Addison Addley and the Things That Aren't There Read Online Free PDF Page A

thought I should use Monday and Tuesday nights to practice my speech, since I’d be giving it on Wednesday. Like I said, he always looks out for me. What a guy.
    The problem was, I couldn’t very well practice something that wasn’t there. I still had only two lines to my speech. So far my speech was a thing that wasn’tthere. Somehow I didn’t think Miss Steane would appreciate the joke.
    â€œI saw this guy on tv who said he could see people’s auras,” Sam said as we settled down on the bank of the creek.
    I dumped my half of the worms into my shoe this time and gave Sam the carton. “You mean like the aurora borealis?” I asked. I knew that was a fancy name for the northern lights. Mom’s astronomy lectures were beginning to rub off on me.
    â€œNo,” Sam corrected. “Every living thing is supposed to have this energy that surrounds it. Some people claim they can see it around people’s bodies like shimmering lights and colors. You kind of have to squint to see it. You can’t prove it’s there or it’s not there. It’s really quite interesting.”
    Sam saw me yawn. “I guess you have to have an open mind,” he apologized.
    My mind was open—wide open. Ideas just flew right out of it before they had a chance to stick.
    We spent the next ten minutes squinting at the trees across the stream to see if we could see their auras. I saw an old blue kite stuck in the top of the trees. I saw the squirrels racing across the branches.Mainly what I saw was a bunch of ants trying to find something to eat.
    That reminded me of the party on Wednesday. “Mom’s punch is going to score some points with the Lamp’s mother,” I told Sam. “I even like it, even though it’s good for me, so I can just imagine what she’s going to think.”
    â€œDo you want some help making it?” Sam asked.
    Normally I would let someone else do the work, but I wanted to handle this one on my own. Besides, it was straightforward. I knew the recipe was for eight people. There were twenty-four of us in the class, so Sam told me I would just have to multiply it by three. I was sure most of the ingredients were already at home. Even I couldn’t possibly mess this one up.
    Even though I’m not great at multiplying, I am pretty good at subtracting. I don’t know why. I guess it’s because I’m used to counting down the days until summer vacation or Christmas holidays. I had three nights to finish and practice my speech. Take one night away because of the baseball game on tv tonight. That left two nights. If I forced myself, I could probably manage to write two lines a night. Two nights, twolines each. Four lines. Hmmm. I doubted I could win the trophy with that.
    Then I remembered the two lines I had already written. That would make six lines altogether. Six whole lines. Yep, I felt a lot better after that. A whole lot better. So good, in fact, that I almost forgot about my dentist appointment the next morning. Almost.

Chapter Nine
    I don’t know why I hate the dentist so much. It’s not that I can’t take the pain of the needle or drill, because I really am the toughest guy on the baseball team. I don’t back down from anyone, not even the mean pitcher on the Wildcat team, who has to be at least eight feet tall. Last year I even played one game with a sprained ankle. We won.
    It’s just that when you’re at the dentist’s, you don’t know what’s in store for you. At least when you have a cavity you know what you’re in for. It’s the checkups I hate. You never know what’s going to happen at a checkup. They could say, “Everything looks great. Good work.” At least that’s what they say in my dreams. I don’t hear those words too much in real life.
    With me it’s usually silence and then someone says, “Tsk, tsk.” They scribble something down on their