Microfiction Day 126 – ‘The Greatest Trick’

The magician was preparing for his greatest trick.

He had escaped from watery prisons, asking his audience to hold their breath along with him, his assistant enjoying their red faced gasps as they faltered one by one. He had made an elephant vanish, a masterclass in the control of perception, the newspapers scratching their collective heads.

But he had had enough of the grasping hands stealing his tricks, of the journalists revelling in his private life. As the story of his death filled their pages, he saw it all unfold, watching from the wings with a smile on his face.