A Magic Crystal? by Louis Sachar Read Free Book Online Page B

asked Casey. “Of course he knows our phone number!”
    “Well,
you
don’t,” said Marvin.
    “I do, too,” said Casey. “I’ve known it since preschool.”
    Casey’s father hung up the phone. He told Marvin his mother would come pick him up around five o’clock.
    Marvin put up his hands. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you both just tell me you didn’t know your phone number?”
    They looked at him strangely.
    Marvin wondered if he was going crazy. “You asked me if I knew my phone number. I said I did, and then you both said you didn’t.”
    “That’s right,” said Casey’s father. “Why would I know your phone number? I just met you.”
    Marvin’s book lay on the table. It was called
A Thousand Cats.

3
The Magic Crystal
    “Do you want to know a secret?” asked Casey.
    Marvin shrugged.
    “Follow me,” she said. “I’ll tell you in the library.” She started up the stairs.
    Marvin followed. He was glad to be going to the library. Maybe he’d get to slide down the fire pole.
    By the time he reached the fourth floor, his legs were sore and he was out of breath. He was not used to climbing so many stairs.
    “In here,” said Casey.
    She opened the door to the library. The room was shaped like an octagon. Every wall was covered with bookshelves. The fire pole came up through the middle of the room. There was a railing around it, so somebody wouldn’t accidentally fall through the hole.
    “Do you know why you came to my house today?” Casey asked him.
    “Um … no,” said Marvin. He didn’t want her to think he liked her.
    “Because of this!” said Casey. She pulled something out of her pocket. “It’s a magic crystal. It makes all your wishes come true.” She showed it to Marvin.
    Marvin took it from her and examined it. It was almost transparent, with flecks of green and gold.
    “It used to be just a normal rock,” Casey explained. “Then, last night, it got struck by lightning! And it turned into a magic crystal.”
    Marvin remembered that it had stormed last night. The lightning and thunder had scared his little sister, Linzy. But how would Casey know that the lightning had struck this rock?
    “I wished that you’d come to my house today,” said Casey. “And here you are.”
    Marvin knew that had nothing to do with the rock. The only reason he was here was because Stuart and Nick had gotten into a fight. “What other wishes have you made?” he asked.
    “Just two other wishes so far,” said Casey. “You have to be real careful with wishes. First I wished that Judy and I would be friends forever.”
    That doesn’t prove anything
, Marvin thought.
    “And then,” said Casey, “remember when Clarence was bragging about how he can stick a needle through his finger?”
    Marvin remembered. Clarence was grossing out everybody in class.
    “I wished he’d be quiet,” said Casey. “And he was!”
    “Mrs. North told him to be quiet,” Marvin pointed out.
    “I wished it right before Mrs. North told him,” said Casey.
    Marvin didn’t think that proved anything either.
    “You try,” said Casey.
    Marvin looked at the rock.
    “You have to close your eyes and squeeze the crystal as hard as you can, so that it hurts. Then make a wish,” said Casey.
    Marvin tried to think of something to wish for. He felt silly. He closed his eyes and squeezed the rock so hard it hurt the palm of his hand. “I wish I knew when the book report was due.”
    “That doesn’t count,” said Casey. “I already told you it was due Tuesday. You have to make a
real
wish.”
    “Okay,” Marvin said, glad that he finally knew when the report was due. He closed his eyes and squeezed the rock again. “I wish I had an ice cream sundae.”
    He opened his eyes.
    No ice cream sundae.
    Casey leaned over the railing and screamed down into the hole. “Dad! Marvin wants an ice cream sundae!”
    Marvin leaned over the railing as well. He saw Casey’s father way down at the bottomof the pole. It was a long way