EllRay Jakes Is Magic Read Online Free Page B

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Pink Princess Fairies
once,” Alfie says, not giving up. “And the baby dragon danced in it and won. I can dance as good as that.”
    Alfie
thinks
she can dance.
    “You dance as good as a dragon?” I ask, teasing.
    “As
well
as a dragon,” Dad corrects me, not even hearing how goofy that sentence sounds.
    “Okay, Alfie can dance as well as a dragon,” I say. “But
no
, Alfie. You cannot try out for our talent show. I’m sure there will be another one when yougo to Oak Glen. But maybe you should start practicing now.”
    “Maybe you should be quiet,
EllWay
,” Alfie tells me.
    She does not like being teased.
    “That’s enough,” Dad says in his quiet, but I-MEAN-IT voice.
    “He started it,” Alfie mumbles as the rain starts to come down so hard outside that you can hear it pattering on the roof upstairs.
    “Enough,” Dad says again, a little louder this time. “And EllRay, I don’t think you’re doomed at all, DVD or no DVD. You’ve got a much better resource than that handy. A great resource.”
    “What resource?” I ask.
    “The Internet, son,” Dad says. “Specifically, YouTube. I’m always looking up how to fix things on YouTube. People like nothing better than to teach other people how to do things, so they’re always putting up posts. How do you think I fixed the toilet last weekend?”
    I don’t even want to
imagine.
I never knew it was broken!
    “But magicians wouldn’t explain any of theirillusions on YouTube,” I say, afraid to get my hopes up. “Isn’t there some rule about magicians never giving away their secrets?”
    “They’re not going to show you something stupendous, like how to make a motorcycle disappear,” Dad says. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to find some simple tricks—excuse me,
illusions
—that will be good enough to get you through the tryouts. And maybe even into the talent show.”
    Ohhh, no. What I’m looking for is something a little less good than that, I tell myself, hiding my losing smile.
    “Let’s go into my office and take a look on the big computer before our picnic is ready. That way, we can study the details of the illusions you like best,” Dad says, his eyes lighting up. He loves a project.
    And it’s “we” now, I notice.
    Well, that’s fine with me, I tell myself as we head for Dad’s home office, Alfie trailing close behind us.
    Let him do the work!

6
TA-DA!
    We go back to my dad’s computer after our picnic lunch in the family room, where Alfie stunned us with her jewel-covered lunch box—which is now so heavy she can hardly lift it. Dad has found some cool posts that show a guy demonstrating simple illusions.
    “We’re narrowing it down,” he says.
    “Why don’t we just get in the car and go to Target or someplace and buy a better magic kit?” I ask.
    “First, it’s pouring out,” Dad says, nodding toward the rain-spattered window, “and second, you don’t see this magician using a store-bought magic kit, do you?” he asks, pointing at the computer screen. “He’s using everyday objects we already have around the house.”
    “But I can’t learn a bunch of magic before tomorrow morning,” I say, trying not to sound toowhiny. Because I don’t want the lecture on
that.
    “You don’t have to learn ‘a bunch of magic,’ as you put it,” Dad says. “Just enough for the tryouts. Maybe two tricks, EllRay.
Illusions
, I mean. It’s mostly a matter of practice, this man says.”
    “So I’m supposed to stay up all night practicing?” I ask. “And—which two tricks? They all look pretty hard to me! Even after he explains them.”
    “That’s what makes them good,” Dad says. “They’re easy, with practice, but they
look
difficult. And I think I know just the ones you should try.”
    “Which ones?” I ask.
    “The illusions he calls ‘Making Money’ and ‘Cut String Made Whole,’” Dad says, checking his notes. “We can start on those right now, and you can practice like crazy. Then you