Inspiration
I’ll admit, this is based on another story I think I wrote a long time ago, but I can’t find it on the old site. It’s loosely based I should say. And @MagicalFirefly plays something completely different.
Ever since she was 9, Emmy had one obsession. She first saw the sawing-a-woman-in-half illusion then, saw how happy the woman in the box seemed and had to wonder about it. She kept looking for stories and videos online, appreciating the obvious fakes for their artistry and even learning how some of the tricks were done.
But the idea kept hitting her. What if it wasn’t a trick? Aunt Carlie always said there was something she should know when she was old enough, something that her mom didn’t want her finding out while she was “still a kid.”
So here it was, her 13th birthday, and she was with Rob, a friend of hers from how long ago she couldn’t remember. Her mom and everyone had already gone ahead to the venue, ready to celebrate her becoming a teenager, and they were told that Aunt Carlie would be there soon, but Emmy found something she couldn’t explain at all.
It was a girl, lying on a couch, simply lying there in halves. It was clear she was still in control of herself, but she was there, laughing and enjoying the experience.
Emmy had to try it. She went into the living room where Rob was playing on his phone. “Hey, I need you to do me a big favor.”
Rob looked up at her like she was crazy. “Like what?”
Emmy couldn’t hold in her excitement. “I want you to saw me in half.”
Rob gasped, almost dropped his phone. “WHAT?”
Emmy held up her tablet with the video already loaded on it. “Look at her. See how happy she seems?”
It was the video she’d seen earlier, and Rob looked at it, sighing only once. “Yes, but we don’t have a box or a saw or anything.”
Emmy smiled, knowing she’d won that part. “My mom has a huge carving knife. We can use that, cut me in half and have it back before she even knows.”
Rob checked the time but Emmy interrupted him. “We still have a couple of hours to do this, so let’s do it.”
As Emmy ran into the kitchen to find the knife her heart was racing. Sure, she knew that being older meant that she’d feel different things, but what would this feel like? She had no idea.
As she got back into the living room, she saw that Rob had arranged the stuff on the coffee table so she could lay down on it. As she got into position, he saw a problem. “Your shirt’ll get ruined if we try it that way.”
Emmy looked down at herself. “Okay.”
She quickly knotted her shirt up, revealing her waist. She was a little self-conscious of this, but she knew Rob. She’d seen how, lately, her hips had started to stick out a little more and knew it was because she wasn’t exactly a little girl anymore, but she knew Rob.
She settled in, laying down on the table as Rob picked up the knife, seemingly having second thoughts. “What if this doesn’t work?”
Emmy just knew something about it. “Start out slowly at first. If it stings, I’ll let you know and we’ll stop.”
Rob looked at her again, apparently trying to decide if she was sane. “Okay. Here we go.”
Rob disappeared from view and Emmy felt something on the side of her waist. Her breath shuddered as she started to consider whether or not this really was a good idea. She knew about illusions of magic, of course, and knew how most of them were done, but this seemed so real. Was it? Was it all in her head?
She felt a sharp sting as Rob ran the knife along her skin. She gasped, but the sting went away. Emmy had cut herself bad before and knew that, in those situations, the sting never really went away, so what did that mean? “Keep going.”
He sliced into her again and something surprising happened. She felt good. Rob appeared in her sight. “No blood. How do you feel?”
Emmy just grinned. “Keep going.”
Rob sliced her again and Emmy just felt even better. She could actually feel the knife in her body and could track each slice as Rob continued his work. Each slice made Emmy giggle a little bit, especially when he reached the middle where her spine was.
It took a little more effort, but Rob managed to cut through it and Emmy felt an explosion of pleasure at that. Sure, she knew she could feel good, she thought she felt good before, but this was a whole new level.
It took a couple more minutes before Rob finished slicing through Emmy’s waist and she lay there, sighing in pleasure. Rob looked over her, apparently amazed. “Wow. I didn’t think it’d work.”
Emmy just smiled as she thought of something else. “Hold on. Let’s try…”
She lifted herself up on her elbows, sliding her two halves apart. It felt even better and Emmy had to wonder as she set her top half on the cut end and just watched, amazed at her bottom half’s moving at her command. Something struck her then. “Wonder what else we can do.”
Rob smiled. “Like what?”
Emmy lifted up a leg on her truncated lower half. “Like my foot.”
With one quick motion, Rob managed to slice off her foot, placing it in Emmy’s hands. She watched as she stretched and flexed it. “This’d make painting my nails so much easier you know.”
At her request, Rob sliced off her other foot and she just smiled, Rob watching in amazement. Without much thought, Emmy made her next request. “Cut off my head.”
Rob placed the knife at her throat, hesitating only a moment as Emmy lifted up her hair and he sliced through her neck, catching her head as it fell. Emmy giggled at that, really liking how she was feeling, before Rob had to admit something. “I think we’d better figure out how to stick you back together. I mean, we know we can, so we can do it whenever you like.”
Emmy sat there, holding her head, wondering if she could talk and tried nodding in agreement. She realized she needed a neck for that, so simply moved her head so that she nodded.
As Rob took her head back and placed it on her neck, Emmy knew something was wrong. Her head fell again. “Oh no.”
Emmy tried pressing her head onto her neck next, but it fell off again.
Emmy was no stranger to being in trouble, but never anything serious, at least not as serious as this. What was she going to do? What was Rob going to do?
They tried a few other times to stick parts of her back together, but she just wouldn’t go.
That’s when they heard someone come in. “Hello?”
She called out. “Aunt Carlie! Don’t come in….”
The look on Aunt Carlie’s face was surprised, but not shocked. “I see you two have been up to something.”
Emmy looked down as best she could. “I just wanted to know what it felt like.”
Carlie sat down by her lower half. “And?”
Emmy smiled a little. “It feels good.”
Carlie laughed only once. “Yes, yes it does. And I see you’ve learned how good it feels to be in pieces too.”
That surprised Emmy. “Wait. You’ve been in pieces?”
Carlie shrugged. “Many times. I even saw myself in half.”
Emmy just looked at her aunt. “It’s not something I’d show off to your parents. Your mom doesn’t know about the magic in our blood, but it’s something you can have a lot of fun with.”
Emmy sighed. “But I can’t get myself back together.”
Carlie took Emmy’s head, pressed it only lightly where it was supposed to go and Emmy felt a rush of pleasure as she felt her head and neck rejoin. It took only a moment more for Carlie to press Emmy’s feet back where they belonged. “Now here’s the secret…”
As Carlie told Emmy how to get herself back to where there wasn’t any sign she was ever in pieces, Emmy positioned her top half over her bottom half and pressed them together, feeling so good as she did so. “Now, Rob, you know the secret of our family. Will you tell anyone else?”
Rob swore he wouldn’t as Emmy stood up, straightening her shirt as Carlie announced it was time to celebrate her birthday.
But Emmy knew her other presents would pale in comparison.