The Magician's Book

I, Milano Molesk Modo, being of sound mind and body, hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.

Danielle spat out her tea in shock, then rushed to wipe the splattered drops from the pages of the notebook she held.

She quickly closed the little black book, her eyes hastily scanning the covers as she flipped the book back and forth, looking for some label she might have missed. This book had been completely blank when she’d purchased it not even an hour earlier.

Danielle grunted in frustration. This was why she normally refused to shop in second-hand bookstores – the quality was never as good as new. But having recently sunk her savings into moving away from her problems at home, the second-hand bookshop had been her only option for finding a decent notebook.

She snapped the front cover open again, checking the opening remarks of the will for an address or some contact information of the estate or beneficiary, before realizing that that was the bookshop’s responsibility. They’d sold her a book that was supposed to be blank, after all. She’d just go back there and demand her money back, and they could take care of getting this to the right people and… then something caught Danielle’s eye.

It was her name. Her name was right there, on the first page, in such large font that for a moment she was dumbfounded as to how she could have missed seeing it before.

I bequeath my entire fortune and wealth to Danielle Booker, with the following condition:

“What?!” Danielle shrieked, dropping the book.

This didn’t make any sense. How was her name printed in this book? Why was her name in a will? A will of a person she’d never heard of? In a book that she’d just purchased? That was blank when she bought it??

It didn’t make any sense. Maybe she misread it. Holding her breath, Danielle quickly reached out and lifted the cover a fraction of an inch, peeking at the first page.

…to Danielle Booker, with…

So, she hadn’t misread it. Danielle closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, pausing her panic to consider the possible reasons why her name was printed on that page.

It was her name in the book… but maybe it wasn’t referring to her specifically. Maybe it was naming a different Danielle Booker. Of course, that had to be it… A book that was blank when she bought it, that suddenly had a legal will appear on the first page after she brought it home, was appointing a different person - who was also very coincidentally named Danielle Booker - as the beneficiary. Yes. It was a perfectly sound and logical explanation.

Danielle pursed her lips and warily glared at the book out of the corner of her eye. If she hadn’t just moved to a new town where she knew no one, she would have applauded the instigator of such a masterfully executed prank.

But the circumstances being what they were, Danielle had no patience for such nonsense. She reached out and snatched the book, determined to find out exactly who this Modo was and what he was doing naming her in his will that had absolutely no business being in a notebook she rightfully owned.

Cracking open the cover with a huff, Danielle began to read the will.

I, Milano Molesk Modo, being of sound mind and body, hereby declare this to be my Last Will and Testament.

I bequeath my entire fortune and wealth to Danielle Booker, with the following condition:

That she read the story that follows, in its entirety, from start to finish, within the time of 1 hour.

On completing the story within the constraints of the condition, the fortune shall be revealed to her.

Failing to fulfill this condition, Danielle Booker will be denied the wealth that awaits her.

Danielle closed the book, considering the terms of the will. It didn’t seem like there was much to the conditions – just read a story within an hour. Did the hour start from when she first opened the notebook? Or from when she started the story?

Danielle scoffed suddenly, shaking her head at her own ridiculousness. It was a book, for goodness sake! How could it know when she started reading? How could it know that she’d finished reading?

Then again, the will and her name had mysteriously appeared in a book she was absolutely certain had been blank when she bought it. Eyeing the book in her hands, Danielle frowned. While she could entertain the possibility, as improbable as it was, that she had perhaps missed seeing the will written on the first page of the notebook when she inspected it at the bookshop, she knew for certain that she wouldn’t have missed seeing the rest of the pages filled with story.

Sure enough, as Danielle thumbed through the book again, the rest of the pages were blank. So where was the story the will was referring to?

Lost in the mystery, Danielle opened the book again to the first page, rereading the will. Reaching the end, she absentmindedly turned the page, and found herself staring at a second page of full text.

Once upon a time…

Danielle slammed the book shut, her heart beating wildly. That page had been completely blank when she checked only moments before. Was the text just appearing as she moved through each page? How was that possible? Danielle shook her head to clear it. Obviously, there was no point questioning what was possible when she had been mysteriously named the beneficiary of a will of a person she didn’t know in a blank book she had just purchased.

