by R. L. Stine
“Lefty?” My voice came out weak and trembling.
He wasn’t there. It wasn’t a game. He was gone.
Without thinking, I ran out of my room, down the hall, and up the stairs to the attic. My bare feet pounded on the steep wooden steps. My heart was pounding even louder.
As I stepped into the heat of the attic, a wave of fear swept over me.
What if Lefty had disappeared forever?
With a frightened cry, I lunged into the tiny room.
The bright light reflected in the mirror shone into my eyes.
Shielding my eyes with one hand, I made my way to the mirror and pulled the string. The light went out immediately.
“Lefty?” I called anxiously.
No reply.
“Lefty? Are you up here? Can you hear me?” Fear clogged my throat. I was panting loudly, barely able to speak.
“Lefty?”
“Hi, Max. I’m here.” My brother’s voice came from right beside me.
I was so happy to hear it, I turned and gave him a hug, even though I couldn’t see him.
“I’m okay,” he said, startled by my emotion. “Really, Max. I’m okay.”
It took a few minutes for him to reappear.
“What happened?” I asked, checking him out, looking him up and down as if I hadn’t seen him for months. “You were clowning around in my room. Then you were gone.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted with a shrug.
“But where did you go?” I demanded.
“Up here,” he repeated.
“But Lefty —” Something about him looked different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But staring at his face, I was sure that something was weird.
“Stop staring at me like that, Max.” He shoved me away. “I’m fine. Really.” He started dancing away from me, heading to the stairs.
“But, Lefty —” I followed him out of the room.
“No more questions. Okay? I’m all right.”
“Stay away from the mirror,” I said sternly. “Do you hear me?”
He started down the stairs.
“I mean it, Lefty. Don’t get invisible again.”
“Okay, okay,” he snapped. “I won’t do it anymore.”
I checked to make sure his fingers weren’t crossed. This time they weren’t.
Mom was waiting for us in the hall. “So there you are,” she said impatiently. “Max, you’re not dressed!”
“I’ll hurry,” I told her, and bolted into my room.
“Lefty, what did you do to your hair?” I heard Mom ask my brother. “Did you brush it differently or something?”
“No,” I heard Lefty reply. “It’s the same, Mom. Really. Maybe your eyes are different.”
“Stop being such a smart mouth and get downstairs,” Mom told him.
Something was definitely weird about Lefty. Mom had noticed it, too. But I couldn’t figure out what.
As I picked my jeans up off the floor and pulled them on, I started to feel a little better. I had been so frightened, frightened that something terrible had happened to my brother. Frightened that he’d disappeared for good, and I’d never see him again.
All because of that stupid mirror.
All because it was such a thrill to get invisible.
I suddenly thought about Erin, April, and Zack.
They were so excited about Wednesday. About the big competition. Even April was going to get invisible this time.
No, I thought.
I have to call them. I have to tell them.
I’ve really made up my mind.
No more mirror. No more getting invisible.
I’ll call all three of them when I get back from Springfield. And I’ll tell them the competition is canceled.
I sat down on my bed to tie my sneakers.
Whew, I thought. That’s a load off my mind.
And it was. Having decided not to use the mirror ever again made me feel much, much better. All of my fear seemed to float away.
Little did I know that the most frightening time was still to come.
Imagine my surprise when Zack, Erin, and April showed up at my front door on Wednesday morning.
“I told you guys the competition is off,” I sputtered, staring at them in astonishment through the screen door.
“But Lefty called us,” Erin replied. “He said you changed your mind.” The other two agreed.
My mouth dropped open to my knees. “Lefty?”
They nodded. “He called us yesterday,” April said.
“But Lefty isn’t even here this morning,” I told them as they marched into the house. “He’s at the playground playing softball with some of his friends.”
“Who’s here?” my mom called. She came walking into the hallway, drying her hands on a dish towel. She recognized my friends, then turned to me, a bewildered look on her face. “Max, I thought you were going to help me down in the basement. I didn’t know you’d made plans with Zack, Erin, and April.”
“I didn’t,” I replied weakly. “Lefty —”
“We just dropped by,” Zack told Mom, coming to my rescue.
“If you’re busy, Max, we can go,” Erin added.
“No, that’s okay,” Mom told them. “Max was complaining about how boring it would be to help me. It’s good you three showed up.”
She disappeared back into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, my three friends practically pounced on me.
“Upstairs!” Zack cried eagerly, pointing to the stairs.
“Let’s get invisible!” Erin whispered.
“I get to go first since I’ve never gone,” April said.
I tried to argue with them, but I was outnumbered and outvoted. “Okay, okay,” I reluctantly agreed. I started to follow them up the stairs when I heard scratching noises at the door.
I recognized the sound. It was Whitey, back from his morning walk. I pushed open the screen door and he trotted in, wagging his tail.
The dumb dog had some burrs stuck to his tail. I chased him into the kitchen and managed to get him to stand still long enough to pull them off. Then I hurried up to the attic to join my friends.
