Real Magic

Saying for the Day:“Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence.”Napoleon Bonaparte

For those of you who have been waiting and waiting it is that day of the week when you get to read another elf tale. For those of you who have not been waiting and waiting it is still that time of week . In fact for those of you who have been dreading this moment your luck has run out and another elf tale is here. It begins as all good elf tales should:
Once upon a time when life was simpler and television was not yet to have been invented there lived a young man named Alexander Rufus. He was born in an upper lower class family or perhaps in a low lower middleclass family. The family had enough but not too much. He lived in a nice home and had plenty to eat. He had loving parents and the usual batch of annoying siblings and cousins that make up families at this level of existence. His father believed that college was important and set up a college fund for each of his children. But Alexander never ever thought of going to college for he was obsessed with magic. When he was five his parents took him to the theater to see “ Ginhio the Great” a traveling magician and from that time on Alex knew what he wanted. By he time he was seven he could do all the card tricks in “Baker’s Definitive Book of Magic with Cards”. He could make cards appear and disappear. He could turn kings into queens. He could cause cards to rise from the deck. He entertained at all family gatherings and even his grumpy grandfather , who never said anything nice, said he was good.
By the time he was nine he had read all the books on magic in the school library. He knew how to make an elephant disappear. Of course, he didn’t have an elephant or he equipment but he knew how. He began spending his entire allowance with the Johnson Smith Company. He bought almost every magic device they offered. He could produce smoke from the end of his fingertips, pull things out of a hat, make scarves change color, cause ropes to tie and untie themselves and produce a real flower out of the air. When he was twelve he won first place in a community talent contest where he billed himself as the “Astounding Alex”. There was no question but that he was good at magic.
But he was not happy. He wanted to do real magic. He wanted a real magic wand. He didn’t want to have to have all the devices to fool people. He wanted magic. Once he made the mistake of telling his mother what he wanted. She sat down an explained to him there was no such thing as magic. What was called magic was and always had been just illusion. But Alex didn’t want to believe that. He wanted real magic and he needed to believe in it.
But he continued to improve his skills and at eighteen when others were off to college he became the assistant to the Great Wally, magician Extraordinary.
He got to carry props and to learn the nature of every trick the Great Wally did.
When he was twenty four the Great Wally retired and sold all of his equipment to Alexander who became “ The Great and Only Alexander” He worked small theaters all across the Midwest. You might have seen him. He used to end his act by making a cow from a local farm disappear. The cow would then come walking down the aisle. It was very impressive.
The Great and Only Alexander did something else. He always gave ten percent of whatever he made in a town to some local poverty group to feed the poor. He had a deep concern for others.
But still he wanted that magic wand that would move him from make believe to the real thing. One night when he had finished his act and was writing his check to the local food bank a little man in green clothes with funny shoes came into his dressing room. The little man explained that he was an elf and because of Alexander's many charitable acts he was being granted one wish.
Well, Alexander didn’t hesitate he blurted out “ I wish I had a real magic wand”..
The elf said “ As you have wished so shall it be.”
There was a flash of light and Alexander held in his hand the most beautiful wand he had ever seen. It was solid wood, highly polished with a magic looking carving on one end.
He held out the wand and said “ Produce the farmer’s cow”. There was a flash of light and the cow was standing in his dressing room. “Put the cow back”, he said and it disappeared. For the first time Alexander was really happy.
For the next two weeks he did shows as usual. He was not ready to work with the wand yet. But he kept it in a special pocket in his suit, which had many hidden and special pockets.
At the end of the two weeks he had a months vacation. He wisked himself and all his stuff to a cabin his parents had on a little known lake and there he practiced. He developed a whole new routine around the wand. He kept most of the old props. People didn’t believe in real magic so it was better if they didn’t know but he knew..
So as he returned to his round of theaters he added a little real magic here and there. It was fun. But the end of every performance was all real. He would invite a volunteer up from the audience. Tell them he was going to send them on a long trip, throw a sheet over them, and wave the wand. They would instantly disappear. Then after a moment or two he would point the wand at the balcony and the volunteer would reappear in a flash of light seated in a balcony seat. Everybody was sure the volunteer was a plant but it was still really impressive.
Then when he would finish in a town he would not only write a check to the local food bank but he would use his wand to increase by one third the food the storage bank had on hand. This often meant that cans of food fell off the shelves onto the floor. The food bank would report that somebody broke in and left more food instead of taking something.
This went on well for a month and then came that horrible night.
Everything had gone well he had used the wand to turn a cabbage into a pumpkin out of which he pulled a rabbit. It was great. Then he invited a woman named Diana up on stage. Did the patter about sending her on a trip and threw the sheet over her. That’s when two unexpected things happened. Diana got a heavy nose bleed which she always did when stressed and in vanishing her he made a fancier than usual flourish with the wand and it flew out of his hand and over the edge of the curtain.
He couldn’t bring her back.
He ended the show. But Diana;s relatives came running up and asking where she was. He couldn’t tell them. He didn’t really know. That’s when somebody saw the blood and called 911. The next thing he knew he was in the local jail.
He couldn’t get her back without the wand. He couldn’t find the wand in jail. He was doomed.
To be continued next Thursday.


The Alphabet Photo Challenge is being sponsored by Quilly at Quilly's Pacific Paradise.


O-Ordination ( 25th Anniversary of Mine)

O-O scale train layout

O-Old Family Pictures

#### News from Pigeon Falls-The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal. Tommy UK arranged with Pastor Joan and Tammy for Tammy to take his acolyte task this Sunday since he will be visiting his uncle in Iron Mountain. Tammy didn’t mind she likes to acolyte.
Tommy TW is working away on his new book. He wants to spend a night in the museum to get a feel for what a night in a haunted house is like.
Petrovich is almost ready to post a new driblet to his website. He says there are just a few tough phrases to translate. Mrs. Petrovich still hasn’t made any public appearances not even for shopping.
Nancy says the town is pretty much back to normal. Lots of rumors and not much substance.
******
Today's Link-
The Rantings of a not so Starving ..but Highly Neurotic Writer-
My award blog for longest title.
Good day today. My oxygen was up another two points. I had more energy. Betty went shopping. Then to Bible study. Maggie chewed up the new hose nozzle we bought to replace the one she chewed up. I did some picture sorting, moved my links around a little, watched Crossing Jordan, and played some computer games. Now I need a breathing treatment:
GBYA
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