Until this time I had been holding the
magician's hat, but I decided to wear it to free up my hands,
and besides, it helped me look the part of a magician. “Hi,
there young man. What’s your name?” I asked the little
boy.
“I'm not supposed to talk to strangers,”
the little boy replied, looking over at the man next to him for
approval.
His remark kind of took me by surprise. How
unfortunate it is that we live in a world so full of fear. “Well,
you don't have to talk to me since I am a stranger. But, I’m
going to do some magic, and you can watch. No one ever told you
not to watch strangers, did they?” The boy shook his head “no”
without saying a word. With that, I dug the piece of rope out of
my pocket, outstretched it and tugged it, demonstrating that the
rope was real. Then I reached for my trusty scissors and cut the
rope in two.
“Now, say the magic word,” I said,
seeing that the boy had decided that I was no longer a stranger,
but rather a magician.
“Please,” said the little boy.
I had to laugh – after all, it was better
than my routine. “Please is a good magic word,” I
said, “but the magic word for magicians is 'abracadabra.'
Can you say 'abracadabra?'” I asked.
“Abercadaber,” replied the little boy.
“That's right,” I said, “abracadabra.”
Then, with a little “presto-digitation,” also
known as sleight of hand, I made the two halves of the rope
appear to restore to one solid piece.
“Believe it or not, I learned to do that trick when I was
about your age,” I said.
The young boy's eyes became as big as the
light bulbs that just flickered on inside his head. “How
did you do that?” he asked, mouth wide open.
A surprising round of applause came from
behind me. I hadn't realized that several other people standing
near the food stand were observing me. A couple of older women,
their full cups of beer held by their teeth, were just clapping
away, some of the beer splashing out as their heads bobbed in
time with their flabby arms. I was slightly embarrassed by the
attention; but I couldn't resist tipping my, I mean, the
magician's hat to take a big bow. It felt wonderful to be the
magic man.
