Читать книгу The Night Flyer's Handbook 2-Book Bundle - Philippa Dowding - Страница 6

This morning I wake up on the ceiling.

Which is odd, because I’ve never woken up there before, not that I remember, anyway. I’m pretty sure I would remember something like that. It’s not exactly the kind of thing that happens every day.

At least, not to me.

I wake up, and for a moment I can’t figure out where I am. My carpet is on the ceiling. I can’t understand why I am looking up at my bed, or why Cassie, my fat brown and white beagle, is also sitting on the ceiling.

My arms are floating out at my sides, too, and my long brown hair is dangling, well, up.

That’s when I start to wake up and figure it out.

I’m up. Too far up. Up on the ceiling, in fact. And everything that is generally on the ground (like the carpet and my dog), is too far down. I’m not sure what to do. I try pointing my toes toward the carpet, but nothing happens. My feet just rise again and rest softly on the ceiling behind me.

I slowly circle the room, making swimming motions with my arms. Cassie circles around beneath me, worried, looking up, whining and wagging her tail. That’s when I hear someone walking along the hallway toward my room.

My mom knocks on the door. “Gwennie! Are you up?” she calls.

“Yes! Yes, Mom, I’m up! Don’t come in!” I call back.

I certainly am up. Way up. I get a little panicky. I do not want my mom to come into the room and find me stuck to the ceiling, like a little kid’s party balloon. I can’t begin to imagine the freak-out that will cause. I have to do something.

I air-swim gently along the ceiling in my pink nightie until I bump into the top of the bedpost, which I grab with both hands. As soon as I touch it, I fall like a rock and smack hard onto the floor.

My mom opens the door. I’m sitting beside the bed, rubbing my behind, which took quite a beating when I fell.

“Gwennie, are you okay?” She looks concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah, Mom, I just fell out of bed. I’m fine.”

She looks a little worried but seems convinced. “Okay, hurry up and get ready for school.” She leaves and shuts the door.

Cassie comes over and licks my face. My dog is the only one who knows what a liar I am.

This is an interesting start to the day. A troubling and unusual start, but definitely interesting.

You might think that I’d be disturbed at waking up on the ceiling of my room. You’d be right. I really should feel disturbed and perhaps a little worried about my sanity, but honestly, I can’t say that I am. A lot of weird things have been going on with me lately. Mostly puberty, I guess. I mean, growing three inches in three months, getting your period, and growing boobs isn’t exactly normal. Well, everyone says it is, but it doesn’t feel so normal.

So what’s a little early-morning floating around your room compared to that?

It happened. I wasn’t dreaming. I woke up on the ceiling.

So what am I feeling?

Nothing. Just more of the same nothing, I guess.