Read Online Abby Carnelia's One and Only Magical Power by David Pogue - Free Book Online Page A

to you? Any trapdoors, mirrors, or secret assistants?”
    Carly smiled at her and shook her head no. “It’s just thread,” she said.
    â€œGreat,” Abby went on. “Can you tie one end of that thread around the middle of the ruler there? And then use the tape to fasten the other end to Joshua’s egg. I’d love to help out, but I made a promise that I wouldn’t get involved.”
    When the volunteers had finished, they had created what looked like a first-grader’s science-fair project. Each of them held one end of the ruler. The egg dangled from the thread between them.
    â€œCan you make it stop turning?” Abby asked. Joshua reached out to steady the egg. It was motionless now, except for the faintest side-to-side swinging.
    â€œActually, my real question is this: Can you make it
start
turning?”
    Just as Carly reached toward the egg, Abby quickly added, “without touching it, without blowing on it, and without moving the ruler?”
    Carly, Joshua, and the audience chuckled as they suddenly realized how difficult that would be.
    â€œNo, we can’t,” Joshua finally told her.
    â€œBut I can,” Abby said with a smile.
    And she did.
    She turned to look at the egg. Then, with her fingers hidden by her long hair, she tugged at her earlobes. The great thing, as Ben had pointed out in rehearsal, was that you couldn’t tell that she was pulling on her ears; it looked as though she was just massaging her temples, the perfectly normal gesture of a mind reader.
    But the truth is, nobody in that audience was paying much attention to Abby and her magical gesture. Every eye was on the egg, which began to spin on the end of that thread in the most ghostly way. The giant high-definition screens revealed every speck of dust on the Scotch Tape and every tiny bit of fluff on the dark-blue thread.
    And there was complete silence in the Weasley Theater.
    What’s going on?
Abby thought, flicking her eyes away from the egg for a fraction of a second.
Don’t they see it? Why don’t they react?
    She knew what was happening, of course: she had justexposed herself as a freak. It was like going on TV to brag about how loudly you can burp. The entire world of Camp Cadabra would now realize that she was a complete weirdo—and they’d laugh about her for years.
    But that wasn’t the worst of it. After flopping in such a big way, she’d never have a chance to find out what her dumb little power was all about. She’d never find anyone else like her, or anyone who knew anything about this kind of thing.
    To the audience, it looked like Abby had forgotten what was supposed to come next. She stood there, flustered, her hand starting to shake.
    â€œGo on, Abby!”
    She looked out into the blinding darkness, but she couldn’t see anyone past the third row. She had, however, recognized the voice; it was Ben’s. It was enough to snap her back to earth.
    â€œStop it, Carly,” Abby said, finally remembering how the trick was supposed to go on. “Stop it from spinning, will you?”
    Carly did, using her hand. Abby made it spin again.
    â€œNo, seriously—try to make it stop,” Abby said, forcing a grin.
    Carly grabbed the egg, steadied it, and let go. But it started spinning again. For the first time, Abby could hear the audience coming alive, buzzing and pointing.
    â€œAll right, you guys. Now comes phase 2. I need you to shorten that thread up, so the egg is only hanging a foot down from the ruler.”
    The two volunteers turned the ruler over and over, winding the thread around it.
    â€œGreat! Good job. And now, how about lowering it into the water?”
    The water was actually a fish tank—or, rather, the Nature Station’s glass terrarium. Ben had carefully transferred the plants, the gravel, and the turtle out of it, washed out the terrarium, and then filled it with tap water. (“Presto, change-o,”