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

someone – there that couldn’t be explained by anything I knew or understood. I felt another shiver of fear while I considered thepossibilities. Maybe he was a ghost, or from a different dimension, or even from another planet: suddenly all those ridiculous alternatives became real possibilities.
    Fear had crawled through my stomach, making me feel sick. How was I supposed to deal with this?
    The expression on my face must have been transparent, as his expression turned from amusement to concern as he watched me. So whatever he was, he had some compassion. I took a few shallow breaths to settle the queasiness. I had so many questions and I needed to start answering them somehow. Where could I begin? I decided to start with the mind-reading.
    I sat up straight, looked him in the eye and bellowed in my head – WHO ARE YOU? His expression didn’t flicker. I tried again. WHAT DO YOU WANT? Again there was nothing.
    Well, it wasn’t exactly scientific, I thought, but in the absence of any other means of testing it would have to do. He couldn’t read my mind.
    I realised as my arm began to cramp that I was still holding on to the bracelet inside the box. Feeling a little silly I pulled it back out and looked at it for a moment. When I looked back at him he was looking down at his own band, which was firmly clamped on to his left wrist. I thought I could see some strange emotion in his eyes: he seemed to hate it. And as I watched him, I realised that my fear was receding, that whatever he was I didn’t really care: I just wanted to be able to see him.
    I shifted in my seat and my hold on my bracelet loosened for a second. His image shimmered. His head shot up and I saw a new, pleading look on his face. He shook his head as his lips moved – No ! Don ’ t go , please ! My lip-reading wasn’t good but that wasn’t difficult to decipher. His reflection then solidified as I realisedwhat I had done and I took a firmer grip on it.
    It seemed that he was as keen to look at me as I was to look at him. I could hardly believe that his view was as good as mine. I decided to make the most of it and slipped the bracelet back on to my wrist, smiling shyly at him.
    His whole body relaxed, his shoulders dropping as a broad grin spread across his face. Thank you , he mouthed, his melting eyes finding mine. I was mesmerised, and couldn’t help putting my hand out to touch him. He was so clear in the mirror, just inches from my shoulder with his arm next to mine on the desk. I watched in the reflection as my hand slipped through his arm.
    “What are you?” I whispered.
    He looked pensive for a second, and started to reply. I couldn’t make out the words so I shook my head. I couldn’t understand anything he was trying to tell me. He started again slowly and I was concentrating so hard that the sound of a bell clanging made me jump.
    I looked around me, feeling as if I had just been woken from a dream. My room was still there, still ordinary, but now touched with something wonderful. The demands of real life seemed irrelevant. The old school bell meant it was time for dinner, but I wasn’t remotely interested. The bell rang again and I groaned. “I’ll need to go downstairs for a minute. Will you wait?” I didn’t even stop to think how silly it was to be talking to a reflection. Then he nodded and smiled.
    I ’ ll wait . At least that was easy to lip-read, I thought.
    I smiled back, then leapt to my feet and ran downstairs, my mind racing with the implications of what had just happened.

Expectation
    Dinner seemed to drag on and on. Both my parents were now back home, and as a treat my mum had ordered a takeaway curry. It was my favourite, and was why I hadn’t been summoned earlier to help with the cooking. But today I couldn’t enjoy the chicken tikka masala. I pushed most of it around my plate as I tried to work out how to get back upstairs.
    Mum and Dad were both keen to hear how I had got on with my final exam. Grace and I