Universal Magician

The Universal Magician

Universal Magician - the birth 

Ben was your every-day boy. Not too popular, yet not unpopular. This was about to change....

 "BEEEEEEEEEEN!" Mum screamed up the stairs, "YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"  I groaned and slowly untangled myself from the nest that my bed sheets had become. I then began the chore of getting myself ready for school. When I am done brushing my teeth in my en suite bathroom - I know, its cool, one of the few advantages of having a hard working mother- I struggle into my restricting school uniform, cross my tastefully decorated landing and look over the banister to see my mum with a buttered slice of toast clamped between her teeth. She looks slightly flustered, with her make up hastily put on and the mascara around her deep, bottom of the sea green eyes, which look so much like mine, looking more like bruises than anything else. Her long, brown hair is hastily swept into a bun, with a few stray hairs peeking out. I sigh inwardly - she is wearing her business suit. This usually means that I won't see her for the rest of the day. Oh well, I will get by, I always do. Mum looks up, sees me, grins and waves, then calls up the stairs "Good morning, sleepy head! I'm going to be away until 10. Tea is in the microwave. Is that OK?"

"Yes", I reply, impatiently wiping my long, brown hair out of my eyes, "that's OK". As mum lets herself out of the front door I descend the two floors to the kitchen and put on the toaster. While I'm waiting for the toast to pop up I think about how I'm to make it through the day, being very near the bottom of the school hierarchy. And worse, make it through Daniel....., I shake my head to clear it, there is no point in torturing myself. Just then the toaster shudders and releases two evenly browned pieces of toast. I grab them and rush out the door. The cold slap of the winter morning cold makes me hesitate slightly before ploughing on.

 I live in one of those gated communities, the ones that are meant to reassure you, make you feel safe. To me the high fence and thick gate make me feel imprisoned, as if they are not to keep people out, but to keep me in. I hurry down the street towards the gate which looms ever closer. I'm probably already late for Mr Higgins' chemistry class. I shudder. Mr Higgins has a reputation for imaginative punishments. One time, it is said, when canes were still in use, he dangled a boy out of the 3rd floor window by his heels! Many believe he wishes that he were allowed to do that now, in the 21st century. Thank goodness he can't.  I'm afraid of heights and I am not his favourite student. In fact, I think he hates me.

 A sudden screeching noise rents the air in two, and, startled, I look up and see the usually shut tight gates swinging on their hinges! Security men swarm around them, shouting and adding to the general confusion. There, rapidly coming into better focus, is a monster made of sleek, aerodynamic steel and, unfortunately for me, it is heading right my way! The driver of the roaring beast is someone I know all to well. Daniel. My mind struggles to accept this impossibility and the toast slips from my numb hands. He has a determined look on his face and is making a beeline for me. I, meanwhile, stand stock still in the middle of the road like an idiot. Time seems to slow and everything is thrown into sharp clarity. I can see the beads of perspiration on Daniel's forehead gather into one, bigger bead and slide down his face, I can see the birds flitting above me, ducking in and out of the cover of trees and adding their cries to the  deafening sound of the engine of the car now bearing down on me. I notice with horrified fascination that Daniel doesn't even seem upset. In fact he looks almost happy, with a manic grin stretching across his face. Suddenly, absurdly, my mind turns in the direction of rocks. What I wouldn't give, I thought, to become part of the natural world around me, the world that I had been fascinated with since I was a child. What I wouldn't give to be rock!  The last sound I hear before I lose myself to darkness is a strange rumbling sound and the screech of what sounded like someone dragging their nails down a blackboard.

Pale light suffuses the world around me. Am I dead, I think to myself? If so why am I in so much pain? For there was pain, pain that throbbed and beat under my skin like a second heart. Suddenly the now seemingly welcoming ghostly glow is ripped from my sight and I can see again! For a moment confusion reigns supreme, but soon, with a look at the devastation around me,  I remember everything. The car which was the height of modern day mans' engineering skills, the car with which Daniel had seemed intent upon mowing me down with, is now, impossibly, wrapped around my body like a pretzel. Daniel himself is nowhere to be seen.