Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle Read Online Free PDF

behind?
I thought.
    I know it seems impossible
, the raven replied.
But that is what you must do. Look at your feet, and just
imagine
jumping.
    I tried to concentrate as hard as I could, and then, staring at my bare feet on the floorboards, I imagined a jump.
    Nothing happened.
    Adam
, said Baldasarre.
Try to believe it will happen.
    Looking back down, I focused my thoughts. This time I imagined how wondrous it would be if I could actually fly like a bird.
    In the next instant, I felt my limbs shake violently. My bones appeared to be rearranging themselves. My arms trembled and seemed to roll to where my shoulder blades would be, my legs felt shorter, and I saw claws where my feet had been. I looked around, confused—I wasn’t standing on the floor anymore!
    Where am I?
I wondered. Then I realized I was on the windowsill where Baldasarre had been. But where was he?
    We are one
, came the reply.
    Baldasarre? Where is my body?
    Don’t worry; you have no need of it. It will return when we part. Now be quiet. We’re going to fly.
    Before I could answer, I tumbled through the open window. I was about to scream, but in the next instant I felt my wings beating powerfully against the air and (this was the strangest thing) the air around me seemed to press back, thick and sluggish as water. Yet my wings could slice through it, grasp it, or glide over it like a surfer on a wave.
    Oh, the joy I felt! So high above the buildings, high above everyone in the city. The streetlamps were brilliant little points far below. I was free in a way I had never imagined before. So this was what flying felt like!I laughed, and the most extraordinary sound came from my throat—the croak of a raven, rough as sandpaper, so loud that it echoed across the chimneys, roofs, and water towers of Brooklyn.
    Did I do that?
I wondered.
    It was both of us
, came Baldasarre’s reply.
We are paravolating.

The Truth About Corax
    A huge thunderstorm swept over Brooklyn on Addison’s moving day. The moving men worked quickly, running boxes up and down a ramp to an enormous truck. Gabriel kept Addison company, planning to tell him about the amazing things he had discovered in his father’s diary. He wanted the right moment to explain about magic and talking ravens, but it never seemed to come. The hours moved quickly, and soon the moving truck was loaded and pulling away.
    Gabriel and Addison stood under an umbrella next to the taxi as Addison’s mother and father stowed their baggage.
    â€œI’m sorry you’re going,” Gabriel said.
    â€œMe too,” said Addison, glancing up at the trees. “Gabriel? I have this weird feeling, like I’m leaving just when something awesome is going to happen.”
    â€œReally?” said Gabriel. “Like what?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Addison replied. “Do you remember when you saw that raven? Well, I looked up ravens. I was wrong. They’re very intelligent birds.”
    Gabriel nodded. “Yes! I meant to tell you about my dad’s—”
    Mrs. Sandoval interrupted. “Let’s go, honey. We’re late for the airport.”
    Addison sighed. “Gotta go.”
    The boys bumped knuckles, and Addison joined his parents inside the taxi. Then his head appeared through the window. “Hey, I just remembered something!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI met your new neighbors.
Girls.
One of them is our age. The other two are older, I think.”
    â€œOh. Girls? Really?” said Gabriel, trying to sound enthusiastic.
    The taxi pulled away as a fresh downpour enveloped the street.
    As the rain pattered down outside, Gabriel curled up by the window and opened the diary. The next entries were so carefully described that he felt as if his father wasn’t just writing, but was talking directly to him.
    May 15: Baldasarre and I fly every evening. Each time, it gets easier to merge with him—all I have to do is tighten my muscles and