The Magician's Trick

“Dad, dad! Tell us the story! Pleaseee!”

My son was pulling on my pant leg with beaming eyes, hopeful that I would tell the story to him and his two friends. I chuckled and nodded, “Alright, alright, sit down you little nugget.” I roughed up his hair, “I’ll tell the story.”

My son, Henry, was 8 years old, and he’s heard the story at least a dozen times. It was by far his favorite story of mine. To be honest, I don’t know if he’ll ever get sick of it. Tonight he was extra excited, because this was his first real sleep over.

“Okay kids, sit down and get comfy.” I stood up to dim the overhead lights and turn on the lamp. I walked over to the window and cracked it open, knowing that the sounds of nature would add some dramatic effect. I turned around, and three eager boys quietly watched me move about as I set the scene.

“Alright,” I said as I sat down in the wooden rocking chair. A chair that had been passed down in my family for generations. It was the same chair that lived in the barn I grew up in. It was old, creaky, and had a plaid green cushion that was somehow still intact, even after all these years.

I leaned back and closed my eyes, taking in a slow, steady breathe. The boys all followed suit, taking in some deep breaths, which was really quite adorable. I was flattered that my son wanted me to hang out with him and his friends. I cracked one eye open and peered at them, their eyes all wide open, waiting, watching.

“Ehem-" I cleared my throat. “So,” I looked them each in the eye, “You want to know how I learned to do this?”

I reached forward and pulled a coin out from behind my son friend’s ear.

“Whoaaaa!” They all gasped. My son started to giggle. He’s heard the story before, and seen the trick, but his friends were in complete awe.

I flipped the coin high in the air and then snatched it before it hit the floor.

“Well, it all started in the old barn behind my parents’ house in New Jersey. You see, when I was growing up, I didn’t have television or internet, iPads or TikToks. In fact, my folks could barely afford electricity. Can you imagine that? A life without any electronics?” I pointed at my sons tablet.

The boys all shook their heads.

“No way!” Patrick shouted. “I loooove my games.”

“Ah, see. Now back in my day, we had to make our own fun and games. When I was your age, I lived on a farm. I learned how to tend horses, cows, and pigs.”

I made snorting noises as I mimicked a pig. The boys all laughed.

“Every morning at 5 am, my papa would come wake me up and say,

It’s time to feed, son.

So I would slip on my boots and meet him at the barrels of hay. We would feed Sammy and Sandy, the black and white stallions, Ricky, Rusty, and Roger, the cows… Moooooo!”

I had an excellent cow moo. It came deep from my belly and sounded just like them. All those years in the barn made me a pro at animal sounds. Again, the boys laughed, just as Henry always did.

“And of course, Betsy, Charlotte, and Wilbur, the three piggies. Charlotte and Wilbur were named after the characters in Charlotte’s Web, you boys ever read that book?”

“No Sir, but I’ve seen the movie!” Austin exclaimed, “I love that movie!”

“Ah yes, well before it was a movie it was a book, but neither here nor there. My papa loved that book I'll tell you what. In fact, he used to tell me that book was the reason he wanted to become a farmer in the first place. So anyhow, I grew up in this barn, feeding these animals. I would take a bus to and from school, and when I got home I would run straight to the barn to pet the animals. I didn’t have any siblings growing up, so those animals were like my family. They were my family. One day, I was sitting in the barn doing my homework, when my mother walked in.

Pierre, she whispered with a smile, grabbing my attention. Come here, she said. I walked over to my mother, and she had a newspaper in her hand. Pierre, how would you like to go to a magic show for your birthday? She asked with a big smile.

I started jumping up and down squealing like the pigs and running around the barn like a maniac, I was so excited. The pigs started snorting and the cows were mooing. I felt like they were all just as thrilled as I was. “Look guys!” I held the newspaper up to the cows, “I’m going to the magic show!” I ran over and gave my mother a huge hug. “Mom what should I wear?” My mother walked me into the house, and I could barely keep myself from shouting to the world that I was going to the magic show. "

"On the day of my 12th birthday, I fed the animals and told them how excited I was for the show. I just knew it was going to be amazing. I had heard about the magic show from my Uncle Pete and my Aunt Sarah. They would come visit us from time to time with stories about it. So I got dressed up in a fancy vest and my Sunday shoes, and went to town with my parents. Have any of you boys been to a magic show before? "

Henry nodded dramatically as his friends shook their heads no. “I’ve been to your shows dad.” He looked at his friends, “It’s really cool.”

“Thank you son.”

We exchanged smiles.

