A SMACK OF COMMON SENSE
by
Duckling
Chapter 3
The Chapters
A
tall, attractive couple entered the library and made its way past the rows
of tables to the one in the corner where Frank Hardy sat alone, hands
tucked under his chin.
Joe
Hardy noted the unusual pose his brother had assumed and stepped quickly
over to him. Vanessa Bender hurried one step behind, wondering idly where
Callie might be.
Resting
his hand causally on Frank’s shoulder, Joe leaned over to peer into his
brother’s face. He was startled to see misery and guilt reflected in the
warm brown eyes he knew so well.
“What’s
wrong,” the blond boy asked softly as he moved to slide into a seat
beside his brother. Vanessa took the only chair left at the table;
apparently Callie was still somewhere in the library, her books still
piled neatly before the single empty chair.
Frank
sighed and looked down at his hands. How was he ever going to tell them
that he had locked his girlfriend inside the lamp? He suddenly understood
how Callie must have felt the second she had made that dreadful wish.
“Where’s
Callie?” Vanessa asked, nodding to the other girl’s belongings.
Frank
toyed idly with a pencil and sighed again. He gestured helplessly at the
lamp. “In there,” he replied weakly.
Vanessa
and Joe exchanged uneasy glances. Surely this must be some sort of sick
joke. They glanced at Frank again before regarding one another with a look
of alarm.
Joe
reached out and touched his brother’s arm softly. “You . . .um,
don’t really mean that, do you?” he asked cautiously.
Frank
turned sorrowful eyes upon his brother and both blond teens sighed.
“How
did it happen?” Vanessa asked a bit hesitantly, as she regarded the lamp
warily.
“I
. . . I don’t know what came over me,” Frank confessed. “She was
muttering some gibberish about wanting to write up what happened to Joe,
and I had this crazy urge to hit her over the head with the lamp.”
He
looked up at the other two. “So I did,” He said bleakly.
“Remind
me to toss out all my magic lamps,” Vanessa stated emphatically.
“Did
you wish her away?” Joe asked somewhat nervously.
“No,”
Frank replied solemnly. “I would never do that.”
“No,”
the older boy continued, “I just tapped her lightly with the lamp. And
–poof– she was gone.”
“And?”
Joe prodded, certain there was more to come.
“And,” Frank sighed, once again toying with the pencil. “I- er- released the real genie. Callie was imprisoned in his place.”
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.