The Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-el & Kelly Pousette

Author:Dan Bar-el & Kelly Pousette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Bump, ka-bump-bump, ka-bump-bump-ka-bump!

Each bounce fed Duane a jolt of electricity. There he was, rushing down a mountainside, with the whole world blurring around him. He felt unstoppable, invincible. He gave in to the excitement. “Whooo-heeeee!” he shouted with glee.

Bumpity-bumpity, bump-ka-bump, bump-ka-bump!

“Whooo-heee!” Duane shouted louder. “Magic, isn’t this fun?”

It was then that he noticed how quiet Magic had become. Since she was sitting in front of Duane, he couldn’t see how big her eyes had grown shortly after they pushed off the edge. He couldn’t see how hard she was clenching her teeth and how hard she was both grasping and pushing against the curl of the toboggan as they hurled through the thrilling ride that was, as she had pointed out earlier, her own brilliant idea. Magic didn’t speak because Magic was in the deep throes of terror.

But then Magic did speak. It wasn’t loud at first because it was directed more to herself than to Duane. “I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”

“What?” asked Duane.

“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”

“What was that?” Duane was straining to hear above the whoosh of the toboggan sliding over the snow and ice.

“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t . . .”

“Magic, you have to speak louder!”

And then Magic did speak louder, at the top of her voice, in fact. “I CAN’T DO THIS, DUANE!” she screamed, just before she tossed herself off the side of the toboggan.

Time instantly expanded—at least it did for Duane, at that moment. The world relaxed into a slow, steady beat, like the drip of an icicle on a cold, cloudy day. Duane twisted his neck around, following Magic’s sudden departure, watching the whole unexpected episode unravel before his eyes in slow motion. Magic jumped, and then she tumbled head over heels once, then twice, then three and a half times, until she came to a complete stop on her back, splayed onto the snow like a fox-shaped cookie cutter. The last thing Duane saw as he continued to plummet down the steep mountainside was Magic sitting up, giving herself a shake, and then waving cheerfully at Duane without a care in the world.

It was a happy image. Duane gave a sigh of relief for Magic while he turned toward the front of the toboggan, toward the portion of the thrilling adventure ride that was still unfinished and awaiting. And at the very moment he did turn back around, time snapped like a stretched elastic band. It returned Duane back to the ridiculous speed of the runaway toboggan that was hurtling him down the side of Baby Whaleback Hill (so badly named, all things considered), and the fear that Duane had set aside earlier, so as not to spoil the fun, was back now, bigger than ever. Duane was very, very afraid, and to top it off, he was now all alone.

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