this practice session down to the basement. I bet you wouldnât be smiling then. Plus, it would let us get away from your sisterâs cat. I tell you, that stupid thing is really starting to get on my nerves. Before you got home from school, I was up in your room innocently checking my Facebook account when it
launched
itself at me like I was some kind of heinous criminal.â
Sophie groaned. Despite her best efforts to bribe him with Pretty Kitty snacks, Mr. Jaws had taken to hissing and growling every time she or Malik was in the room. But still, she would rather face Mr. Jaws than all the spiders in the basement, so she decided that she had better not annoy Malik anymore.
âI promise, no more smiling while Iâm on the carpet. I will be the model of concentration. Okay?â
âHumph,â Malik grunted as he launched into a big lecture on jumping through time and space. Most of it was filled with words that she didnât understand. When he was finished, Sophie almost thought he was going to make her jump into the basement like the other day, but instead he announced that she could try going to the school. âAnd,â he suddenly added, âI think this time you can fly solo. Youâve still got the stabilizers on, but you wonât have me with you. Do you feel ready?â
Yes. No. Maybe. But instead Sophie nodded her head; until she mastered her flying, she couldnât see her dad.
âIâm ready,â she said in a firm voice. She closed her eyes and blocked everything out until the only thing she was conscious of was the hallway at school where her locker was. Thankfully, considering that was the place where Jonathan had first talked to her, it was something she had visualized on a regular basis. Then she pictured a plastic bubble all around her and the carpet before finally blinking her eyes three times.
She felt a familiar tug in her stomach, and when she opened her eyes, she was really in the hallway of the school. She was just about to congratulate herself when she suddenly heard a loud noise and looked up to see the janitor pushing some kind of huge floor polishing machine toward her.
For a moment Sophie just stared at it, assuming he would stop for her, before remembering that the janitor couldnât see her. Panic raced through herâshe had a funny feeling that if he ran over her, she would feel it. But she felt frozen, unable to think or move, and suddenly, she understood just why Malik had been so pedantic in his teachings. Her heart pounded, but just as the polisher reached the tip of her carpet, she snapped out of it and quickly pictured her backyard. A second later relief flooded through her as she was once again in her garden, her carpet hovering three feet off the ground.
Sophie let out a grateful sigh, and for a moment she lay back on the carpet to try to regain her composure. That was far too close. But before her heart rate had a chance to return to normal she heard a yowling noise and sat up just in time to see Mr. Jaws launch himself at the corner of the carpet. The impact caused the whole thing to start wobbling, and it took all of Sophieâs skills to bring it down to the ground without falling off.
Then she looked over to see Mr. Jaws hunched on all fours, his eyes narrow and his tail fluffy, like he was going to pounce all over again.
âSeriously. Whatâs his problem? Itâs almost like heâs never seen an invisible person fly on an invisible carpet before.â Malik floated over and glared at the cat, but the sound of his voice seemed only to aggravate Mr. Jaws even more. âStill, at least itâs stopped you smiling so much.â
âHow can he even tell that Iâm here?â Sophie demanded as Malikâs words reminded her that she was still invisible. âDo you think itâs a djinn thing?â
âMore like a stupid dumb animal thing,â Malik retorted. âAnyway, if you canât
Terry Pratchett
Stan Hayes
Charlotte Stein
Dan Verner
Chad Evercroft
Mickey Huff
Jeannette Winters
Will Self
Kennedy Chase
Ana Vela