Do you like stories with mystery and suspense? Strange and “wyrd” ones? Well, if you do, keep reading and enjoy Eggcentricsagas. If you are just joining Eggcentricsagas, you might want to start from the beginning: A La Mano: Part 1-The Treasure
It had been another hot and humid day in the Midwest. By early evening, the clouds had begun to gather and brought night on quicker by turning the skies dark. Still depressed from her break-up with her boyfriend Johnny, Charlotte had gone to bed early. The lack of appetite due to melancholy had made her decline her dinner. Her parents did not challenge their pretty daughter’s decision and, she retired to her bedroom for the night. Before turning off her lamp, she removed the bracelet that Johnny had given her and gazed at it.
It was a silver chain with one charm; a heart of rhinestones. Turning the charm over in her hand, she read the inscription on the back. Charlotte, My Love Forever. “Ha!” she exclaimed out loud. “What a snake! Forever until I saw him kissing her!” Thinking about throwing the bracelet away, Charlotte wished she could erase the vision of her boyfriend kissing one of her former friends in the parking lot of the bowling alley. Instead, the girl laid it on her bedside table and turned off the light. Then gazed out her window at the quarter moon until the inky shroud accumulating in the sky obscured it.
She is tying one of her tennis shoes and then in a crowd of people walking through red and white tents. A boy in a white turban walks ahead of her. He is holding her heart charm in his hand. Knowing that she must get it back, she starts to run. The boy disappears into one of the tents. Arriving at the door flap of the tent, she intends on entering. There, she sees a snake on the ground in front of the entrance. Afraid, she doesn’t want to get bit. A light flashed above her. Looking up, she sees a word: PSYCHIC and hears a loud boom.
The sound of the thunder jolted Charlotte awake. She opened her eyes to see a tremendous lightning strike. A few seconds passed and, another resonating clap of thunder. Now fully awake from the storm, she wondered if the rain would keep her from going to the carnival the next day. Hoping to cheer her up, her other friends had urged her to attend and have some fun. They told her to forget about Johnny. Rolling to her side, she anticipated more thunder and lightning. Her strange dream flit through her mind as she waited, but the thunder clouds had passed. Finally, the sound of rain pelting down on the roof put her back to sleep.
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Edward puffed on his cigarette and looked up at the sky from underneath the rain-soaked canopy. Another lightning blast lit it up, and two seconds later, a thunderous peal rang out. “Damn! That was close, Rajiv!” He ground out his cigarette with his foot and stepped back into the train car he shared with Rajiv and four other men. “Hope we don’t get hit!” The young, muscular man smiled at the thin boy.
“Mr. Angel you won’t die of lightning but of tobacco and spirits,” Rajiv answered from his mat. The newest addition to the carnival had removed his turban and was lying down with his sleeping monkey companion curled against him.
One of the other older men looked up from the dice game and asked disparagingly. “Mr. Angel?” He guffawed and then took a swig from his bottle of liquor. “Kid, his name is Fast Eddie.” Then he looked at Edward. “Are you playing or what?”
Edward grunted in response as he moved towards the circle of gamblers. One of them, Jim Dandy the Dwarf, said, “Leave the loaded dice in your pocket, Snake Eyes. That’s only for the rubes.”
“Don’t worry Dandy; I’ll take all your money fair and square,” he replied good-naturedly.
The other men heartily laughed as the little man scowled and Edward took his place in the ring.
Later, when the rain had ceased and, the drunken men had crawled into their beds and were snoring loudly, Edward stood alone on the back platform of the train car. He inhaled the fresh, cool air and enjoyed the comfortable temperature of the early morning hours. The illusionist thought about how he had let the other men win some money to keep them happy. I can’t afford to make enemies or have distrusting companions by manipulating the dice all the time, he thought. Hooking his fingers into the pockets of his waistcoat, Edward glanced over at his top hat, gloves, and cane in the corner.
No one could know the truth, his true power. The reason he had joined the carnival was to keep his secret safe. They had to believe that he was just like them, a con artist and a fake. Rubes labeled him a barker, but the carnie folk called him a talker. Big Boss claimed that Edward was the best talker he had met since his earliest days in vaudeville. Edward’s good looks, charm, and magic act are what drew the customers. Then he would convince them to part with more of their money to walk inside the sideshow tent to view the freaks or the burlesque show.
Looking at the quarter moon low on the horizon first, Edward glanced back at Dandy. He smiled at the small man’s moniker for him: Snake Eyes. Edward twirled his mustache as he thought of why and not just because he rolled snake eyes on the dice frequently. It was his piercing, bright green eyes with their thick, dark fringe of eyelashes. The ladies couldn’t resist his handsome face and magnetic gaze. Edward smiled again at the thought of it and then yawned. He had better get a little sleep as it was opening day and work started early. The magician wondered what the new day would bring.
Next: The Magician’s Hat: Part 2-The Ticket
