Author's Note: This was written for the weekly challenge topic for the LJ group YGODRABBLE. This week's topic was magic.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-gi-oh!
The Amazing Mugi
By Citrus Luver
It had been a particularly long day. The check-out line was never ending. She glanced at the magazine rack. One particular magazine caught her attention. It was featuring a spread on 'Teenage Legends: 20 years later'. She grabbed the magazine and turned to the article.
Her eyes misted over: her little boy.
The self-help books always said to never dwell on past regrets. She had so many. She never understood his teenage years. Her father-in-law tried explaining it to her once. 'Harmless card game,' he would say with a twinkle in his eyes. When she asked her friends, they told her it was fad. Like all fads, it would soon fade. The parenting books told her that boys would be boys. Teenagers are complicated.
She never dreamed it would happen to her. He had been such cheerful, bright-eye child. Card games had consumed had teenage years, but few knew his first dream.
He was only seven.
She watched her son run through the house. Occasionally he would stop and rummage through a cabinet or drawer for some item before quickly scampering upstairs. He eventually entered the living room. He ducked behind the couch. She walked over to him and bent down. He looked up guiltily. "What you doing, honey?"
"Surpwise." He grinned widely exposing a mouth full of missing teeth. She shook her head as he scampered away. He was holding some item.
She heard chuckling behind her as she stood up. Her father-in-law was standing in the doorway. "He wanted to borrow a top hat."
"Top hat?" She furrowed her brow.
"I gave him my old fedora."
He asked her for black cloth later but refused to explain why. She heard loud noises coming from his room. He immediately ran outside and sheepishly said "sorry," before disappearing again.
He was anxious during dinner and when the dishes were cleared he immediately dragged them into his room. She immediately noticed the long sheets tied to the ceiling. It reminded her of a stage.
"Wait," he said a large grin on his face before disappearing into the hallway. When he bounced into the room, she couldn't help but laugh. He was wearing father-in-law's fedora. He had modified it by gluing construction paper around the rim. He was wearing the sheet as a cape. It was long and dragged on the floor. "Ta dah!" He struck a pose. They clapped. He grinned before quickly replacing it with a serious look. "For my first trick, I'll pull a bunny from my hat." He fumbled with the hat before placing it onto the table. He covered it with his black bed sheet. He waved his hands over the hat before reaching behind the cloth. Moments later he pulled out his stuffed bunny. He seemed surprised the trick was a success.
His other tricks were just as successful. They were all simple sleight of hand card tricks. She wondered if father-in-law had taught him.
Many tricks later, she stood up. "Bedtime."
"But the amazing Mugi isn't done." He tried stifling a yawn.
"The amazing Mugi?"
"Magicians take stage names. I'm going to be a magician!" He stated proudly, "the amazing Mugi."
"The Amazing Mugi," she mused.
"The amazing Mugi?" the cashier repeated. She placed the magazine with her merchandise.
"Lost dreams."
The cashier blinked.
He was thirty-seven now. They hadn't talked in years. She wanted him to go to college; he wanted to travel the world. It was a bitter battle. Pride prevented them from talking. Memory lane reminded her otherwise.
She dialed his number.
A baritone voice answered. Her breath hitched. "Yuugi?"
"Okaasan?"
OWARI