Read an Excerpt
SPLOOSH!
Heidi Heckelbeck and Bruce Bickerson talked about narwhals the whole way to school.
“Narwhals are the unicorns of the sea!” Heidi said as the two friends hopped off the bus. “And they grant wishes with their magical horns!”
Heidi loved these mysterious whales with the single spiral tusk.
Bruce looked at Heidi as if she had a horn. He was a scientist, and scientists love facts.
“There are so many things wrong with that statement,” Bruce declared. “First of all, it’s not a horn. It’s a tooth that grows out of the narwhal’s lip. Second, the tooth cannot grant wishes, because the tooth is not magical. Third, and most important, there is no such thing as magic.”
Heidi giggled, because of course there was such a thing as magic. She practiced magic all the time! But she couldn’t exactly tell Bruce she was a witch.
“Okay,” she challenged, “if you’re such a great scientist, how can you say magic doesn’t exist until you prove it doesn’t exist?”
Bruce laughed loudly, and Heidi was so busy watching him, she forgot to look where she was going.
Sploosh!
She stepped right into a deep puddle. Cold water filled one of her sneakers.
Heidi hopped back quickly, but the wet muck still seeped into her tights.
“GROSS!” she cried. “Now what am I going to do?!”
Bruce smirked. “Maybe some magic would dry out that soggy sneaker.”
Heidi rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”
Bruce nudged his friend’s shoulder. Then he pointed at the side of the school building.
“See that drainpipe?” he asked. “If that spout were directed behind the bushes rather than at the sidewalk, there wouldn’t even have been a puddle to step in.”
Heidi sighed heavily. “So what you’re saying is, science could’ve helped me?”
Bruce nodded. “Yeah, but I’m also sorry your day started off on the wrong foot.”
Heidi looked down at her wet shoe. “Me too!”