"Turn around with your back to the bookcase and now concentrate."
“Concentrate on what?”
“Picture the lock and a key.”
I counted to ten until he told me, "Now you can move again."
I didn’t believe it. My jaw almost hit the floor. I could clearly see an old-fashioned brass key in the keyhole.
With bated breath, I unlocked the doors. Inside were a number of leather-bound books that looked old enough to have come here with theMayflower.
"Take the first," he said. "Only the first. Don't touch the others."
The book had a distinct heft to it—much, much heavier than it should have been. I needed both hands to pull it out and lift it.
"Now go back to your chair."
I did.
"Blow away the dust."
I did that too.
And before my very eyes, letters formed on the leather cover. My Secret Book of Spells—Part 1.
"Wow."
"I hope you are ready for this. Because if you're not, this might hurt you."
I pulled my hands away. "I’d rather risk it," I said.
"Not that kind of harm. You don't think I would let anything bad happen to you?" He sounded sincere. "But if you start to feel dizzy or lightheaded..."
“I’ll stop.” I opened the book. The first page was covered in intricate drawings of flowers that formed a frame. Inside that frame, lettersappeared. They danced all over the page, until they formed legible words.
I started whispering them.
"Don't," Cosmo said. "Not yet."
"Why?"
"You need to feel them. What do you see in your mind?"
I had no idea what he meant.
"Look at the page. Focus. What do you see? In your mind."
"A ball," I said. The stress ball.
"Now read the words."
I did.
Slowly, inch by inch, the stress ball I had put on the counter floated in the air.
Cosmo watched it with an excited expression.
My breath grew shorter.
