The Magic of Talents
By Anna Micallef, age 11

Gary was crying, as usual. He sighed as he looked at other children, laughing happily. Nobody could stand him. He was always nagging and crying. Excepting the fact that the biggest bully in town - Big Jim - was in his class, Gary was always making a fuss about nothing.

Suddenly, a rough shove interrupted Gary from his jealous stare. "Hey look, it's Gary the geek," shouted Big Jim. All the children started laughing. Even a teacher gave a little giggle. Since he was used to it, Gary said nothing. He miserably picked up his bag and went to his next lesson, leaving the crackles of laughter behind him. Nobody sat near him. Nobody talked to him. Nobody played with him. That's how Gary used to spend his days. Alone.

Back home it wasn't much of a difference either. His mother was too busy talking on her mobile phone and working to listen to him, and his dad was always abroad. Gary thought that orphans were much better than he was. At least they had someone to talk to and they didn't spend their lives being tormented by big bullies. Gary went dawdling upstairs. "My life is a misery!" he groaned. He was always feeling sorry for himself.

He took out his diary. His diary was the only thing that made him look forward to coming home. Since he was too much of a coward to say things face-to-face to people, he used to write all bad stuff about them in his diary: rude poems, rude jokes. He took out a pen and wrote with a grin on his face:

They think that I'm a geek,
They think that they'll get away with this.
But one day, I'll pay them back,
I'll have my revenge.

Loud voices woke Gary up from his disturbing dreams. "Time for another perfect day of school!" he said sarcastically. Gary washed and dressed. He was feeling sorry for himself. As usual. It was still early, but then Gary remembered that he had to return a book to the school library. With a piece of toast in his mouth, he left without bothering to say goodbye to his sleeping parents. Gary's heart sank as he read the sign on the library door: "CLOSED FOR TWO WEEKS" Then suddenly someone said
"What's the matter, squirt?"
Gary didn't have to turn to know that that someone was Big Jim, who was now busily reading the sign on the library door.
"You know, squirt," he said with a grin on his face "we could all use a little vacation away from you."
Before Gary knew it, Big Jim pushed the library door, threw Gary inside and locked the door behind him.

Gary immediately panicked. He saw a phone and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Unfortunately, the floor was slippery and Gary went skidding into a shelf, which was full of books. When he opened his eyes he saw a thick book on his lap. It was covered with dust and cobwebs and was yellow with age. It read: "THE MAGIC BOOK" Gary opened it to see a page that wasn't in a better state than the cover. He read out loud:

"Power of a tiger's claw,
Dragon's breath and lion's paw.
Monkey's tooth and lion's cage
Strengthen every other page
Upon which my eyes will look,
GIVE ME THE POWER OF THE MAGIC BOOK!"

Suddenly there was a sound of thunder and a hurricane surrounded Gary. He felt dizzy and he wanted to go home. Not only because he was sick, but also because he wanted to get a proper look at that book.

Anxiously, Gary sneaked out of school. The rumbling sound had caused the library door to open and although Gary shivered at the thought of running away, he was too anxious to wait one whole afternoon to read the Magic Book. When he arrived home, Gary rushed upstairs, thinking about the book's title. Magic? Could it be.? Gary locked himself into his room and turned the second page. He decided to do a little experiment. He would read out loud another page and if something happened, then that book would be a magic book. And more importantly, he would have the power of the magic book.

Gary took a deep breath and read:

"A fox is both clever and sly,
A pigeon-brain is not, although it may try.
May the wise fox help the one
Who is trying his best to get his brain
RUN!"

Gary waited. Still nothing happened.
"Oh pooh!" he said gloomily.
Then suddenly, a voice said, "Well old top, better luck next time! Fancy a sip of tea?" and to Gary's greatest astonishment, he saw his cat wearing an expensive leather cap and talking! Gary pulled himself together to say
"Yoooouuu cccaaan ttalk?"
"That's how it seems, old chap."
The cat said this so smartly that Gary felt small near him. At first Gary was afraid, but then he grinned.
"That book is magic," he thought.
"I can do things to people. People I dislike."

