and sometimes it got cold in the winter but she had never been really cold or hungry If Meri used her magic mirror Sarah could tell her one of her wonderful stories The book was full of Sarah's stories but Meri wanted to hear them for herself Meri loved stories Meri looked at the mirror again When she finished reading the book then maybe she would chat with Sarah for a day She wouldn't make her stay days and days Meri nodded to herself firmly and dove back into the book A few minutes later her little brother Thomas peeked around her doorway He held up a deck of cards Do you want to play Go Fish Not right now she said I'm reading Thomas walked in and leaned over her to look at the book That looks boring Cards are more fun Meri closed the book with her finger between the pages to hold her place Why don't you go play with Kyle
I'm not allowed We climbed up on his shed roof and dropped dirt bombs on Mr Colby's dog Meri nodded Yep that would do it You and Kyle should think these ideas through Thomas rolled his eyes That wouldn't be much fun Why don't you play with Kat She only wants to play dolls and dress up She's such a girl I'm a girl too Meri said She's worse Meredith laughed Well I'm not going to play right now I'm reading She looked pointedly at her little brother waiting for him to leave Instead he walked over to poke at her mirror How come you don't talk to your mirror anymore What Meri yelped She'd kept her magic mirror very secret I heard you talking and talking in here but you don't do it anymore
Mom explained that to you Meredith said carefully Remember about the talking books that I download from the library Thomas looked at her I know when I hear you talking Maybe it just sounded like me Thomas sighed a huge dramatic sigh Okay don't tell me Nobody tells me anything He stomped out of the room Meredith turned back to her book For a moment she just stared at the pages She thought about what Thomas said Thomas might figure out that her mirror was magic He was smart And he would tell everyone She planned to tell her family someday But she liked having something that was just hers In a big family that didn't happen often She didn't want her nosy little brother messing it up With a sigh of her own she shook off the worry and turned back to her book
