Prompt Sixteen

Magic

(Pre-Series)

Nana took down the box and blew off the dust, lowering it into his hands. "I thought long and hard about what to get for your birthday Toby Pie. Last year was that game system, and I did get you a game, but ten is special."

Toby was curious, although he kept his hopes low. He was plenty happy with a new game, and if Nana was going to give him a family heirloom that was cool, but stuff from the attic usually smelled funny and was over thirty years old. He would act appropriately excited, but an ancient sweater or pocket watch or something wasn't terribly interesting. She lifted off the faded cardboard lid and Toby blinked in surprise.

"A magic kit? Aw...thanks Nana. Why do you have this?" Toby liked magic, but he didn't remember ever saying he wanted to try it himself. The deck of cards was bent from a thousand tricks, the wand's white ends going yellow. And he thought a moth might have gotten at the silk top hat.

"Well Toby Pie, it was your father's. He started learning it when he was your age." Nana took out the hat and straightened it. A pair of well-used gloves fell to the floor and Toby stooped to get them for her.

"My Dad? Huh...he always was good at coin tricks. I remember when I was three I freaked out because I thought I had a bunch of quarters in my brain." She smiled at him.

"Oh, I taught him the coin tricks." She took out what looked like an arcade token from the box and flipped it along her fingers. Toby watched in amazement as it went back and forth with a dexterity he would have never expected from her little old hands. "Your father saved up his allowance for months for this set – we didn't have much spare money when your Grandpa passed. It remember him whiling away the hours, figuring out the tricks. He used better tools as he improved, but I kept this first one for posterity. I thought you might like it someday."

Toby held the gloves more thoughtfully. His dad's hands had once been small enough to fit them. "Thanks Nana. This is really nice. I knew Dad liked magic but I didn't realize he could do other tricks."

"Oh my, yes! He used to do small shows for pocket change. Other kids had lemonade stands, but he set out lawn chairs and charged a quarter for an hour of magic in the front yard. In fact..."

Nana sat down on one of the storage chairs. Toby found a sturdy box, still holding the kit. "Did your father ever tell you about the talent show in his senior year of high school?" He shook his head. "Well, it was going to be at the beginning of summer, right after school let out. It was always a big to do, all the seniors wanted to win it because it was the last chance they got to try. Only students could compete you see. So he starts practicing all his tricks, making sure he's got a good act together. I thought it very nice indeed, but he wanted a big trick for the finale. A showstopper. But to do it he would need an assistant."

She smiled. "Now he had a crush on this very pretty girl. Green eyes, auburn hair, just a darling. Sweet as could be, but a bit shy. He got it into his head he wanted to ask her to be his lovely assistant. So he plucked up his courage and asked her during a class they shared. And after a moment she said she would. She came over to our house several times to practice…she liked my pie."

Toby grinned. "Everyone likes your pie Nana."

"Anyway, when the day came, they were ready. Your father looked like a real magician, all dressed in a suit and red bow tie. She had a pretty sequined jacket and it was just lovely." She winked. "I think he worked extra hard to impress her. They did a wonderful job, right up until the very end."

Toby frowned. "Did the trick go wrong?"

"Hold your horses! You see, your father had set up a special box so it could look like she was sawn in half, you know? The secret was the fact that he'd built a box special for it, and it was much deeper than it looked. But something happened in front of all those people for her – she just got so nervous that she had to take a break. It was so sad, she knew she was letting him down for the trick, but she said she just couldn't stand getting in the box. Poor dear was crying and she finally told him that she wanted to be part of the trick for him, but she had awful claustrophobia!"

"She waited that long to tell him!?" Toby shook his head in disbelief. "That was super dumb."

"I think she hoped she could get her courage up in time. You see it turns out she had a big crush on him too, and she was very excited when he asked her to be his assistant." Toby thought of his own crush from last year, a pretty blond girl named Becky, and supposed he could understand. "She was just too scared to get in the box."

"So the trick didn't work out?" Nana's eyes twinkled.

"It went wonderfully. Your father took off his hat, put it on her head, and said, 'All right, I'll be the assistant and you be the magician. I'll get in the box and you do the sawing. You know how it works.' So the young lady performed the trick and your father tucked himself down in that box and got 'sawn' in half!"

Toby thought of his broad, burly father squishing himself into a box so a pretty lady could saw him in half and giggled. "Did they win?"

Nana sighed and put up her hands. "No, a girl that played a rather lovely Concerto on her violin did. She was quite popular. But they did come in second." She reached up and pulled a medal out of one of the boxes. The neck was starting to fray, but the metal piece was still shiny. "Of course, your father and that young lady started dating, so neither of them really cared about winning." She handed him the medal and Toby held it in reverent hands. "He proposed to her a few years later. He used the three cup trick to do it; he put a ball under one of the cups, switched them around, and had her pick the one she thought had the ball under it. But when he was switching them he swapped out the ball for an engagement ring."

Two things occurred to Toby. First, his father had game. Second…

"Wait, that's how Mom and Dad met? Doing magic?" He stared at the box in his hands. "So if Dad had never gotten into magic, he might never have met Mom…"

"Life's funny that way, Toby Pie." Nana stood up slowly and he heard her bones popping. "I thought you might like it is all."

"I do Nana. Thank you." He hopped up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe I can look up some magicians and figure out the tricks online."

"Oh yes, on that…tube-you thing, right?" Toby grinned as she made her way carefully down the stairs, following her. "You know, I think I have one of his shows on video around here. Would you like me set it up?"

"That sounds good. I'd like to examine his technique." Toby dared to try on one of the gloves after peeking inside to check for bugs. It was a little snug, but it fit his fingers. He took the token out of the box and folded it behind his fingers, trying to mimic the trick Nana had showed him. It made it one or two fingers before falling. He picked it up. Practice would make perfect.

End of Prompt Sixteen