And there I was, folded up as what I am told was a swan - I mean I couldn't see it as my face itself was folded as well. The audience kept on clapping.

"The magnificant Ray and his assisstant will take a break for 5 Minutes and then we'll be right back for our grand finale!" I heard the audience break in wild chatter, probably about how the trick was done.

Ray came backstage pushing the squeezer and then attending me: "Sorry, Tamara, I should've told you how to restore yourself.", he said while unfolding me. "No worries.", I said as I popped back into three dimensions after Ray finished the unfolding.

"You get into your dress, I thought of another way to bring the guillotine in, so that you don't have to do that." He noticed the sparkle in my eyes as I heard the word "guillotine". "You listening?"
I shook my head as if I was waking up, "Yeah. The dress and stuff. It'll be fun, Ray"

Ray started to change his clothes into an alabaster white suit with a fitting top hat. A little shakey, I walked into the back room.
There it was, a crosage, a long, white, frilly dress. "This is gonna take me more than just 5 minutes, Ray", I said out loud. "I know", came from outside, "It'll be fine."

First I untied my ponytail and tied it back up into a bun and got into the corsage trying to tie it together myself. These things are a pain to put on. I slipped into the dress and already heard the audience as Ray made his way back on stage. "Just a few more minutes, until we can begin, in the meanwhile..."

He started to talk about the history about the guillotine... I never really cared about it that much.
Finally I got ready and got more and more excited with every single step. Without saying anything, like in trance I stepped onto stage.

"There she is!" , the audience applauded, "Our lovely assisstant Tamara or should I say, Marie Antoinette?" I stepped up closer as suddenly the guillotine started to arise from below the stage. "Wait. This stage doesn't have a trap door beneath it!" I heard someone say from the audience, but my eyes where on the contraption. The table, the stocks... the shiny blade...

As it arose a melon was already locked in place where my neck was gonna be and Ray stopped forward. "Madame et Monsieurs, just in order to show you that this blade is very much real, I would like to introduce you two my first victim: Melon-y." Quickly he took a grip of the rope hanging from the side of the guillotine. "Once I pull this rope, the blade will drop and give us a nice cut of melon."

He pulled the rope and I saw the blade rush down effortlessly splitting the melon in half and Ray stepped forward, took one of the halves out of the basket and showed it to the audience. "You see, this blade is very real and very sharp", he said while taking a good bite out of the melon. He rose the blade again and wiped it clean from the melon juice that started to drip from it.

"Poor melon-y." Ray put the melon halves aside.

I walked over to the contraption. "My dearest Queen..." Ray pulled me close, "I'm afraid, that you are hereby sentenced to death by the people of France." I put on a fake shocked expression, "Moi? Sentenced to death?"
"Yes, my queen. But don't worry, it will be quick. Just lay down onto here"
Ray led me over and carefully pushed me down onto the table of the guillotine locking my neck into the lunettes and my wrists and ankles into shackles in the process.

"My queen", Ray bowed to me, "Any last words?"
Hanging above the basket looking down into it I suddenly look up to the audience and wink, "C'est la vie!~"
"C'est la vie indeed, my queen." I heard the click of the release and suddenly I felt everything like it was in slow-motion.

The vibration of this wooden contraption as the blade started to rush down...
The expression on the faces of the audience...
The cold rush of the blade cutting through my neck...
The slow starting of my fall into the basket...

I couldn't keep myself from letting out a loud moan for the whole audience to hear just for it to be drowned in the noise of silent screams and fearful shreeks of the audience.
My head landed very secure into the pillows inside the basket and my body shivered a lot on the guillotine - that's also why Ray locked down my body in the first place.

Ray looked down and shook his head, "Such a shame for our beautiful queen, but it can't be helped..." I felt his steps coming closer to me and his hands grabbing me.
Me, having to play dead, had my eyes closed and suddenly felt his lips touching mine and the audience was in shock as he kissed me holding my head.

"My dear audience, maybe you want to have a better look at our lovely queen?" He suddenly put me down on a table nearby.
"Anyone? No one? What a shame..."
I heard a woman wimper in front of me and I decided to open my eyes and wink at her and close them again. She suddenly screamed "AHHH she winked at me! She winked at me!!!"
Someone near her tried to calm her down.

"Well if no one wants to come take a look. I guess, it's time to restore our queen who has payed for her crimes to the people of France." I suddenly felt Ray lifting me up from the table and I heard the blade going up again. Ray then reconnected to my body and I was supposed to wake up with a gasp and so I did.  "What 'appened?" I said in a false accent as Ray opened the lunettes and helped me off the table.

The crowd went wild on me being "alive" again seeing that it was all just a trick... If they only knew...

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The Aftermath:

"Now tell me, Tamara. What was that?" Ray confronted me in a strict tone.
"What was what?" I asked trying to hide what I did.
"You know exactly that you can't hide anything from me! First the moan and then that what you did to that lady in the crowd. They are supposed to think it all was a trick!" He suddenly grabbed my head from my body and looked at me. "For the moan, you know, I can't control myself on this thing. I don't know what it is, but it just drives me crazy. As for the woman... I don't know, thought I want to have some fun?" I made an unsure smile.
Ray sighed, "Whatever, it all went well in the end, I guess, but for now..." he snipped his fingers and I suddenly lost all feeling of my body, "... you're going to stay like this for the next week. Let's see if you learn something from being bodiless for a week."

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Heh. Not being able to hide anything from you, Ray? Everything is going as planned...~