“When I got to the magic show, there were these big, beautiful drapes you had to walk through to get inside. I felt like I was stepping into an entirely different world. There was music playing, people handing out popcorn, and everyone was dressed up and laughing. It was truly a beautiful sight. We found our seats just as the lights dimmed, and the stage lit up. There was a loud drumroll, and then a man appeared on stage. I didn’t even see him walk on stage, so I was already impressed. Did he just appear out of thin air?”

A strong breeze caught the window, and all of our attention.

“Oooh, now you see boys. You start talking about magic and the winds come howling. Now that’s the power of magic. It's Spirit.”

“So, that night, I witnessed endless streams of ribbon come out of the magician’s mouth, a bird appear out of a hat, a woman get cut in half and then put back together… and about half way through the show, the magician called for a volunteer from the crowd to come up on stage. My hand bolted up and I was waiving it like a mad man.”

I shot my hand up, mimicking my younger self.

“And guess what…”

“He picked you?” Asked one of the boys.

“Yep! He picked me. I looked at my mother and she smiled with a nod. So I stood up, pulled my vest down to make sure I looked dapper, and slowly walked toward the stage, holding my composure.”

Hello there young man, what is your name? The magician asked.

My name is Pierre Rutherford, I replied.

Well hello Pierre, are you having a nice time tonight?

Yes sir, today is my birthday.

Ah, we have a birthday boy up here!

The crowd clapped and hollered. I started blushing and sweating.

Well alright Pierre, you’re in for a treat.

"He held out one hand that had a gold coin in it. He closed his hand over the coin and asked me to blow on it, and then with his other hand he reached behind my ear and pulled out the coin. Now I was baffled. Amazed! How did he do it? I was watching his hands the whole time and I didn’t see him move the coin from one hand to the other. So I asked him, “How did you do that?”

A magician never tells his secrets, he said.

He winked at me and handed me the coin.

Here, you can keep it.

"I walked back to my seat holding the coin. I knew right then and there that I wanted to be a magician. There was only one problem. How was I going to learn any tricks? I told my mother that I wanted to meet the magician, so at the end of the show we waited until everyone left, and then I found him and asked him if he would teach me the trick. And guess what? He did."

"The next day when I woke up, I fed the animals and practiced my trick. I would pretend to have them blow on my hand and then pull the coin out from behind their ears. I did it to all the animals until I became flawless at the trick. Eventually I began to learn other tricks, like pulling ribbons from my mouth. The animals were my crowd until I grew up, moved out of my parents’ house, and started performing real shows for real people. And that’s what I do now.”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” Austin said.

“Yeah, I wish my dad was a magician,” Patrick replied.

Henry stood up, “Dad, can we take them to a show sometime?”

The boys looked up at me patiently awaiting my answer.

“You boys want to come see a real magic show?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“Please dad!” Henry begged.

“Alright, alright” I laughed. “I’ll talk to your parents about bringing you to a show soon, okay?”

“Oh my gosh,” said Henry, “you guys are gonna love it. He has this one trick where-“

“Pierre?” My wife walked in. “May I borrow you a moment?”

I stood up from the rickety old chair and followed her into the hallway while the boys talked about magic.

“Hello handsome man,” she pulled me in for a kiss. “Are you showing the boys your tricks?” She asked with a smile as she nestled her face in my chest.

“Oh just the simple coin trick. Henry wanted me to tell the story. He wants his friends to come to a show soon.”

“Oooh, how exciting” she smiled. “They can see you cut me in half.” She chuckled. “Well I wont keep you, just wanted to check up on you boys. Im glad you’re having fun with Henry.”

She kissed my cheek and then walked down the hallway.

“I love you, I’ll come to bed soon.”

She blew me a kiss.

I walked back into the room, “Alright boys, I think it’s time for bed. Henry’s old man has to wake up at 5 am and feed the chickens. Henry’s lucky I don’t make him wake up and feed the animals like my pops made me. It sure is different times now.” I walked over to close the window. “I’m just glad the world still likes magic.”

“Dad, there will always be room for magic. Just like you always say, right?”

I walked over to the bedside and tucked him in.

“You’re exactly right son. The world is full of magic, you just have to believe.”

I gave him a kiss on the forehead, “Goodnight son.”

“Thank you dad, I love you.” He whispered.

“Goodnight boys” I said to his friends as I turned out the lights.

“Goodnight Magician Sir.”

I smiled as I closed the door, leaving it open just a crack. As I walked down the hall, warmth filled my heart. I felt so proud to be Henry’s father, and deeply touched that he was so proud of me.

Now that's magic.