfer, bestselling author of The Land of Stories, finds himself (along with Darren Criss, who is unwittingly responsible for this perplexing state of affairs) transported into the world of his imagination…with a few Gleeful differences.

Story Notes:  This story takes place during the summer of 2012, immediately following the publication of The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell, which means that it is pre-season 4 of Glee, and pre-Will.

Chapter 1 – Into the Laptop

Chapter Notes: In which reality imitates fiction…

July 26, 2012

The headquarters of Glee during the off-season seemed deserted.  The studios were silent, the rehearsal rooms were empty, and the sets had been taken down.  Behind one door, however, a light flickered.  Ryan Murphy sat alone, apparently deep in contemplation of the words on his computer screen.  For hour after hour he remained motionless, save for the back-and-forth of his eyes and the tiny movements required to scroll through his work.  Eventually, a smile began to bloom across his face.  With a final glance at the screen, Glee’s creator hit SEND.

…

Christopher Paul Colfer, age 22, had many accolades to his name.  He was the winner of a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Teen Choice Award, and a Golden Globe Award.  He had even been acknowledged as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.  But the accomplishment of which Chris was most proud was becoming a New York Times #1Bestselling Author.   

Ever since he was old enough to hold a pencil, Chris had loved to write.  From his first childhood scribblings, through his tenure as president of his high school writers’ club, and continuing on into his every spare moment once he got caught up in the whirlwind of Glee, Chris had a story he wanted to tell.  Now, all those years of hard work had finally paid off.  The Land of Stories had traveled from his head, to random scraps of paper, to his laptop, to bookstores around the country.  He couldn’t be more delighted.

Chris was spending a couple of days at home before heading to Ohio for the last leg of his book tour.  Ashley had graciously agreed to feed Brian while he was away, as she always did when he went out of town.  Although he knew on a rational level that his cat would be just fine without him, Chris couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving again so soon.  To make himself feel better, Chris was spending every waking moment carrying Brian around like an overstuffed teddy bear.  Right now, the two of them were sitting in front of his laptop as Chris tried to catch up on his email.

Noticing that he had a message from Ryan Murphy, Chris clicked it open.  The subject line read simply “Glee,” and the body of the email was blank.  There was a file attached, but Chris was wary about opening any attachments unless he knew ahead of time what they contained.  After all, anyone’s email could be hacked, and Chris wasn’t willing to take any risks when it came to his laptop, where he kept all of his writing.

Chris was just about to hit Reply to ask Ryan about the attachment when Brian flicked out a paw and started downloading it.  Chris tried to cancel the download, but his laptop wouldn’t respond.  Fearing a virus, Chris decided to shut the computer down.  Nothing he attempted had any effect, though.  The attachment just kept on downloading.