Did you try watering cucumbers? It sounds like you might have the older version of the game - have you tried updating it? The Picturebook now has much more clear hints to everything that tell you where the Bad Endings roughly are!
Check your Mysterious Shell picture! See the hint about the water can in Heaven Oasis? There are these tiny cucumbers around... You actually get pointed towards watering them a few times, but it's okay if you missed it! You can still go and water them!
Wrong incantation? Try pressing J! By now, you're likely to have a certain incantation there!