Oh, no.
Where’s my ring! The lucky charm that’s supposed to keep me safe!
My favourite TV show is The Truth about Magic. All other shows about magic are fake. Everything in The Truth about Magic is real. The show says so.
I snuck the ring into my pocket when the shop lady wasn’t looking. I know it’s bad to steal, but Mum said ‘no’ to buying the ring even though I asked her so many times. I need the ring. The show says that without the ring, bad things will happen to you.
I know it works because Billy broke his arm at the jungle gym when he wasn’t wearing the ring. I’ve never broken an arm before. And I also know it works because I haven’t seen a spider since my 6th birthday. I’m really, really scared of spiders. I got bitten by one when I was five, back when I didn’t have a ring.
And I can’t find it. I’ve searched everywhere.
Slumping in my pink bean bag, I start to cry. I’ll be killed tonight, because I’m not wearing a ring!
I hear a very quiet voice behind me.
I start crying more. A bad stranger has just appeared in my room. He’s going to kill me!
The show says that if you hear a noise behind you, someone’s there. The show also says that if there’s someone behind you, you aren’t allowed to turn around and look at them. If you don’t turn around for five minutes, they’ll disappear.
I’m facing a wall, staring at a The Truth about Magic poster. There isn’t a clock in my room, so I start to count to 50. There are 50 seconds in a minute.
That’s the last 50. Did I count too fast? No I didn’t. Maybe I did. No, no, the bad stranger has definitely disappeared. Okay. I’ll turn around slowly, just in case.
1… 2… 3…
Disappear. Disappear.
I scream.
The spider didn’t disappear.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
