The Practice
- At home, Matilda has the place to herself, which is perfect for what she wants.
- She borrows one of her dad's cigars and shuts herself in her room.
- What she's doing has something to do with helping Miss Honey, but we don't know the specifics yet.
- Matilda makes a little space for the cigar and sets to work concentrating on her special mental power to make it move.
- The movement's even easier this time and the cigar moves quickly. So Matilda challenges herself more. She wants to pick up the cigar with her mind.
- This is a lot harder than pushing it. She has to work really hard.
- After all, as anybody who's ever attempted telekinesis knows, it takes serious effort. Shmoop knows. We've tried.
- After a while, Matilda picks the cigar up just a little, just for a moment. She keeps doing it. Eventually she can keep it in the air for sixty seconds. She's that awesome.
- But this is hard work. It wipes her out and she falls asleep, just like that. Her mom has to wake her up for dinner.
- Matilda perseveres, and for a whole week, she works on moving the cigar with her mind.
- Pretty soon, she's excellent at moving the cigar in swirls and loops through the air.
- She decides she's ready.