I rushed downstairs and knocked on the door to Josh's apartment.
"Hi," I blurted out when Josh came to the door.
"Can I see your dad's one-way mirror?"
Mr. Chen appeared behind Josh with a smile.
"Follow me," he said.
Josh, Jenny, and I followed Mr. Chen into a small room off the hall.
It was the first time I had ever been inside Mr. Chen's magic room.
It was amazing!
The room was filled with all sorts of magic props and supplies.
There were top hats, colored boxes, packs of cards, and gold coins.
There were balls of different sizes, colorful feathers, even a large saw.
Mr. Chen led me over to something that looked like a small window.
Josh had told me what a one-way mirror was, but I still had questions.
"I don't understand exactly how it works," I told Mr. Chen.
"Well," he replied, "imagine one person in a bright room and another person in a dark room.
The mirror is between them."
"Okay," I said, picturing that in my mind. "Now what?"
"When the person in the bright room looks at the mirror, all he sees is himself," Mr. Chen went on.
"Got it," I said.
Mr. Chen grinned.
"But when the person in the dark room looks at the mirror, he sees something different.
He sees the other person through the glass!"
"Wow," I said. By now I was thinking hard.
I was thinking so hard, my brain hurt.
"I think I know how to make a magic thinking box," I said finally.
"How?" asked Jenny.
"Can I borrow your one-way mirror, Mr. Chen?" I asked.
"Sure," said Mr. Chen. "I actually have an extra one."
He picked up a smaller one-way mirror and handed it to me.
"Now I just need scissors, a flashlight, and a cardboard box," I said.
I ran upstairs and got some scissors.
I also got Molly so she could join in the fun.
Jenny found a flashlight, and Josh got an old box from the Green Apple Supermarket.
First I cut a hole out of the cardboard box with the scissors.
It was just a tiny bit smaller than the one-way mirror.
Next I fitted the mirror into the hole.
"Now," I said, "who wants to try the magic thinking box first?"
"Me!" cried Molly. "Let me try it!"
"Okay," I said. "Put the box over your head."
Molly put the box over her head.
"It's dark in here," she said in a muffled voice.
"I can't see anything at all."
"Just a minute!"
I handed her the flashlight.
"Now turn this on and shine it into the box," I told her.
Molly turned on the flashlight inside the box.
Then I turned off the light in the room.
"Can you see us?" I asked Molly.
"No," said Molly.
"All I can see is myself in the mirror."
"We can see you though!" cried Josh.
"It works!" I shouted.
"No, it doesn't," said Molly.
"You can see me, but you can't tell what I'm thinking!"
I looked at her face through the glass.
Her eyes were bright, and she was grinning.
"She looks excited," I thought.
But she also looked a little suspicious of my box.
"You're thinking that you want me to put on the box," I said.
"So that you can tell what I'm thinking."
Molly gasped. "That's right, Iggy!"
She yanked the box off her head and looked at me.
"Iggy," she said. "You did it!
You invented a magic thinking box!"
"Way to go!" said Josh, giving me a high five.
I grinned. My magic thinking box actually worked!