The Great Quarterback Switch Read Free Page A

“Orange juice or something?”
    “No, thanks,” Michael said.
    “Me neither,” said Tom.
    They looked at each other, each waiting for the other to break the barrier. Suddenly the tall grandfather clock next to the
     fireplace bonged, jolting Michael like an electric shock. The clock bonged four more times.
    Ollie chuckled. “That’s five o’clock. That racket should jar you boys into speaking your piece. No need to be shy about it.
     We understand each other, don’t we? It’s almost as if we have the same mind at times. Right?”
    “Right,” said Michael. He took a deep breath and went on. “Mr. Pruitt, Tom and I are sure we had an ESP experience today at
     the football game. I got to thinking of plays I thought he should call, and that’s exactly what he did. He called them.”
    “I’m not surprised to hear that,” said Ollie calmly. He sat down on a worn cushioned chair and motioned Tom to sit on the
     one next to him. “You boys are unique in that you think so much alike. ESP isn’t all that strange, as you know.”
    “Well, it isn’t only
that
we were thinking about, Mr. Pruitt,” said Tom, darting a glance at his brother.
    Ollie’s eyes shifted from one boy to the other. “That so? What else have you got on your collective mind?”
    Again the brothers looked at each other, neither of them quite sure whether to bring the subject up. Then Michael thought,
We’ve gone this far. We might as well go all the way. If Ollie thinks we’ve lost our marbles, we’ll just go home and forget
     the whole thing.
    “Mr. Pruitt,” he said seriously, “you once told us that we were all just made up of particles of matter. You said that the
     day would come when a human being could transport himself to wherever he wished. Remember that?”
    Ollie nodded. “That’s right. As a matter of fact, some people believe that aliens on other planets are doing that very same
     thing this very minute.”
    “I’ve read about that, too,” said Michael. “But remember when you told us that you’re sure that two people— if they concentrated
     hard enough on it, and wished hard enough on it— could… well… could change places with each other?”
    “Of course, I remember that,” said Ollie,his eyes brightening with interest. “By deep concentration, and wishing, you put your combined thought-energies to work through
     TEC, Thought-Energy Control. Your thought-energies project your mind out of your body and it goes where you want it to go.
     Michael would slip into Tom’s clothes and Tom, into Michael,s.”
    His eyes sparkled as he continued with his explanation of the phenomenon. “For instance, if you two concentrate your thought-energies
     as hard as you can, Tom would end up sitting in the wheelchair, and you, Michael, would become the healthy athlete.”
    The boys’ eyes glowed with enthusiasm over the idea of experimenting with this wonderful phenomenon.
    Mr. Pruitt smiled. “But, remember, it will take
extra
energy.
Extra
concentration.
Extra
wishing. Chances are that you two might not make it on the first try, or even the secondor third. But you mustn’t give up. That’s the secret. It will happen. It might take a lot out of you in the beginning, but
     it will happen if you stick with it. And after you’ve done it once, it’ll come easier.”
    A proud grin spread across his wrinkled face. “Is that what you’ve got on your minds? You’d like to try TEC?”
    Michael’s heart pounded. He looked at Tom. Tom’s face was beaming.
    “Yes, we’d like to try it,” Michael said excitedly. “Before the accident that paralyzed my legs, I did nearly all the things
     that Tom does. Played football, baseball, ran in track— ”
    “He ran faster than I did,” Tom cut in. “And he was a better quarterback, too.”
    “There were a lot of things I did that he does,” Michael went on. “We thought that if we tried TEC, then I’d have a chance
     to play again.”
    “A splendid idea,” Ollie agreed