Eliza Martin keeps a steady rhythm One foot the next One foot the next He’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before The tent falls silent as he reaches the top He hears nothing but his own heartbeat Shakily he steps out onto the platform his knees quivering A murmur ripples through the crowd and camera lights flash like tiny explosions through the big top He moves slowly arms outstretched keeping himself balanced as he carefully steps up to the edge He looks down and sees it a tiny blue speck just under his toes the pool of water he’s about to dive into The crowd oohs and aahs Their laughter laughter swirls and he hears Grimaldi the Lion roar from his cage backstage He takes a deep breath The one He stops A memory hits him so hard that he doubles over with the heartache the pain in his chest The crowd gasps and somewhere a woman screams Quickly he lurches back upright The show must go on The only 2
Harvey and the Extraordinary For a second he stands still and shuts his eyes Willing the memories to leave The laughter the little hand in his Big green eyes and freckles He lifts his foot to step again but not without her Standing tall worlds above the crowd he thinks of the worn school picture And there she is His little girl A drumroll splits through the air THE EXTRAORDINARY He jumps 3
Chapter One There are very few truly extraordinary things in the world You see extraordinary is extremely rare Extraordinary only comes around on a snow day a cheap movie Tuesday or in a carton of cold chocolate milk Extraordinary is the golden star on your book report brightly painted toenails and stained glass windows in unexpected places It can only be found in orange the fruit not the color It’s as special as a blue raspberry sour candy or the perfect horizontal striped T-shirt lovingly worn in and still warm from the dryer The word extraordinary is extraordinary in itself because it ends in a Y which is the only letter that has a tail And only the most 5
