Print could get to the grand finale. At ten o'clock, it was finally time for them to start.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Cameron began. "Today you will see magic right before you're very eyes! My assistant and I will show you things you've never seen before, including a new trick we will do at the end of the show. Is everyone ready?" Their parents clapped and cheered, as they always did. Cameron looked at his brother and saw the grin on his face. He's so excited. He doesn't suspect a thing. He'll never know what hit him!
They started the show by making pennies disappear and then reappear behind each others' ears. Next, Cameron made a ball in his brother's hand turn into a handkerchief (which had been hidden up his sleeve). After a few more minor tricks, the time had finally come. Cameron tried to make himself stay calm; he didn't want to mess up the trick. He had to do everything just right, then Connor would finally be gone.
The trick was done by making Connor climb into a big box, covering the box, then waving a wand in front of the box and saying the magic words. When Cameron took the cover off the box, Connor should be gone. Cameron was so nervous he thought he was going to explode.
"Abra cadabra hocus pocus pocus!" he cried as he waved the wand. When he pulled the cover away from the box, it was empty. He couldn't believe it. Connor was finally gone! His parents were cheering and clapping like crazy. Cameron took a bow and started to clean up.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked his mom.
"What do you mean?" Cameron thought he had gotten everything. He even remembered to get the ping pong balls off the floor.
"Cameron, you have to make your brother reappear. You forgot the second half of the trick." His father was laughing as he spoke. He thought the boys had done an impressive job.
"But.. I don't know how to make him come back. The book only told me how to make him disappear. Besides, I don't want him to come back! All he does is annoy me!"
"You don't think you'd miss your brother?" his mom asked.
"No way!" Cameron thought he would finally have some time to himself.
"Well, I guess Connor is kind of annoying.." his mom said. "It will be much more quiet here without him."
"Exactly." Cameron was glad to see his mom agreed.
The rest of the day, Cameron did all the things he wanted to do, but couldn't because his brother got in the way. He played his PlayStation as long as he wanted. He jumped on the trampoline in the backyard without having someone there to try to make him fall over. He even got to read at bedtime without someone interrupting him after every sentence. He thought, This is great. I should have made Connor disappear years ago!
The next morning, Cameron woke up after a great night's sleep. He rolled over to ask Connor what they were going to do that day. Then he remembered. Connor was gone. Good! Cameron thought. I didn't want him bugging me all day, anyway. When he looked at Connor's side of the bedroom, it was empty. All of Connor's stuff was gone. Wow, he thought. That was fast..
When he got downstairs, he went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He noticed Connor's chair was missing from the dining room table. After eating his cereal, Cameron decided to play more PlayStation. When he sat down in front of the TV, he saw that there was only one controller. He heard his mom in the kitchen and decided to ask about it.
"What happened to the other PlayStation controller?" he asked.
"Well, with Connor gone, why do you need two?" she answered.
Cameron thought about it and realized she was right. He shrugged it off and played the game. After ten minutes, though, he found he was bored. He tried to call his friend Jimmy and invite him over, but Jimmy wasn't home. He went back to his room and tried to read for awhile, but he kept looking at Connor's side of the room. It looked so sad with nothing there. He couldn't concentrate on his book. He wasn't used to so much silence.
As he wandered