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

it. At breakfast, there were two little guys who would make omelets or pancakes withwhatever stuff you wanted in them, like bacon and cheese for the omelets, chocolate chips or blueberries for the pancakes.
    Where on earth did this camp get its money?
Abby couldn’t help but remember what her mom had said when she’d opened the brochures: not how
expensive
this camp was going to be, but that the price seemed so
low
. Abby imagined that some famous magician, some guy who’d gotten his start at a magic camp at age eleven, had donated some of his millions to build a new one. Or something.
    As Abby set her tray down next to Ben and stepped over the padded leather bench to sit down, he was chatting with a buddy from his cabin across the table. She waited for a break in the conversation, took a big gulp of her lemonade, and then dove in.
    â€œSo. Ben.”
    He turned his head. “So. Abby.”
    â€œUm. Listen, I really need to talk to you for a sec.”
    He looked away, as though the tacos on his plate had gotten
really
interesting.
    Oh, great,
Abby thought.
I’ve known the guy for, what, six minutes? He probably thinks I’m a stalker.
    â€œOkay, I’m really sorry if this is gonna sound weird and strange. Will you promise not to be creeped out?”
    â€œI can’t really promise,” Ben said after a moment. “But I will say that it takes a
lot
to creep me out. My dad’s let me watch horror movies since I was six.”
    Abby smiled, only slightly less nervous. She took a breath. “Okay. Remember when you showed me your key trick yesterday in the parking lot?”
    Ben nodded.
    â€œAnd I asked you how you did it, and you said you didn’t really know. You
said
that, right? You said it just happens when you squint one eye, or whatever.”
    â€œWell, yeah. I mean, I tell everybody that.”
    â€œYou do?” she said. “You’re completely open about it? I can’t believe it! Because, listen, I have a trick like that, too.”
    And there it was. She was spilling it. She started talking faster. “Not a trick—a
power
. Just like yours! Except with an egg, not a key. And I don’t have any idea how I do it, either! And I’ve been thinking that I’m some kind of freak or something. I thought I was the only one in the world with a power I can’t explain. And that’s the whole reason I signed up for this camp! Because I thought maybe I could learn more about it, or master it, or develop it, or something like that. But everybody’s just doing
trick
tricks, like magic tricks—and that’s all great and everything, but it’s nothing like what you and I do! And so yesterday, when Isaw you do that, I was just so happy, SO happy, because it was like, hey, I just can’t believe that there’s someone else who’s got anything like my—“
    She got stuck there. She didn’t know whether to say “power” or “problem.”
    â€œâ€”well, anyway, there’s somebody else like me! And I’m just so happy to meet you, and I want to know everything
you
know about your power.”
    Ben was no longer smiling. In fact, he looked a little uncomfortable. If you’d seen his face, you would have thought that he’d just been attacked by a crazy person.
    â€œYeah. Well—well, okay,” he said, frowning. “Look, Abby. I mean, I love magic. I’ve been doing it since I got my first magic kit in kindergarten. I’ve won a couple of awards. I do close-up at a restaurant every Sunday night, going table to table. But I—I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I have magic
powers.
”
    Abby could almost hear the next thing he wanted to say:
I’m not totally insane, like you are.
    â€œBut your key trick!” she said. “You said you don’t know how you do it, right?”
    â€œOf
course
I know how I do it! I practiced for about three months to get