The Young Magician

The Young Magician

Up until that moment, the entertainer had caught the audience's attention, most of them being 10-year-old kids invited to celebrate the birthday of one of them. There were also several parents watching amusedly the magic show, as well the sister of the birthday boy, a young lady in her early twenties with delicate features and long, curly black hair.

The magician hadn't noticed her at first – she'd most likely been in the kitchen, helping her mother arrange the snacks for the children. Hearing them laughing and applauding, the girl decided to take a look in the living room where the show was taking place.

- Ooooo... exclaimed the party when the magician took out from the chest pocket of one child the playing card he had chosen earlier, put it back in the deck, and the magician shuffled the cards.

The girl smiled, applauding slightly. She couldn't see the show very well, though, because of the few balloons floating in mid air, so she moved on the side, next to the wall. The young man turned his head towards her, smiling, and it seemed to her that he blushed slightly. With a reflexive gesture, she arranged a rebellious curl, and smiled back to him. She thought the boy was actually cute.

She was paying now a lot of attention to the quick moves the magician made to take out some coins, making them disappear and then appear where you least expected.

Suddenly, the show took an unexpected turn. Leaning out towards the ear of a little girl, several quarters fell from his sleeve. All eyes stared to the floor, making the kids giggle in amusement, not knowing if the magician had made a beginner's mistake, or it was actually a part of the show.

Meanwhile, the young lady continued to analyze the entertainer, who replaced with great dexterity one of the disposable glasses on the table with another seemingly identical one he had taken out of his pocket, taking advantage of the moment of inattention of those around him.

She immediately figured out that the glass was not an ordinary one, most likely to be part of the next magic number. A waggish idea came to her mind, and when the magician bowed to the ecstatic audience applauding him, she replaced that glass with a regular one. She took two steps back, studying the glass she had stolen, trying to figure out what was special about it. Feeling a movement on the bottom, but without seeing anything, she realized that the glass had a double bottom, where something was hidden.

Her suspicion was confirmed almost immediately, when another coin that had disappeared was going to magically appear right in the glass next to it. Only that...

- Aaahhh... the disappointment of the small gathering was heard like a general sigh.

The magician did not understand what was happening either, being completely caught on the wrong foot.

”I see you don’t have an assistant, so let me help you" the young lady said.

The girl's mother snorted in surprise – it was definitely the last thing she expected.

Holding the special glass hidden in her left palm, the girl approached the center of the improvised scene, and said with a serious mine "Abracadabra!" Making a circle with her right hand, she took the normal glass from the magician's hand and placed it with a discreet motion under the other glass. The young magician stepped back, looking at the floor.

The girl's brother rose from his chair, and turning to his friends, said emphatically, making a large gesture with his hand:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present Caitlyn, the backup magician!" He began to applaud, being immediately followed by the rest of the audience.

Caitlyn pointed to everyone the seemingly empty glass, then shook it slightly, making the double bottom unravel. She grabbed her brother's hand and overturned the glass, and the coin fell into her brother's open palm. She turned, smiling at the magician, who looked at her expressionlessly.

The show was almost over, so she thanked him for the performance, encouraging the children to applaud him.

“Everyone, go wash your hands! Food is ready!” announced the mother.

The magician began to gather his props with mechanical movements, putting each object in its place in the bag.

“Chicken or hamburger?” the girl asked.

“Hmmm?” he lifted his head suddenly, only to find himself awkwardly close from the girl’s face.

“What would you like to eat, chicken or hamburger?” She did not withdraw, and the question sounded like a whisper.

“Uh ... I don't know if I want to eat anything. I still have another event later in the afternoon and I have to go to the other side of town.”

"Not even ten minutes?" Caytlin pursed her lips and turned her head a little to the right, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

"You know that you caught me earlier on the wrong foot. How did you do it?”

"I'll tell you if you buy me lunch."

"You know that it wasn't OK to do that, though. It's my show.”

“Aww... I'm sorry. But still you have to eat something. If you don't decide, I'll choose something for you.

“Hamburger is fine. And tell me how you did it.”

"I'll tell you if you buy me lunch," she repeated, smiling.

"I really want to know."

“Man, you really don't get it”. She turned and went to the kitchen without saying anything more.

The young man continued to pack his stuff, trying to figure out how she had taken the coin out of the glass. Caitlyn returned with a plate of food a few minutes later. She sat down next to him, watching him silently.

"I can't figure out how you did it," he said between two bites. It's important to me, you know.”

"Listen, are you going to take me out, or not?" she said with a slight condescendent tone, looking straight into his green eyes.

***

It was not one of the fancy restaurants, but the excellent food was excellent. Not knowing much about each other, there wasn’t much common grounds to build a conversation upon.

"How did you become a magician?" she wanted to know, trying to break the awkward silence that was slowly building up like an invisible wall between them.

“I grew up in an orphanage, you know? Several times a year we were visited by all kinds of entertainers. And there was this magician who came every single time. I found out that he had also grown up in an orphanage and he knew very well what a great joy his magic show was for us. He sympathized with me, I think. I used to help him with the unpacking and packing his things every time he came. He taught me some simple tricks to entertain the younger children. Later on, I discovered the magic on my own. When I was eighteen and had to leave the orphanage, I could already deliver short half-hour shows. That's how I earned my living in the early years.

"And you want to do this your whole life?"

“Why you asking? Do you think it's not worth it?”

“Oh, no, don't get me wrong. I think it's amazing. I mean ... I don't know. It's hard, though, for an independent artist. I think so.”

“It's hard, yes. People come to see the show, they laugh, then go to back to their lives. Of course, I would love to become famous, to have my own show in Las Vegas. But, there's a lot of work behind it. A lot. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. You need to know the right people, have a good team behind you. I’m all by myself in this.”

"If you’re really passionate about it, you can do it, I think. As for a team... I’m sure you’ll find somebody pretty soon." She had finished the meal, and took a sip of wine. Looking with narrowed eyes at the red liquid left on the bottom of the glass, she asked:

“Can you do a trick here? Now? Using only whatever is on the table?”

The magician thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.

“I can take out the air from the glass you’re holding.”

“Whaaat? Using nothing more but just what's right now on the table? Yes?”

“Yes. Only what’s on the table.” Without saying anything else, he took the bottle of Merlot and poured slowly the red wine, filling the glass almost to the rim.

“Ta-da! Here you are! There’s no air in the glass anymore”

She smiled mischievously before answering.

“This is not a magic trick. You just fooled me.”

The magician smiled back. He leaned over, reached out, and pulled a card from behind her left ear, carefully placing it on the table.

"Making you smile is the most spectacular magic"

A few minutes later they got up from the table and left. The waiter who came to clear the table noticed something unusual and ran after them, barely catching them in the parking lot.

“Sir, sir! Wait a moment!”

The couple stopped, both staring surprised at him. Panting after the effort, the waiter addressed the man.

"Sir, if you didn't like the wine, we'll refund your wine bottle."

“What do you mean? That was an excellent Merlot," he replied, puzzled.

"Oh? I saw you didn't drink the wine at all. The bottle, sir. It's full” explained him, equally surprised.

The magician didn't know what to say. He stared at Caitlyn, who had meanwhile went on the other side of the car and opened the passenger door. The girl said, before entering the vehicle:

“Who knows? Maybe somebody did some magic and refilled it ...”