The tooth fairy, Santa, the Queen of England, all made up concepts, an idea held up only by common agreement.
But magic, there has always been a part of me that wished it were real, not just a sleight of hand. Something in this world we can't fathom: the unknown of the unexpected.
Growing up, it was an obsession to wield this power. The closest thing to common practice was magicians; They were not the mages of my dreams.
As with most supposedly magical things, growing up allowed me to realize it was just a sleight of hand, a joke, and it seems the joke was on me.
While my reality was shattered and boughten back in a dull gray, a part of me lived; The glimmer of mystery shone through the dreary clouds of reality.
For the first time, I was excited to see the note, Boketto Baretta, a supposed magician.
Today's address was a local theater.
The seats were filled, but there were multiple shows today. As to whether they are here for her or the show after, I couldn't say.
A gray-haired woman comes strutting out on stage, her long hair flowing gracefully behind her, the red hair ribbons adorning the sides of her head. She wears a white cloth leotard and red thigh-highs.
Between her voluptuous body and her revealing outfit, sleight of hand must be pretty easy.
"Welcome, my faithful fans, my name is Tauschen the Talismanic."
The crowd cheers, clapping in anticipation.
"Levitation, creation, teleportation, those are just a few of the feats possible with magic."
She steps forward, she flips out her white and red cape. She's wearing compressed red sleeves with French cuffs on the end. Her outfit looks more like a Playboy Bunny than a magician.
The theater goes dark as she steps back to a table.
With a smirk she throws out her hand, "They said there is no such thing as infinite, but I beg to differ!" pulling on the turtleneck, she stretches the collar of her leotard, digging into it, reaching between her breasts, she pulls out a handkerchief.
She dangles the cloth in front of the crowd. "Now watch as I make this endless." Clenching her fist, she taps her hand with a small wand.
People sit on the edge of their seats, breaths are held.
"Ta - da!" Holding out her hand, the handkerchief is gone... kinda.
There is still a piece of the silk peeking out between her fingers.
A lot of the crowd slouches in disappointment.
She looks at her hand as she begins to notice the fault. She begins sweating. "It seems some of you are quite perceptive, but I assure you, this next trick is real magic."
She begins to pull a handkerchief from her red compression sleeves.
For a few moments, it looks endless, but halfway through, the cloth seems to have gotten untied as its endlessness falls short.
The crowd's eyes have gone flat with disdain.
She's really sweating now. "Well that's not it-" Leaning down, she tries to pick of the handkerchief, only for her white top hat to fall off her head, causing a bunny to jump out of it.
"Bunners!"
She chases after the bunny, managing to catch it.
She awkwardly laughs, putting the bunny back in her hat and on her head.
"Alright, well, it seems my assistant was so excited to see you all and decided to make his appearance early." She frantically looks around at her supplies. Temporarily pausing, she turns back to the crowd with a smile. "So... how about, can I get one volunteer?"
The crowd seems to have lost its faith, as no one raises their hand.
An awkward silence ensues.
Her expression weakens to a beg. "Theres no need to be nervous. I'll take anyone."
Silence continues.
Since I'm gonna be playing hero anyway, might as well get a head start.
I begrudgingly raise my hand. "I'll do it."
The entire crowd looks at me with pity and relief from that release of awkwardness.
Her eyes light up. "Really-!? I mean- prepare to be amazed!"
Walking up to the stage, she eagerly awaits.
Now is not a good time for a hard on, but Boketto's cloth leotard is struggling to contain her voluptuous body as it jiggles at the smallest movement. Her nervous sweat causes the cloth to cling to her clothes.
So, I look in the crowd for some old guy and just stare at him, which diffused the excitement traveling to my lower body.
"Would our brave volunteer like to state their name?"
I feel like I'm too old to be the one on stage.
"My name is Graves." I say awkwardly.
"Graves? I didn't realize this was a funeral; I thought it was a magic show!" She takes a pause, as though waiting for a laugh.
A laugh that never came, just some kid who started crying.
"Alright! Moving on..."
Even if her magic tricks aren't good, I'll commend her for her resilience.
She coughs in an attempt to reset the mood. "So, Graves, for my first trick, I shall magically guess your card!"
She proceeds to hold out a deck of cards. Shuffling them, she begins to sift through them. She faces the cards toward me.
"Now, pick a card." She whips her head away, closing her eyes. "And don't let me see it!"
"...Right." Taking a king of hearts, I nod. "Okay."
"Alright, now show it to the crowd."
I hold the card out.
"Now put it back in."
I do, after which she shuffles the deck once more.
Turning back to the crowd, she smiles as she does a fancy card trick to shuffle the cards. "Now, don't blink, or you just might miss it." She turns to me with a confident smirk. "Was this your card?"
She holds up a 3 of diamonds.
"...no."
Yet, she just snickers. "I must have misplaced it; would you check your pockets?"
Reaching into my pocket, there really is a card there.
Pulling out the card, it's... a 9 of spades...
She puffs her chest out confidently. "Was this your card?"
I wince, slowly shaking my head.
"...it...wasn't?"
She starts awkwardly laughing as she turns to the crowd. "He's not trying to trick me, is he?"
The crowd shakes their heads.
She purses her lips, letting out a quiet whimper, as though this defeat physically hurt her.
"Well, it seems I was the one who was tricked."
Now, most of the crowd begins to walk away.
"Wait! Wait! This final act will truly amaze you!"
Some of the people turn with curiosity.
"To prove my magic, I shall risk my own life for this act!"
People cautiously sit back down.
She wheels out a box with holes in the sides.
"The Sword Box! I shall impale the box with swords and emerge unscathed!
With a strained smile, she opens the box as she begins to tuck herself inside.
I grab her wrist. "Let me do this."
She looks up at me with wide eyes before they weaken. She winces, as though knowing it would have failed.
She attempts to hide her gaze from me as she plays with her sweaty hands. "Well- the truth is..."
"I am a huge fan of your work, so I trust you completely." I lie with a thumbs up.
Her eyes lighten up as she confidently nods. "Right! I won't let you down.
Taking a deep inhale, I begin to cram myself in the wooden box.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my brave assistant has stepped up. Prepare yourself for the greatest final act!" Her voice sounds shaky.
Grabbing the first sword, she drives it into the box.
It zips past my head as I narrowly tilt my head.
The air has gone quiet, but it's no longer awkward; I can tell it's from anticipation.
She drives in the second sword.
THIS TIME IT IMPALED MY LEG!
FUCK!
Biting my lip, I attempt to stay quiet, but this really hurts!
After being impaled with five swords, the crowd claps, failing to realize I'm dying in here.
My vision starts to go as reality blurs.
The blood begins to seep out of the box, followed by screams from the crowd.
The box slams open.
The last thing I see is Boketto's ghostly, panicked face...