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"No, but I keep him in my closet in case I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep," I said. "I could hide him in my bag. No one would know."

I nodded. "What if I have a nightmare?"

"I can bring Baboo," I said. That was my favorite stuffed animal when I was little. A small black bear with a soft black nose.

"Take a book with you. Then if you can't sleep, you can pull out your flashlight, and read for a bit until you get sleepy," she answered.

"You don't really sleep with him anymore, do you?" said Mom.

"I know, me too!" she said. "Though I know you're going to have a great time, Auggie. You sure you want me to pack Baboo?"

"What if I can't sleep at night?" I asked.

"Then let's do that." Mom nodded, getting Baboo from inside my closet.

"Your teachers will be there, sweetie," she said. "And Jack. And your friends."

Mom helped me pack the night before the big trip. We put all the clothes I was taking on my bed, and she folded everything neatly and put it inside the bag while I watched. It was a plain blue rolling duffel, by the way: no logos or artwork.

"I wish they allowed cell phones," I said.

She stuck Baboo deep inside the bag and then stuffed the last of my T-shirts on top of him. "So many clothes for just two days!"

"Yeah, but way down where no one can see him," I said.

"Okay." She smiled, nodding like she understood. "Anyway, honey, you have to promise me you won't forget to put on the bug spray, okay? On the legs, especially when you're hiking through the woods. It's right here in the front compartment."

"Oh, I took that down ages ago," I answered.

"Yep." She nodded, smiling. "Three days and two nights." She zipped up the duffel bag and picked it up. "Not too heavy. Try it."

I picked up the bag. "Fine." I shrugged.

She sat on the bed. "Hey, what happened to your Empire Strikes Back poster?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'm trying to, you know, change my image a bit," I explained.

She shook her head. "Huh, I didn't notice that before."

"And put on your sunscreen," she said. "You do not want to get a sunburn. And don't, I repeat, do not forget to take your hearing aids off if you go swimming."

"Three days and two nights," I corrected her.

"Aye, aye, sir," I said, saluting.

"Would I get electrocuted?"

I nodded and climbed into bed. She started to lie down next to me.

She smiled and pulled me over.

"It's only nine o'clock, Mom!"

"No, but you'd be in real hot water with Daddy because those things cost a fortune!" she laughed. "I put the rain poncho in the front compartment, too. Same thing goes if it rains, Auggie, okay? Make sure you cover the hearing aids with the hood."

"Definitely." She nodded.

I nodded. She got up and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Okay, so I say we get to bed now."

"I'm not really even talking about your height," she said.

"Suppose I hate it there?"

"You don't need to put me to bed tonight, Mom," I said. "I'll read on my own till I get sleepy."

"I'm still the shortest one in my grade."

"You're going to have a great time, Auggie."

"Do I look taller?"

"Your bus leaves at six a. m. tomorrow. You don't want to be late. Come on. Chop chop. Your teeth are brushed?"

"I can't believe how much you've grown up this year, Auggie," she said softly, putting her hands on the sides of my face.

"Then we can read them together," she said, and threw me a kiss.

"Really?" She nodded, impressed. She squeezed my hand and gave it a kiss. "Okay then, goodnight, love. Have sweet dreams."

She turned on the little reading light beside the bed.

"I'll write you letters," I said as she was leaving. "Even though I'll probably be home before you guys even get them."

… though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation.

"You too."

When she left my room, I took my copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe off the night table and started reading until I fell asleep.