“Ladies and Gentleman, come here and treat your eyes with a
sight you have never seen before, and very likely never see again! I, the
Magician Nacio, will present you my newest magical potion that will make you
shake from laughter and hold your breath from amazement!”
Most heads in the lively market turned towards the chubby
magician in the middle of the traders. It was not the first time they saw a
magic trick, but life within that city got boring sometimes. Some magical
entertainment was a strongly desired change for most of the people on the
market this morning. Lucky for Nacio, who grinned widely when he saw all the
attention his little speech had brought. Still got it, he thought and made
dramatic hand gestures to attract even more people. He kept a secret, that he
actually was no real magician. He only had the magical potion that he bought
along his travels.
When about fifty people stood around him, he waved a glass
bottle in front of their nose that contained light a blue liquid. When he shook
it, it turned purple.
“I need someone to volunteer!”
The audience looked unsure. It was common knowledge that
magicians were very experimental in their creation of potions, but their
creativity could also sometimes go wrong. There was the story of the wizard who
became invisible, but never turned visible again. Or there was the tale of the
bald men who took a potion for hair growth and suddenly became hairy as a bear.
Nobody wanted to become one of those poor creatures.
“Don’t be shy, it is tested and works just fine. It will do
you no long-term harm!”, the magician promised.
A couple of men laughed, as the leader of the group went one
step forward. “I do not fear you, magician!”
“Very well!”, the
magician said with his loud voice and clapped for the teenage boy.
He lifted his arms and waved his hands up to encourage
people to clap louder for himself. A real show off.
“What is your name?”
“Ilbert!”
“Ilbert, couragous Ilbert, what is your most favourite animal, if I may ask
you?”
“Dragon!”, he said excitedly.
“A dragon is a creature young Ilbert, not an animal. Do you like lions? Mice?
Eagles? Donkeys?” The last
word the magician spoke with special delicacy.
The boy seemed annoyed. “Give me the potion already, or are
we here to do small talk?”
The magician still smiled and put his big hand on the shoulder of the boy.
“Well ok then, take the potion, just a small sip, and we all can see what will
happen. I will not tell, as the surprise will be the sweetest of joy.”
The boy opened the bottle without hesitation and drank a
small sip.
The magician took the bottle away, before the boy could
drink more or dropped the bottle.
“So young man, how do you feel?”
“Good, why? Your stupid potion does nothing, magician!”
“Oh, nothing you say?”, The magician grinned and looked
theatrically into the audience.
“No, nothing. This potion is usele- Heee-Haaaaw –ss.”
Surprised the boy put the hand in front of his mouth.
“That was just a hiccup.”
“Oh, was it?”
“Ye – Heeee- Haaaaw!” The boy began panicking and turned
around, where a big donkey tail ripped open his pants.
The audience began to laugh. Especially this boys’ friends
laughed loudly.
Poor Ilbert looked at his hands, which were only hooves, and
started running away full of panic. He tripped over his own tail, fell, and
kept running on all fours.
Everyone laughed so hard like they did not laugh in a very
long time. They laughed too hard, they even did not notice the dark-haired boy
who slipped his hand into all of their pockets and took their gold.
Text Copyright © Rachel Sesom
