Red Truth

A humorous short story written for this prompt: A master magician plays an elaborate prank on unsuspecting civilians.

I gazed around at the faces of the small crowd of people standing on the sidewalk. Some looked skeptical, some looked bored, and some, mostly the younger ones, were excited. A small grin appeared involuntarily on my face. I knew this routine, I had done it many times before. I could predict, nearly every time, the exact reaction of someone based on this brief preliminary observation. I swept my cape backward and displayed an egg delicately balanced on top of my hand. Other magicians who knew me always did say I had a flair for the dramatic.

    “This, as you can see, is an ordinary egg. The egg of a dove, to be precise.” I watched the faces of the whole audience switch to curiosity, nearly simultaneously. My smile grew wider. “Look closely at the egg, for before your eyes, it will become that of its future.” I cupped my other hand around the egg, concealing it from the audience. A few of them leaned forward to see what I would do. I could see the faint orange glow of my hand as I cast a time spell, speeding the dove embryo’s growth. Within a few seconds, it hatched, poking its head out above my hand and chirping at the audience. Several of them gasped, and they started applauding as I moved my hand back to my side and showed them the bird surrounded by pieces of eggshell.

I created a small flame in my hand, froze a glass of water, and a few more tricks that surprised and delighted my audience. I was using simple spells that could easily be mistaken for sleight of hand or illusions, to the unsuspecting eye. There were very few left in the world who knew magic existed. Those even fewer who practice it are usually locked up as a danger, no matter what they had actually used their ability for. Which is why I was a street performer. I couldn’t use my ability out in the open for fear of discovery and capture, so I hide it in plain sight. It is quite a clever use, if I do say so myself. Plus, I get to enjoy dressing up and acting mysterious.

The only problem is, well, it sometimes gets boring. Doing the same routine over and over again can get a bit dull, and there aren’t many other tricks I can do without being too obvious about my magic. And the audience is always so predictable, which, I will admit, is somewhat entertaining most of the time. But I sometimes wish I could do something a bit more...intellectually stimulating. I study magic alone when I know I’m safe, and it’s FASCINATING. The raw potential of our abilities is incredible, and the most frustrating thing for me is knowing I will never be able to discover it.

After my show, I collect the money from the hat I placed on the ground in front of me and put it back on, slanted so that the brim will cover my face. I keep to the shadows as I walk back to the small apartment I call home. This is a somewhat shady part of town, and I have nearly been mugged a number of occasions. But it’s the only place I can afford with my meager earnings from street shows. I don’t really mind, as long as I can meet my basic needs I am content. Besides, the occasional attacks give me another creative outlet for my magic.

I sigh and plop down on my mattress. I’m not quite tired enough to sleep yet, so I go to my spellbook. There are a few of the more complicated ones I haven’t mastered yet, so I choose one to study. It’s a spell that’s supposed to make people automatically say whatever is on their mind; simply put, a truth spell. It is indeed very complicated; the human will is difficult to overcome and it takes a lot to get them to say something they don’t want to. Ironic how the truth is what people want to hide the most. I don’t have much of a chance to practice anything new I learn, but this one seems harmless enough. I spot a woman through the window in the apartment next to mine, talking on the phone. I use an amplifying spell to listen to what she is saying…

“Oh, Christy, I would love to go out shopping tomorrow, but I can’t…” I chuckle to myself. It’s obvious she’s going to come up with some lame excuse. I concentrate on the spell and move my hands together in the complicated pattern shown in the book. A red light spirals from my hands and enters the woman as she speaks: “because my boss is making things difficult for me and everyone is getting on my nerves and I do NOT want to go out in public, especially with someone I’ll have to actually talk to!” She gasped and covered her mouth. I hear a muffled well excuuuuse me coming from the phone and quickly bury my face in my pillow so she can’t hear my burst of laughter. Now that was entertaining.

Being the first time I performed the spell, I feel a bit drained, so I change out of my clothes and fall asleep the second my head hit the pillow. After an extremely disoriented awakening (that always happens for some reason when I use a lot of magic the previous day), involving a brief moment of panic where I forget where my clothes went, I remember my first attempt at the truth spell. Chucking to myself, I get dressed again in my performance outfit and prepare to head out for the day. As I go through another routine performance, I wonder who else I could get away with truth-enchanting. Instead of moving to a different street after collecting my hard-earned money, I go to a back alley and cast an invisibility spell on myself. Hmm..now who to follow… I decide on a couple walking down the street, at an awkward distance from each other. Based on the obviously new dress the girl is wearing and the excess of perfume and cologne on both of them, I suspect it’s their first date. This ought to be amusing.