By the time I got up there, April was already standing in front of the mirror, and Zack was standing beside her, ready to pull the light on.
“Whoa!” I called.
They turned to look at me. I could see that April had a frightened expression on her face. “I have to do this right away. Or else I might wimp out,” she explained.
“I just think we should get the rules straight first,” I said sternly. “This mirror really isn’t a toy, and —”
“We know, we know,” Zack interrupted, grinning. “Come on, Max. No lectures today, okay? We know you’re nervous because you’re going to lose. But that’s no reason —”
“I don’t want to compete,” April said nervously. “I just want to see what it’s like to be invisible. For just a minute. Then I want to come back.”
“Well, I’m going for the world’s record,” Zack boasted, leaning against the mirror frame.
“Me, too,” Erin said.
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea,” I told them, staring at my reflection in the mirror. “We should just get invisible for a short time. It’s too dangerous to —”
“What a wimp!” Zack declared, shaking his head.
“We’ll be careful, Max,” Erin said.
“I just have a really bad feeling,” I confessed. My hair was standing up in the back. I stepped closer to the mirror to see better, and smoothed it down with my hand.
“I think we should all get invisible at the same time,” Zack said to me, his blue eyes lighting up with excitement. “Then we could go to the playground and scare your brother to death!”
Everyone laughed except April. “I just want to try it for a minute,” she insisted. “That’s all.”
“First we compete,” Erin told Zack. “Then we go out and scare people.”
“Yeah! All right!” Zack excla
imed.
I decided to give up. There was no sense in trying to reason with Zack and Erin. They were too psyched for this competition. “Okay, let’s get it over with,” I told them.
“But first I go,” April said, turning back to the mirror.
Zack reached up for the string again. “Ready? On three,” he said.
I turned to the door as Whitey came sniffing his way in, his nose lowered to the floor, his tail straight out behind him.
“Whitey, what are you doing up here?” I asked.
He ignored me and continued sniffing furiously.
“One … two …” Zack started.
“When I say ‘ready,’ bring me back. Okay?” April asked, standing stiffly, staring straight ahead into the mirror. “No jokes or anything, Zack.”
“No jokes,” Zack replied seriously. “As soon as you want to come back, I’ll turn off the light.”
“Good,” April replied softly.
Zack began his count again. “One … two … three!”
As he said three and pulled the string, Whitey stepped up beside April.
The light flashed on.
“Whitey!” I screamed. “Stop!”
But it was too late.
With a yelp of surprise, the dog vanished along with April.
“The dog!” Erin screamed.
“Hey — I’m gone! I’m invisible!” April exclaimed at the same time.
I could hear Whitey whimpering. He sounded really frightened.
“Pull the string!” I shouted to Zack.
“Not yet!” April protested.
“Pull it!” I insisted.
Zack pulled the string. The light went out. April reappeared first, with an angry expression on her face.
Whitey reappeared, and fell down. He jumped up quickly, but his legs were all wobbly.
He looked so funny, we all started to laugh.
“What’s going on up there?” My mom’s voice from the stairwell startled us into instant silence. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, Mom,” I answered quickly, signalling for my friends to remain silent. “Just hanging out.”
“I don’t understand what’s so interesting up there in that dusty old attic,” she called up.
I crossed my fingers, hoping she wouldn’t come upstairs to find out.
“We just like it up here,” I replied. Pretty lame, but it was the only thing I could think of to say.
Whitey, having recovered his balance, went running to the stairs. I heard the dog’s toenails click on the wooden stairs as he went down to join my mom.
“That wasn’t fair,” April complained after Mom and Whitey were gone. “I didn’t get any time.”
“I think we should get out of here,” I pleaded. “You see how unpredictable it is. You never know what’s going to happen.”
“That’s sort of the fun of it,” Erin insisted.
“I want another turn,” April said.
We argued for about ten minutes. Once again, I lost.
It was time to start the competition. Erin was going first.
“Ten minutes is the time to beat,” Zack instructed her.
“No problem,” Erin said, making funny faces at herself in the mirror. “Ten minutes is too easy.”
April had resumed her position, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, studying her watch. We had agreed that she would take another turn after the competition was over.
After it was over …
Standing there watching Erin get ready, I wished it were over already. I felt cold all over. I had a heavy feeling of dread weighing me down.
Please, please, I thought to myself, let everything go okay.
Zack pulled the string.
Erin disappeared in the flash of light.
April studied her watch.
Zack took a step back from the mirror and crossed his arms in front of his chest. His eyes glowed with excitement.
“How do I look?” Erin teased.
“You never looked better,” Zack joked.
“I like what you did with your hair,” April teased, glancing up from the watch.
Even April was joking and having a good time. Why couldn’t I relax, too? Why was I suddenly so frightened?
“You feel okay?” I asked Erin. The words nearly caught in my throat.
“Fine,” Erin replied.
I could hear her footsteps as she walked around the room.
“If you start to feel weird, just say ‘ready,’ and Zack’ll pull the string,” I said.