The next morning the talking cat woke Gary up.
"Old top, wake up old chap!"
Gary smiled. Usually he hated to wake up to go to school, but that day, Gary planned to have a little fun in school, especially with Big Jim. He also planned to take an extra book with him.

"Hey look, a freak escaped from the freak show!"
Gary sighed. "The early morning routine." he thought. Then he smiled. "But not for long!"
He took the magic book out of his bag and read:

"The person who thinks that he is big,
Is telling a big fib.
For he who says 'I'm big oh my!'
Is no bigger than a fly!"

Before Gary started reading there were screams of laughter, but after he finished, everyone was staring in great astonishment as they noticed that Big Jim was gone. At that moment, Gary easily grabbed a certain fly, since it was flying really slowly, and fled to the school bathroom. Gary put that fly in a wash-hand basin and, in a moment, that fly turned into BIG JIM!
"What happened?" said a confused Jim.
"Listen," Gary said in a very strict tone, "I have the power to do stuff now. If you tell anyone, you'll be sorry. I could turn you into a fly for ten minutes and I could turn you into something much worse for the rest of your life!"
And with that, together with a chuckled laugh, Gary roughly pushed Big Jim. That afternoon, Gary, for the first time in his life, went home happily. He thought that Big Jim deserved being tormented and being turned into a fly.
"He was always acting as if he's something out of this world." Gary said to the talking cat, which was now snoozing on Gary's bed, and was too tired to answer back. Gary smiled. That day, he had paid back Big Jim and he planned to pay back much more people.

The next day, Gary woke up with a smile on his face.
"What a beautiful day!" he said. "Perfect for casting spells."

At school everyone deserted Gary. Even Big Jim. At first Gary thought that Big Jim had told everyone about his 'talent', but then Gary noticed that Big Jim was too afraid. When Gary arrived home he was in a very bad mood. He found hairballs all over his room and a note from the talking cat saying that he had shaved today because he had to go out with a tabby-cat. Gray then fell on his bed exhausted, only to hear his parents shouting, because he had left his bag in the middle of the kitchen.
"That's it," Gary bellowed. He took out the magic book and read:

"Worries, Troubles get out of my head!
I can't relax or go to bed!
Please give me wings so that I can fly
Away from these troubles before I'll cry!"

Then suddenly, Gary felt that he was shrinking, then, the next thing he knew he was a - BIRD! At that moment, the talking cat jumped from the window.
"Well look at that, my dinner is flying!" he said before he started chasing Gary all around the room.
Gary felt horrible. Sure the spell only lasted for a few minutes, but during those few minutes Gary felt helpless, lost and under somebody's spell. Then, just as the cat was going to eat him, Gary turned back to human form.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. The people who he had put spells on must have felt the same as he had. Then, from that moment on, Gary decided to use his powers for good. The first thing that he had to do was to remove Big Jim's memory.
"You'd better," said the talking cat " being turned into a fly is not an experience you'll soon forget!"
Gary read:

"All the things that I did with this book,
Be removed from the eyes that had to look
Upon the strange things that were done.
May their memory from them run!"

"Come see the eighth wonder of the world, the great Garyoo, the wonderful magician!" Gary's mother screamed at the top of her voice. She went into a big tent.
"I am very proud of you son." she said to Gary.
Gary smiled. It was really a wonderful idea. He had decided that he did not want to lose his powers. So why not do a magic show using real magic? Even the talking cat said it was a wonderful idea. At first, few people began to come, but when Gary appeared on the newspapers saying that he was the best magician in the world, loads and loads came. Gary gave a sigh of relief. Finally, everyone was happy.

Gary was happy because he loved doing magic and because his show had made him the most popular boy in school. His parents were happy because they said that he was making a great success, and even the talking cat was happy because he had a section of his own and this made him famous among the tabby-cats. So in the end, everything turned out fine, but Gary will never tell the audience about his trick.

Remember! If you have special talents, use them for good and not for bad. You don't want to be turned into a bird, do you?