Haven [1] A Stranger Magic Read Online Free

of myself, a part that I will never get back.”
    Sam didn’t really know what all that meant, but it sure made her miserable when she did talk about him. His mother would always have her husband’s love, and Sam, well Sam shared his father’s fascination with dragons. It was strange, he thought, to miss someone he never even knew. But he did, and that was something he would have to learn to live with.
    Sam reluctantly spun around in his bed and placed his feet on the cold, wooden floor. He needed to get moving or he would be staring at the inside of his room for the next week. Ten minutes had already passed since his mother warned him to get up. There was no way he had time to clean his room now. Sam looked around for the shorts he had on last night, but they were nowhere in sight. He must have taken them off in the middle of the night, because all he had on now were his boxers. He would need to find them; those shorts contained the only evidence of the vanishing stranger. He still could not believe what had happened. The man had actually disappeared right in front of his eyes! Sam made a mental note to keep his mouth shut and say nothing to anyone about the disappearing stranger. Not even to Travis. A person thinking you were crazy was one thing; talking as if you were crazy was something totally different.
    Sam stood up slowly. He was still tired. He glanced up and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
    Hello there, Mr. Average, he thought with a yawn and a stretch.
    There was no other way to put it—he felt so ordinary. He wasn’t tall, he wasn’t short; he was just average size. His face was thin and his ears were small. He had a short nose and full lips, like his mother. He wasn’t sure what features he had of his father’s, but whatever they were he hoped they hadn’t shown up yet. Because if this was all there would ever be, Sam felt cheated. He stared at himself in disgust. His light blue eyes were probably the only feature that stood out whatsoever. They were an ice blue, just like his mother’s and sister’s. People commented on them all the time.
    “Wow, your eyes are cool!” or, “Wicked eyes dude!” they said. Once a girl even told him, “You have the most amazing eyes!” which was kind of cool.
    At least that’s what he thought she had said. Her name was Mary Bartlett and it was sixth grade during lunch. They were standing in line when she turned around and told him. Although, it was hard to tell exactly what she said, because she had half a roll in her mouth. But Sam was quite sure that’s what she said through the spray of bread crumbs.
    Today was the last day of eighth grade and Sam would finish out the year looking like crap. He had circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, his normally olive-colored skin was unusually pale—like the living dead kind of pale—and he had the worst case of bed head. He had bed head every morning, but today it was particularly bad. He had large lumps on every side of his head making his short, straight hair look curly. It also made him look ten inches taller. It was like a bomb went off inside his hair.
    Sam stood there slumped over with his oversized Garfield boxers and giant hair thinking to himself, Nothing like giving the ladies something to remember you by. The words “epic fail” came to mind.
    Quickly, he straightened his back, puffed out his chest, and flexed his arms in the mirror.
    “Welcome to the gun show!” he said as he tried to flex his skinny muscle-free arms. Sam was checking to see if by some sort of miracle his arms had sprouted muscles since the last time he had checked. They hadn’t.
    Just then he heard a snort from the hallway.
    “Oh yeah, well I want my money back!” Sarah said, letting out a giggle.
    Sam whipped his head around so fast he thought it would spin off his body. The blood rushed to his face. Embarrassed and still in his underwear, he panicked.
    “GET OUT!” he yelled.
    Sarah did not move.
    “You are so