“Wake up, Marjorie. It’s a beautiful day.” Marjorie’s mother was shaking her.

Marjorie yawned and stretched. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Her mother must have gone to wake Nick, she thought. Marjorie couldn’t see her anywhere.

The slats on the venetian blind turned to let in the morning sunshine.

Marjorie heard the tap of heels on the floor. She sat up in bed. “Mother!”

“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Gordon’s voice came from over by the window.

“I lost my house key. Did you find it?” Marjorie jumped out of bed. At once she knew that was the wrong thing to do. Now she might bump into her mother. Marjorie sat down on the bed again.

“I found it, dear.” Mrs. Gordon seemed to be coming nearer. “You’re lucky. It was quite invisible where you left it on the doorknob. I just happened to touch it. You must be more careful what you do with this key!”

Marjorie felt her mother’s hands slip the string over her head. A second later she saw her mother’s face. Mrs. Gordon looked as if she were going to faint.

There was no time to lose. Marjorie yanked off the key and dropped it into the bedcovers. She stood up and hugged her mother. “Are you all right?”

Mrs. Gordon blinked. “I am now, but I must have blacked out for a minute.”

Marjorie led her mother away from the bed. “Sit in the rocking chair. I’ll get you some water.”

“Never mind,” Mrs. Gordon said. “If you want to do something for me, wake Nick. I have to get your father up. We’re late this morning.”

Marjorie went down the hall to Nick’s room.

He was curled into a ball in the middle of his bed. The air conditioner was on, and Nick had a blanket pulled up to his ears.

“Nick, get up!” Marjorie turned off the air conditioner and pulled down the blanket. “The key is magic again! It’s going to get us into trouble if we don’t break the spell.”

Nick’s eyes were still shut. “Say that again, Marge. What’s going on?”

Marjorie told him what had happened. “I promised Mother I’d wake you. Please get up.” She ran back to her room to get dressed.

This morning everybody had overslept. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon rushed through breakfast and went off to work before Nick and Marjorie had finished eating.

Marjorie finished her cornflakes and went upstairs to find the key. She thought she’d have a hard time, but as soon as she touched the sheet, she felt the string. A moment later she hung the key around her neck and looked into the mirror.

Marjorie couldn’t see herself at all.