She wondered now just exactly how the book would reveal the fortune it promised. Contemplating the way the will was written, Danielle guessed that the fortune was likely just tucked away in the pages of the notebook. Picking it up by the covers, she turned the book upside down and shook it to loosen anything tucked between the pages. Nothing emerged. She checked the inside of the back cover for a hidden pocket, but found nothing there either.

Danielle’s brow crinkled as she puzzled over this mystery. The fortune would be revealed when she finished reading the story, according to the will. So, maybe something was activated when she reached the last page. Danielle quickly flicked to the final page of the notebook and stared at the blank page, waiting for something to appear that revealed the promised fortune.

And as she stared, the inky words slowly emerged:

The wealth of this book eludes you.

Danielle gaped at the declaration before her.

Astonished beyond reasoning, all questions forgot and frustration vanished, Danielle could no longer deny her curiosity as to what the story could hold that was so important that it was a stipulation of this Modo person’s last wishes, so important that it was the key to his life’s fortune.

She was determined to find out. Danielle settled in on her armchair, opened the book to the second page, and began to read the story.

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, in a sleepy hamlet of a small town full of simple people, there lived a young man who was riddled with problems.

“Look at that young man,” said the townspeople as the young man walked through town. “He’s riddled with problems.” They shook their heads piteously at how pitiful his life was, for it was full of problems.

Indeed, the young man was troubled as to how he could solve his problems. He had tried everything.

First, he had gone to the town doctor about his problems. The doctor told him: “I can’t make your problems disappear. Maybe the dispensary can help you.”

So, the young man had gone to the dispensary about his problems. The dispensary told him: “We can’t make your problems disappear. Maybe the bank can help you.”

So, the young man had gone to the bank about his problems. The bank told him: “We can’t make your problems disappear. Maybe the holy man can help you.”

Finally, the young man had gone to the holy man about his problems. The holy man told him: “I can’t make your problems disappear. Maybe the Gods can help you.”

The young man was anguished. “Where do I go to ask the Gods about my problems?” he asked the holy man.

The holy man pondered the young man’s question and said: “There is a woman who lives just outside of town, in a small hut by the edge of the forest. It is said that she speaks to the Gods. Maybe she can help you.”

And so the young man set off to see the woman who lived just outside of town in a small hut by the edge of the forest who could speak to the Gods about his problems.

When he reached the small hut, the woman told the young man only one thing:

The greatest magician in the world will have the power to make all his problems disappear.

The young man who was riddled with problems begged the woman to give him the name of the world’s greatest magician, but alas, he only gained another problem, for the woman would not speak another word.

And so, the young man set off, determined that if he could not find the world’s greatest magician, he would become the world’s greatest magician.

The young man spent a long time dedicated to studying and practicing, learning and working, all to become the world’s greatest magician. It took many days, and many nights. Many weeks, and many months.

Finally, the day came when the young man was ready to show the world that he was its greatest magician.

The people were amazed. “Look at that old man,” they said. “He is the world’s greatest magician. He has no problems!”

The young man did not know which old man the people were talking about. “Which old man are you talking about? Who is the world’s greatest magician?” He asked with confusion.

“You!” The people replied. “You are the world’s greatest magician!”

And it was then that the once-young man realized that it really was him the people were talking about. So many days had passed in his quest to become the world’s greatest magician, to make his problems disappear, that days had turned to weeks, weeks had turned to months, months had turned to years, years had turned to decades. Life had passed him by.

And indeed, he was no longer the young man who was riddled with problems.

A gasp broke the silence, and Danielle was surprised to find that it came from her, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed the book softly and held the thin, worn notebook close to her, her heart aching for the young man in the story.

And as she held the book, Danielle felt it twitch in her grasp. Bewildered, she looked down at the notebook to see some pieces of paper sticking out between the pages. Had she bent and damaged them when she was holding the book?

She opened the book to check, and hundreds of hundred-dollar bills came flooding out from between the pages. Danielle squealed in surprise. She’d completely forgotten about Modo’s will and his fortune while reading the story.

Quickly collecting the bills as they fell out of the book, Danielle counted 200 individual notes, which amounted to exactly 20,000 dollars.

She had just stacked them on the table next to her, when she heard a rustling sound coming from the notebook on her lap. Looking down, she saw another piece of paper sticking out from between the pages, but this one was different – stiff, smaller, and white.

Pulling it out from the notebook, she saw it was a business card. It read:

Milano Molesk Modo

The World’s Greatest Magician