January 16, 2013: Smoke and Mirrors
Song: “Smoke and Mirrors” by Gotye from Making Mirrors
(Picture from http://www.warble-entertainment.com)
Felix the Magnificent woke, sweaty and gasping.
He had a dream. The Dream, come to it.
On stage. All eyes on him. The spotlight so bright that he can’t see a single thing besides it.
But he’s on fire. Metaphorically speaking. A bunny out of the hat here. A lady sawed in half there. A harrowing water tank escape before your very eyes! He can do no wrong.
And then…the voice.
Somewhere in the ground, Felix can never see where, but somewhere it comes. Quiet but commanding. Everything but the voice goes silent.
“He’s a fraud.”
Felix would protest, show another trick. See, not a fraud at all. But the voice remained unconvinced.
“Fraud!”
Another trick. Another shout.
“FRAUD!”
Now Felix is protesting. Yelling at the voice. Screeching he innocence until he’s hoarse.
“He’s no magician. He’s a wizard!”
Felix tries to convince the crowd. But slowly he realizes that it’s true. He is a wizard! He’s not doing tricks or illusions. He’s casting spells. He is a fraud!
And the crowd knows it too in that moment and they storm the stage, enraged.
“We came for a magician, not a wizard!”
“No one wants real magic!”
The mass of people tear the stage apart around Felix ending, horribly, by smashing his top hat. And this is when he awakes. Terrified.
He catches his breathe. Checks himself over. Sighs in relief.
He’s just a magician after all.
Which is good. Because no likes wizards.