Labracadabra (3 page)

My mom thought I had gone to my room, so when it came time to wake me up for the party she went in there. She thought I was that big lump on the bed, but when she shook it she realized that it was just my covers all bunched up from where I had forgotten to make it that morning. I'm glad I wasn't there, because I'm sure her left eyebrow went up.

She said she called my name really loud. But it must not have been that loud, 'cause I didn't hear it. She said she looked everywhere. Her room. The den. As if I would have slept on that purple plaid dog bed.

My dog watched her. She knew how important this birthday party was for me, for my future in the neighborhood. And somehow my dog did, too.

1:28.

Just as my mom was getting really worried, he ran out to the backyard. Took one sniff and hatched a plan. I know if he could have, he would have climbed up the tree and licked my face, or told my mom I was up there, but he couldn't speak English.

So there I am, fast asleep in this dream of jumping up into the clouds on Brandon's trampoline, when suddenly I hear what sounds like a drum solo. I mean it was wild—better than any rock concert. Not that I've been to one, but I could tell that it was better. It woke me right up.

And when I looked down from the tree house to see who was playing, there was my dog banging his tail on the trash cans like they were bongos. What a tail! That tail really rocked.

With one minute to go, I jumped down from the tree. My mom was so happy to see me, she started crying. Moms do funny things like that sometimes.

My dog's tail pushed me out the front door and down the block just as Brandon's mom was hanging the balloons on the mailbox. I was the first to get there. I could tell Brandon was relieved 'cause you always get afraid no one will show up at your birthday party. Even Brandon.

Brandon and I ran to his trampoline. Just the two of us on it before the rest of the crowd got there. I was jumping to touch the clouds when I saw my dog's tail as it left Brandon's yard and headed toward my house. It was wagging. He had gotten me there right on time.

That's when I knew.

If this was a multiple choice test and I could check

That night in bed I was thinking about my dog in his purple plaid bed in the den below me.

Suddenly I heard a
clunk
on the stairs. I looked out my door, and I saw my dog dragging his purple plaid bed up the stairs. He finally got it up after like an hour and put it at the top of the stairs where he could see me. He was smart. I knew it would be easier to sleep when I could see him, too.

Thump
. His tail on the hardwood floor. Good night to you, too, Larry.

That's when it hit me. Maybe it was all those breeds that Larry was made up of that made him so special. Larry was no ordinary mutt. Larry was a Labracadabra!

I
T HAPPENED AGAIN THE next Sunday at 3:40 when I was swimming.

You remember Brandon, the kid with the most potential to be my best friend? We had really hung out at his birthday party, but then his older cousins came and did double back flips on the trampoline and he forgot about me.

He was at my house, and I could tell he was getting a little bored. We were having a hard time figuring out what to do next, but I didn't want him to go home. We'd even had a double chocolate ice cream cone, but it hadn't done any good.

Just then my dog jumped into the pool. He started swimming so fast—like a motor-boat—that you couldn't even see him. He was all tail. Brandon started laughing. Then my dog's tail started wagging in circles like the wheel of my bike when I'm going a hundred miles an hour. And suddenly Brandon shouted, “Look! A rainbow!” And sure enough the spray from his tail was making a rainbow the whole length of the pool—and it's a big pool. Brandon said, “Your dog is so cool. Do you mind if I tell my mother I'll be home later?” My dog looked at me. He held his tail up, like thumbs up, and we both knew Brandon was a lock for best friend.

That night after Brandon left—yeah, he even stayed for dinner—my dog was exhausted. My mother said I should get ready for bed. I wasn't even tired, but I lay down on my bed. My dog came right in without even stopping in the doorway and lay down on the floor next to me.

It was hard for me to lie still. I wanted to see what other kind of magic his tail could do. But I knew I didn't have a lot of wiggle room with Mom and her whole, “importance of sleep when you're a kid and still growing.”

So I tried to just lie there. That's when I realized my dog knew exactly what I was feeling.

Thump
.

He was trying to tell me he was still there.

Thump
.

He was trying to tell me he would always be there.

Like a heartbeat.
Thump thump thump thump thump
.

If that isn't magic, you tell me.