“I know,” she replied impatiently. “But I won’t be ready to come back until I break the record.”
“I’m going next,” Zack told Erin, arms still crossed in front of him. “So your record won’t last for long.”
Suddenly, Zack’s arms uncrossed. His hands flew wildly up in the air, and he began slapping his face with both hands.
“Ow! Cut it out, Erin!” he yelled, trying to squirm away. “Let go!”
We heard Erin laugh as Zack slapped himself a few more times, then finally managed to wrestle out of her grip.
“One minute,” April announced from behind us.
“Ow! You hurt me!” Zack said, scowling and rubbing his red cheeks.
Erin laughed again.
“You still feel okay?” I asked, glancing into the mirror.
“Fine. Stop worrying, Max,” Erin scolded.
My T-shirt suddenly pulled up over my head. Erin laughed.
“Give me a break!” I cried, spinning away.
“Two minutes,” April announced.
I heard the attic stairs creaking. A few seconds later, Whitey poked his head in. This time, he stopped in the doorway and peered into the room without entering.
“Go back downstairs, boy,” I told him. “Go down.”
He stared back at me as if considering my request. But he didn’t budge from the doorway.
I didn’t want to take another chance of him getting too close to the mirror. So I grabbed him by the collar and guided him to the stairs. Then it took a while for the dumb dog to get the idea that he was supposed to go down the stairs!
When I returned to the little room, April had just called out four minutes. Zack was pacing impatiently back and forth in front of the mirror. I guess he couldn’t wait for it to be his turn.
I found myself thinking about Lefty. Lefty knew I had called everyone and canceled the competition. So why had he called Zack, Erin, and April and told them it was back on?
Just one of his practical jokes, I decided.
I’d have to find a way to pay him back for this.
Something really evil …
“Eight minutes,” April said, stretching.
“Pretty good,” Zack told Erin. “Sure you don’t want to quit now? There’s no way you can win. Why not save everyone the time?”
“Do you still feel okay?” I asked anxiously.
No reply.
“Erin?” I called, searching around as if I had a chance of spotting her. “You feel okay?”
No reply.
“Erin — don’t mess around. It’s not funny!” I cried.
“Yeah. Answer us!” Zack demanded.
Still no reply.
Glancing into the mirror, I saw April’s reflection, caught her horrified expression. “Erin’s gone,” she uttered, her voice a frightened whisper.
“Erin — where are you?” I shouted.
When she didn’t reply, I ran over to the string. Just as I grabbed it, I heard footsteps outside the room. A few seconds later, a can of Coke came floating through the door.
“Miss me?” Erin asked playfully.
“You scared us to death!” I cried, my voice squeaking.
Erin laughed. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“That wasn’t funny, Erin,” Zack said sternly. For once he was agreeing with me. “You really did scare us.”
“I got thirsty,” Erin replied. The Coke can tilted up. We saw Coke start to pour out of it. The
liquid abruptly disappeared as it flowed into Erin’s mouth.
“I guess being invisible makes you really thirsty,” Erin explained. “So I slipped downstairs and got a Coke.”
“But you should’ve told us,” April scolded, her eyes turned back to her watch. “Nine minutes.”
“You shouldn’t go downstairs,” I added heatedly. “I mean, what if my mom saw you?”
“Saw me?”
“Well … you know what I mean,” I muttered.
Erin laughed. I didn’t think it was funny.
Why was I the only one taking this seriously?
Erin beat Lefty’s record and kept going. When April called out twelve minutes, Zack asked Erin if she wanted to come back.
No reply.
“Erin? Are you goofing on us again?” I demanded.
Still no reply.
I could feel my throat tighten once again with fear. I walked over and pulled the string. My hand was shaking as I pulled it. I prayed silently to myself that Erin would return okay.
The light went out. The three of us waited tensely for Erin to come back.
After what seemed an endless wait, she shimmered back into view. She turned quickly away from the mirror, a triumphant smile on her face. “The new champ!” she declared, raising her fists in a gesture of victory.
“You’re okay?” I asked, my feeling of fear refusing to leave.
She nodded. “Just fine, worrywart.” She stepped away from the mirror, walking unsteadily.
I stared at her. Something about her looked different.
She looked perfectly okay. Not pale or sick-looking or anything. But something was different. Her smile? Her hair? I wished I could figure out what.
“Max, pull the string.” Zack’s eager voice jerked me away from my thoughts. “Let’s go, man. I’m going for fifteen minutes.”
“Okay. Get ready,” I said, glancing at Erin as I grabbed for the string. She flashed me a reassuring smile.
But something about her smile was different.
Something.
But what?
I pulled the string. Zack vanished in the flash of bright light.
“Return of the Invisible Man!” he cried in a deep voice.
“Not so loud,” I warned him. “My mom’ll hear you downstairs.”
Erin had lowered herself to the floor beside April. I walked over and stood over her. “You sure you’re okay?” I asked. “You don’t feel dizzy or weird or anything?”