4:

It was several hours later and Andy had carried the magic kit to his room. With a disappointed sigh, he sat it next to his desk. "Well, there's five weeks allowance down the drain." He said to himself.

Mom entered the room. Seeing the sad look on her son's face, she put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry your new toy wasn't what you were expecting, Hon."

Andy shrugged. "It's ok. It's just that the commercial made it look like a real magic kit! Like something a magician would use in Las Vegas! But it's just a dumb toy."

Mom smiled and tucked in his shirt tag, which was sticking out the back. "I have an idea," she said. "Why don't we eat dinner, then I'll make some Sparkly Juice and popcorn, and then you, Molly, and I can watch a movie in the living room! You can even pick it out!"

Andy brightened. "Ok! I know just what I wanna watch too!"

"Good, now go wash up for dinner. And tell Molly to do the same. We're having pork chops and applesauce!"

Andy grinned. "Pork chopth…and applesauce!" He lisped.

"That's my boy!" As Andy ran out, Mom followed, their footsteps echoing on the stairs.

As the humans disappeared, the bedroom came back to life. The toys gathered around the magic kit.

Hamm read the box: "'J.L.'s Junior Magic Kit! Ages eight and up. Impress your friends and family with over twenty-five tricks! Become a real magician and keep them guessing for hours!'"

"More like keeping them guessing how much you got ripped off," Woody muttered. His eyes slid over to Merlina. "No offense, Merlina."

"None taken."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Rex waved his arms. "I wanna see inside! I wanna see the magic!"

"Rex, there is no magic." Said Buzz. "The kit is a sham."

"Maybe…" said Hamm. He and the other guys were looking at Merlina. "Merlina can show us how it's supposed to work!"

Merlina gave a half smile and shrugged. "Well, I do know how to do every trick. I memorized the instruction manual while I was packed inside."

Buzz climbed up on the desk and started to push the box over. Woody's face became alarmed. "No!" He cried. "No! No! No! You'll…"

The box crashed to the floor and Woody groaned. "Make noise."

Quickly, the toys looked at the door to see if anyone had heard but the crash had apparently missed the humans' ears.

Woody sighed in relief. Buzz had already jumped down and was standing on the box. He pulled open the lid. Everyone stood over the kit and peeked inside.

Hamm looked disapproving. "For crying out loud, even Rex's plastic is more durable than this!"

"Yeah!" Rex paused. "What does 'durable' mean?"

The bedroom door opened quietly and Bo entered. She joined Jessie, who was at the back of the crowd. "What's going on?"

"Merlina's going to show us some magic."

Merlina was shuffling the deck of cards as quick as a professional gambler. "I need a volunteer!" She announced, then pointed to Woody. "You!"

"Me?" She pulled him in front of the crowd. Bo felt her stomach lurch.

Merlina held up the deck. "Pick a card."

"Well, ok." As Merlina looked away, Woody pulled a card, looked at it, and then put it back.

Merlina shuffled them again. "Do you know any magic words?"

"Uh," Woody shrugged. "Bippity-boppitty-boo?" Some of the other toys snickered.

"Good enough." Suddenly, Merlina threw the cards into the air. They showered down over the toys. As Woody looked around at the mess, she said, "Mr. Cowboy…" then reached into his vest and pulled out the two of hearts. "Was this your card?"

As the other toys clapped, impressed, Bo looked away. When Merlina had reached into his vest, the twinge had become a full blown pang. What is wrong with you? She probably only chose Woody because he has a vest to hide the card in! Still, she was feeling more and more uncomfortable by the minute.

She was uncomfortable when Merlina pulled out a coin from behind Woody's ear. She was uncomfortable when Merlina stood inside a cardboard box and had Woody stick plastic swords through it. She was uncomfortable when Merlina placed a rubber band around two of Woody's fingers and magically made it jump to the other two. She was uncomfortable when Merlina placed a card in his hand and made it float. And she was incredibly uncomfortable when Woody and Merlina held hands and took a bow to the applause of the other toys.

"You are a very good magician," Woody complemented as the crowd disbanded.

"And you are a very good magician's assistant," said Merlina.

Woody felt a small hand inside his. He looked down and saw Bo. "Oh hi, Bo. Did you see the magic act?"

She nodded. "You did a wonderful job, Honey." The emphasis was subtle, but Woody still caught it.

"Well, uh, it was all Merlina," he said quickly. "I was just the assistant." He smiled at Merlina but it quickly disappeared when Bo's grip on his hand became tighter. "Ow!"

"Sorry."

Jessie suddenly appeared. "Hey Merlina, some of the guys want to know how you did those neat-o tricks!" She took the other doll's arm. "Come on!"

Woody watched them go. "Hey, Bo…" He looked at where she had been standing but she was gone. "Bo?" He looked around. "Bo?"