Read Online The Power of Un by Nancy Etchemendy - Free Book Online
Authors: Nancy Etchemendy
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except for a few minor differences, most of which originated with me.
I looked at Ash, then down at the unner again. As the truth sank in, a prickly feeling started at my toesand traveled upward till it got to my head and made me dizzy. “It worked!” I said.
“If this is supposed to be funny, it’s not,” said Ash. “How could it work? You haven’t done anything except turn it on.”
I grabbed his arm. “Listen to me. I punched in a bunch of numbers and hit the red button. It worked. You don’t remember, because …” I swallowed. I felt like I had sand in my throat. “Because it hasn’t happened yet.”
Ash stared at me for a very long moment. He breathed out shakily, maybe because he understood what I was trying to tell him or maybe because he thought I’d gone completely bonkers. I couldn’t tell which. “That doesn’t make sense. If I can’t remember, then how can you? Come on, Gib. Stop joking around.”
I felt like screaming. “This isn’t a joke! It must have something to do with the way the unner works. I mean, there must be some theory to explain it. It’s like the unner moved me backward in time—but only me, the person who was holding it. For everybody else, that little chunk of time hasn’t happened yet.”
Ash squinted at me, his mouth half open. “Gaaaahhh!” I said. “I’ll prove it to you!”
I slid the power switch and hit the square green SMODE button again.
Ash leaped to his feet. “Don’t be a moron, Gib! This is way too dangerous,” he cried.
I laughed, probably a little hysterically. After all, it was like watching an instant replay of life. I remembered what I’d said before, and I liked it, so I said it again: “You’re acting like Rainy Frogner. Sometimes you have to take risks. I know what I’m doing.”
This time I keyed in 35. Just before I punched the ORDER button, the same bird in the same tree whistled the same four obnoxiously cheerful notes. They still reminded me of “Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone.”
I kept my eyes open this time, which turned out to be a mistake, because I saw the world jerk like a movie about to be eaten by its projector. For a second or two, I thought I was going to barf.
Ash flipped into a crouch beside me with impossible speed, though he didn’t seem to notice.
“See?” I shouted. “Now do you believe me?”
But instead of shouting “Yes!” as I hoped he would, he stared at me for a very long moment, exactly the way he had half a minute before. The scene I’d already experienced twice now began to replay itself like a videotape. He breathed out shakily, and I found myself thinking all over again that maybe it was because he finally understood what I was trying to tell him, or maybe it was because he thought I’d gone bonkers.
“You’re not making any sense,” he said. “Are you O.K.? I mean, seriously, you don’t look so good.”
“Of course I’m O.K.!” I shouted, which was a lie. I’d never felt so far from O.K. in my whole life. My sister was practically dead, my best friend thought I was nuttier than a Snickers bar, and the unner just seemed to be making things worse. How could I ever get Ash to understand what was happening? Was I going to have to do this entire thing on my own?
“Maybe we should go home,” he said. He looked scared. Of me.
I shut my eyes and sucked in a big breath of crisp air.
Stay calm
, I told myself.
There has to be a way
. Then I remembered the bird and its stupid repeating song. It was like the moment when you suddenly understand fractions.
“Are we friends?” I asked. I had to concentrate hard to keep my voice low and steady.
“Yeah. You know we are.”
“Then you have to trust me. This is the truth. I swear it on … on Roxy. In a few seconds, a bird right here in this tree is going to whistle four notes that sound like the beginning of ‘Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone.’ Do you know how I know?”
Ash shook his head.
“I know
I looked at Ash, then down at the unner again. As the truth sank in, a prickly feeling started at my toesand traveled upward till it got to my head and made me dizzy. “It worked!” I said.
“If this is supposed to be funny, it’s not,” said Ash. “How could it work? You haven’t done anything except turn it on.”
I grabbed his arm. “Listen to me. I punched in a bunch of numbers and hit the red button. It worked. You don’t remember, because …” I swallowed. I felt like I had sand in my throat. “Because it hasn’t happened yet.”
Ash stared at me for a very long moment. He breathed out shakily, maybe because he understood what I was trying to tell him or maybe because he thought I’d gone completely bonkers. I couldn’t tell which. “That doesn’t make sense. If I can’t remember, then how can you? Come on, Gib. Stop joking around.”
I felt like screaming. “This isn’t a joke! It must have something to do with the way the unner works. I mean, there must be some theory to explain it. It’s like the unner moved me backward in time—but only me, the person who was holding it. For everybody else, that little chunk of time hasn’t happened yet.”
Ash squinted at me, his mouth half open. “Gaaaahhh!” I said. “I’ll prove it to you!”
I slid the power switch and hit the square green SMODE button again.
Ash leaped to his feet. “Don’t be a moron, Gib! This is way too dangerous,” he cried.
I laughed, probably a little hysterically. After all, it was like watching an instant replay of life. I remembered what I’d said before, and I liked it, so I said it again: “You’re acting like Rainy Frogner. Sometimes you have to take risks. I know what I’m doing.”
This time I keyed in 35. Just before I punched the ORDER button, the same bird in the same tree whistled the same four obnoxiously cheerful notes. They still reminded me of “Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone.”
I kept my eyes open this time, which turned out to be a mistake, because I saw the world jerk like a movie about to be eaten by its projector. For a second or two, I thought I was going to barf.
Ash flipped into a crouch beside me with impossible speed, though he didn’t seem to notice.
“See?” I shouted. “Now do you believe me?”
But instead of shouting “Yes!” as I hoped he would, he stared at me for a very long moment, exactly the way he had half a minute before. The scene I’d already experienced twice now began to replay itself like a videotape. He breathed out shakily, and I found myself thinking all over again that maybe it was because he finally understood what I was trying to tell him, or maybe it was because he thought I’d gone bonkers.
“You’re not making any sense,” he said. “Are you O.K.? I mean, seriously, you don’t look so good.”
“Of course I’m O.K.!” I shouted, which was a lie. I’d never felt so far from O.K. in my whole life. My sister was practically dead, my best friend thought I was nuttier than a Snickers bar, and the unner just seemed to be making things worse. How could I ever get Ash to understand what was happening? Was I going to have to do this entire thing on my own?
“Maybe we should go home,” he said. He looked scared. Of me.
I shut my eyes and sucked in a big breath of crisp air.
Stay calm
, I told myself.
There has to be a way
. Then I remembered the bird and its stupid repeating song. It was like the moment when you suddenly understand fractions.
“Are we friends?” I asked. I had to concentrate hard to keep my voice low and steady.
“Yeah. You know we are.”
“Then you have to trust me. This is the truth. I swear it on … on Roxy. In a few seconds, a bird right here in this tree is going to whistle four notes that sound like the beginning of ‘Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone.’ Do you know how I know?”
Ash shook his head.
“I know
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