Small Blue Thing by S. C. Ransom Read Free Book Online

an experiment on paranormal behaviour involving antique jewellery. Perhaps I should be in the physics lab where Miss Deeley and her instruments could record what was happening. Suddenly, part of me wanted to laugh out loud with the absurdity of it all, but a much larger part was beating back a wave of fright. I shook my head. “Focus!” I told myself sternly. I must try not to panic: becoming hysterical wasn’t going to help. There was definitely no way I could share this with anyone, not even Grace. How could I begin to explain it? It was all far too peculiar, and I needed to work it out for myself.
    My first priority was to go somewhere else. I couldn’t risk doing anything more in here that would bring Miss Neil and a detention flying to my side. I needed to do this at home.
    Luckily it wasn’t long until the final bell, and I raced downto the coaches, my mind spinning. I had picked up the bracelet with a pencil and stashed it securely in my bag, not daring to touch it again. I could almost feel it there, waiting for me. But however weird this was, somehow it didn’t feel too threatening. Scary, yes, but only because it was inexplicable. I couldn’t see how it could be dangerous, and the more I thought about it I realised I was actually more excited than anything else, and could hardly wait to get home and test some more theories. I almost managed to fool myself that I just wanted to test it, that the thought of seeing him again wasn’t my main motivation.
    Grace was on the coach, but I didn’t want to talk about what had happened earlier, or what the next steps should be with Rob or Jack. I knew that if she started asking me questions about what I had seen in St Paul’s I wouldn’t be able to lie convincingly, and I wasn’t ready to share it with her just yet. I wanted to think, as my head was bursting with ideas about what I needed to do, and I needed to consider each one.
    “I’m feeling a bit off,” I explained, guiltily. “My head aches. Maybe I did eat something odd earlier…”
    Grace looked concerned for me, but she took the hint and didn’t press me. I could hear the usual buzz of conversation, but managed to fade everyone out and consider my options. It seemed to me that there were three possible explanations, some more likely than others. It could be Josh and his tricks, but I was sure that something of this scale was beyond him, so that wasn’t really worth considering; it could be some sort of projection from the bracelet; or it could be that I was going mad and hallucinating. The best-case scenario was the projection answer, but I was getting increasingly afraid that I was losing my mind.
    When Josh and I finally got home, Mum and Dad wereout. I needed to make sure he wasn’t going to disturb me, so was pleased to see that he was helping himself to an enormous quantity of food from the fridge. He was clearly going to be busy for a while, so I ran upstairs.
    My small room was still a complete mess from last night’s sleepover. Ignoring it all, I shoved all the junk from my desk to one side, clearing enough space to work. I went back and checked the door. Downstairs I could hear the sound of Josh watching the kitchen TV, so he wasn’t about to disturb me. I carefully shut the door and turned to face my desk, my heart hammering.
    My bag was sitting there, its secret waiting for me. I thought about what I was going to need. My desk lamp was pretty bright, but my laptop was not terribly reflective. I took my mirror off the wall and propped it up in front of me. Next I got out my mobile and called up Josh’s number. Then if I needed help I just had to press the green button, I reasoned.
    I could barely contain myself as I reached for my bag. I fished the bracelet out with a pencil and laid it gently on the desk. It sat there glistening in the lamplight, and I felt my heart rate increase. I knew now that it definitely wasn’t just excitement about the strange phenomenon I was about to test. I