Magic.(Kevin Hughes) The Audience had no idea what to do.
They sat there…stunned.
Did they just see what they thought they saw.
Was it a trick?
No.
It was real.
Real magic.
They got scared.
And when people get scared…

*****
Edgar snickered. He had come to watch the Magician do Magic. Only there was no Magic. Just tricks, sleight of hand, distraction techniques, and some technological aides. He leaned over to his date:

“Melissa, this is not Magic. Not at all. I mean, my gosh, this doesn’t take any more skill than a pickpocket…and even less technique.”

Melissa had been enjoying the Magic Show. After all, the Billing on the Poster had named the Magician as: “The World’s Greatest Magician.” She, like most of the audience, was in awe at the seemingly effortless demonstration of Magic. He made a rabbit come out of a hat, with a very funny routine, but that was just the opener.

Then he made cards appear out of thin air. He would count to six- so you knew there were only six cards in his hand…throw out two cards…and then count to six again. He did that over and over again. The Audience (including Melissa) clapped in glee. Then he made a ring (taken from a willing volunteer) disappear. Only to show up again when the visibly upset woman volunteer said:

“My ring! What did you do with my ring? That was from my Grandmother. It is a family heirloom... more than two centuries old. It can’t be replaced.”

She started to cry.

The Magician told her to grab an orange from a pile of oranges on a table nearby. She did.

“Peel it!”

She did. Everyone gasped when she did.

“My ring!”

She turned and showed it to the Audience. Beaming with relief and confusion.

“How did you do that?”

The Magician got a smug look on his face:

“Magic!”

Everyone was enthralled. Except Edgar. He was starting to squirm. Muttering under his breath:

“Charlatan. Cheat. Phony.”

Melissa hushed him.

“We know we are being tricked. There is no such thing as Magic. Just let it go, stop trying to figure out the tricks and enjoy the Magic.”

Edgar snapped.

“No such thing as Magic?

He didn’t remember standing up. Nor did he remember looking down at a shocked Melissa. He didn’t even realize he had yelled in outrage:

“No such thing as Magic?!”

The whole Audience froze. The Magician, just about to pull of the closing trick…making a young lady disappear from a cage, and then a tiger reappear in her stead…froze too. The outrage in that Audience member’s voice had scared him. He looked to the side of the stage to see if Security was alert. They were.
One of the Security folks stepped out of the wings to Stage Left.

“Sir, I have to ask you to sit back down, or if the Show is bothering you…please go to the atrium and someone will help you.”

“I don’t need help! I need to expose this nonsense.”

And with that…he was on Stage.

Everyone blinked. Melissa’s hand went to her mouth. How in the world did Edgar get on Stage? Six rows back, packed in the middle seats with dozens of people on either side of him…how did he even get to the aisle. Her mind boggled. Just like everyone else’s. The Magician’s Assistant stood in the cage…wondering what to do.

Edgar stormed over to the Cage.

“Come out of there, young lady.”

She came out trembling as Edgar held her hand so she wouldn’t fall. As soon as her feet hit the stage floor, she bolted to join the slack jawed Magician and the stunned into immobility Security Guard.

A tiger appeared in the Cage. And another. Then another. And yet another. Four full grown growling disoriented Bengal Tigers. The smallest of which weighed more than eight hundred pounds. One of them had a part of some animal still leaking blood and fluids grasped in its jaws. Another had bits and pieces of vegetation stuck to his fur…like he had been snatched from his den in the Jungle- which he had been. The other two had their hackles up and looked scared out of their minds.

The Audience seemed to understand that screaming would be a bad move.

“Begone!”

That was all Edgar said, and all four Tigers went away. Nobody knew where. Perhaps back to where Edgar summoned them from. The Stage Magician’s mind had finally caught up to what was going on. He only brought one Tiger with him. A much smaller (and fed and tranquilized one too) Tiger. Those four Tigers were monsters right out of the Jungle. His leg started to shake. Fear was dawning on him.

Edgar looked at the Audience. He was furious.

“A rabbit? You want to see a rabbit out of a hat? Okay, sure.”

With that, Edgar made a hat appear in his hand. An old Stove pipe hat. Shiny black material shimmied the light around it. He reached in and pulled out a Rabbit. Not a cute white cuddly rabbit, but a Texas Jack Rabbit the size of a small child. And another. And another. And another. Jack Rabbits were leaping out of the hat now as fast as a person could count.

They bounded off stage, raced up the aisles, or out the wings of the stage. People squealed, screeched, spun, ducked, and twisted to get away from the now wild herd of Jack Rabbits storming out of the Theater. The hat disappeared. When Edgar snapped his fingers…so did all of the Jack Rabbits. Leaving a Theater full of utterly flustered patrons.

“Levitation? You want Levitation?”

Edgar was snarling now. He raised his hands in an obviously Theatrical gesture. Raising his hands up slowly…he brought the entire Audience, Melissa, the Stage Magician and his pretty Assistant…all of them, including the four Security guards that had rushed in to corral jackrabbits. All of the, floated a good six to eight feet up in the air. Screams filled the room.

Melissa was their Savior. She regained her composure and looked right at Edgar.

“Edgar! You stop this right now! Right now, or I swear this will be not only our first date…but our last!”

Edgar’s response was completely at odds with the situation. He got a look of surprise on his face. A warm look of hope took over.

“You …you…mean you would go out with me again?”

Everyone kind of froze where they were. Six to eight feet off the ground. But now, more captivated by the conversation between the maniac on stage, and the woman he was talking to in the Audience. There was dead silence. Everyone was listening like their lives depended on it. Which, unknowns to them…it did.

“Well, yeah. Until you went nuts and destroyed the poor man’s show, I was thinking you were cute, kind, and funny. I was enjoying my evening with you. You made me laugh at dinner. And I saw how you slipped the Waitress and the Waiter a couple hundred dollars …I wondered how you knew they needed that for rent. I was going to ask you about that later. I read your lips when you gave them the money and said: “For your rent…you will be fine next month.” I wondered how you knew. Anyways, I find you interesting too.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Now let these people get back to their seats. Please.”

Absentmindedly, Edgar released the Spell. People were gently deposited back in their seats. The Magician and his pretty Assistant collapsed into a mound of relieved Security Guards sprawled on the stage.

Edgar smiled at Melissa. Melissa smiled back.

“You think I am interesting?”

Melissa waved her hand around the room…

“How could I not? I mean, tigers, jackrabbits, levitation…I mean its scary, but interesting.”

Heads nodded all over the Theater. Everyone agreed, just no one wanted to come to Edgars attention.

Edgar’s face fell a bit.

“Oh, so it is the magic that interests you…not me.”

Melissa knew a shy man when she saw one. This man, with all his powers, didn’t understand that he, just as a man, was worth loving. She did what her heart told her. She marched out of the aisle she as in, everyone moving their legs to the side to let her pass. Edgar watching her every move as she came towards him in a most determined manner.

When she got to Edgar, she put a hand on each side of Edgar’s face, pulled him down towards him. Held eye contact for a long intense moment, than kissed him softly on the lips. A great surprise to Edgar…and an even greater surprise to Melissa. Because that kiss told her something she had never expected to experience…True Love.

Edgar broke his lips away, but did not pull away. His eyes were wide with joy.

“What was that?”

Melissa smiled. She knew. So she told him:

“Magic.”

The Audience gave them a Standing Ovation.

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