“Oh, no I’m fine with paying for dinner…” The red light flew from my hands into the girl. “Actually, I didn’t even bring money because I assumed you would pay. I only offered to sound polite. It is only fair, I mean I did buy this whole new dress just for the date and it was expensive! I bet your outfit didn’t cost any more than ten bucks!” She looked horrified as the words came out, and the boy stared at her, unbelieving. I held my hands over my mouth to muffle my laughter. As I retreated back to a safe distance, I let out the sound of my amusement. That was even better than I thought it would be! I really need to get out more often…

“Don’t move!” A gruff voice rang out. I felt a slight pressure in the middle of my back. Oh, right. Great… I let out a sigh. “Turn your pockets out!” I used a vision spell to see behind me without turning around. The man was short and dark haired, several days of stubble on his face. The hammer on his gun was pulled back. I went ahead and cast a quick protection spell, in case he actually decided to fire that thing.

“I haven’t got anything on me.” I said, in a bored-sounding voice.

“Show me!” He sounded nervous. I wonder.. While reaching into my pockets, I cast the truth spell again.

“Are you actually going to shoot me?” I asked.

“No, of course not. If I get caught I don’t want to add murder to the list. Besides, this isn’t even a real gun.” His eyes widened and he took a step back. I turned around, unable to help the slight smirk that appeared on my face.

“Well, nice to know that your threat is empty. That’s quite clever, actually. You don’t have to go through the legal hassle of buying a real gun, but anyone with that held right next to them isn’t going to take any chances.”

“H-how..What just happened?” He dropped the gun and put up his fists. “Who are you?”

“Oh, relax. I’m not going to attack you.”

“I just tried to mug you! And I’m pretty sure it’s you making me say this stuff! How are you doing that?”

“What makes you think it was me? Maybe you just had a change of heart and decided to be good and honest from now on.”

“No, it’s you, I know it is!”

“Like I said, I won’t attack you. If you relax I’ll tell you.” I had no qualms about revealing my magic to him; even if he did decide to tell, which would be difficult without revealing his own illicit actions, no one would believe him. My would-be attacker lowered his hand tentatively. “See? Now we can talk like civilized people.”

I explained to him my abilities; of course, he didn’t believe me at first. A few more obvious tricks convinced him. Because I never do anything important for free, I asked him about himself. He told me how he had lost his job due to budget cuts a few months ago, and decided to steal for a living rather than try to work in some factory where he would be treated like an inefficient machine. I could respect that, and I pitied the guy for being forced to stoop to such levels simply for being unlucky. I felt rather the same way myself. The best I could do to help him was conjure up an illusion for him, making him looked well-groomed and dressed in a suit. I then told him to go find an interview within the next three days, something that was simple and easy but above factory work; that he was intelligent enough to at least pretend he had an education, and once he got in they would never be able to tell the difference. He thanked me profusely, and I had to tell him to beat it just so he would stop. I did let a smile onto my face as left, however. It felt nice knowing that someone’s life was changed for the better.

 It was at that point that I decided the truth spell was my favorite. I went around the city, hiding and listening to some more hilarious conversations. People had some strange thoughts bottled up within them. I listened to a few awkward confessions of love (some of which actually ended up being mutual, and one that resulted in an impromptu marriage proposal and the applause of everyone within a ten foot radius), several frustrated arguments between both fake and real but annoying friends, a parent ranting to their 6-year-old child about their job (who, oddly enough, had some pretty good advice), and some general out-of-place comments that got many strange looks. Despite my lack of earnings for the day, I felt very satisfied on my walk home. I need to take some more days off, I thought with a smile.

As I unlocked my apartment, humming to myself, I felt a presence behind me. A very distinct one. One that could only come from another magic user. I nearly dropped my key as I whirled around, excitement welling within me. That was quickly crushed as I saw who it was. The wizened old man, with a beard many old magicians were jealous of, walked toward me with a scowl on his face.

“What. Have I told you. About not drawing attention to yourself?” His voice was deadly calm, and my blood turned to ice.

“N-nice to see you again...Master.”