Everyone Out of the Pool!

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the Magician's voice rang out, cutting through the noise of the party. Jess and I had squeezed into the crowded hot tub, where I'd been watched, bemused, as Tom had been trying in vain for a minute or two to ring a glass for attention.

Fortunately, the Magician had a voice that demanded it. It also helped that Tom's back yard was in a sort of natural ampetheater, scooped out of the hillside. Tom stepped up to speak, but the Magician smiled and motioned for him to sit down. "Ladies and gentlemen," he started again. "On behalf of my good friend and our wonderful host, Thomas Branaugh, I'd like to ask everyone to clear the pool, so you can have a better view of the show!"

The large pool quickly emptied of people, some grabbing towels, some just sitting on the edge to dangle their feet in, letting the water drip off them in the warm summer night air. One of them, a short Asian woman, gracefully pulled herself out of the water into a hand stand, her black and red two-piece showing off her trim form. She arched her back and bent her legs, looking forward, with her feet over her head, then pushed up and forwards with her arms, landing on her feet and standing, to some applauds. She slicked her hair back and crossed the short distance to where the Magician was standing.

"Quite an entrance, Hitomi," the Magician smiled, and there were more applauds, both for her and in anticipation of what was to come. Many of the people here, myself and Jessie included, were already familiar with the Magician and his assistants, and their unique brand of magic. "I see you're already in costume, so let's begin, shall we?"

"Who is he?" whispered the blue-haired girl beside us.
Jess smiled, "He's the Magician."
"Which magician?"
"Just 'The Magician.' Don't worry- you're in for a treat."

The Magician had helped up one of the men sitting on the edge of the pool close to him, and pressed him into assisting. The man, Jacob, was currently examining locks and chains that had been dumped out of a nearby sack. Hitomi balled her hands into fists and, left, then right, the Magician put a small bag with a thick draw-string over them. After tying them shut, he locked one end of a pair of handcuffs over her wrists- one set for each arm. The cord in the mouth of the bag would keep her from removing them under the handcuffs, and they were tight enough she couldn't unball her hands to manipulate anything. She crossed her arms hard behind her back, and the Magician locked the other end of each handcuff above the elbow of the opposite arm. It looked very uncomfortable, but very secure. "Jacob- if you're done with the chain, could you examine the handcuffs on Hitomi's arms?"

The volunteer grasped the and tried the cuffs. "They're good."

"Excellent," the Magician smiled. "Now take the chain you have and wrap it around her waist."

He did so, and Hitomi got down on her knees, balancing carefully. She sat, her bare heels together and touching her butt.

"Go ahead and wrap more chain around her ankles, then padlock it in place." Jacob did so. "You can keep the keys for now- don't lose them! We might need them later. Hitomi- how does it feel? Can you move?"

She wriggled a bit in her restraints. "No, boss, not really."

"Perfect." The Magician hefted a cinderblock, handing it to Jacob. "Could you lock this to the end of the chain with the last padlock?" Jacob looped the chain through the holes in the block and locked it so it was attached firmly, with just a small space between the block and Hitomi's bare feet. The Magician tossed him the sack everything had been inside. "Last thing to check." Jacob turned it inside out and shook it, then right side out again. It was heavy canvas, double stitched, with a thick draw-string at the mouth.

"Ready, Hitomi?"
"Ready," she nodded.
"Jacob, help me with this."

Jacob and the Magician pulled the sack over his assistant's head, down her body, and she rocked back and forth to let them maneuver it under her shins until she was fully inside. "You tie it, Jacob," the Magician asked, and his helper pulled the drawstrings tight, knotted them, then wrapped them around the mouth of the bag, knotting them again. Only the chain and cinderblock stuck out, and Jacob tied the free ends of the drawstring to the cinderblock, for good measure.

"Great, help me lift her," the Magician asked. The bag wasn't too big- it was easy to see Hitomi's form wriggling inside as they picked her up and carried her past a dozen people, closer to the middle of the pool. "Go ahead, feel," the Magician asked someone as they walked past. "She's still real secure in there, right?" An older gentleman reached up and squeezed the bag.

"Hey! Don't squeeze me there!" Hitomi's muffled voice cried out from inside the sack.

"Oh yeah, they're real," the man called out, and a few people chuckled.

Jacob and the Magician reached the side near the middle of the pool. It was up a ramp, so it was about three feet above the water, which was about six feet deep at that place. "On three, Jacob." They swung Hitomi, in the sack, with each number, and on three, let go, tossing her into the middle of the water. The cinder block immediately pulled the sack to the bottom of the well-lit pool, and I could clearly see the shape of the assistant's arm, hip, and thigh through the canvas as the air bubbled out and the bag pulled tight.

"Jacob, keep an eye on her, all right? I know Houdini used to leave the stage empty except for his screen while the band played for fifteen minutes, but we don't have a band, folks these days bore easily, and I do have more illusions to perform." The Magician strode back to his makeshift stage- a well lit area under the pergola, in front of the wide sliding doors that led to the great room inside. More guests were watching from the chairs inside, and a few people even looked on from the second floor balcony. Everyone had a good view, and he was performing surrounded- no angles to hide any secrets.

The Magician's red-headed assistant, Robyn, who was in a short red skirt and black top, stepped up and handed him a small bench. He spun it around and set it down. It looked to be about a foot deep, and maybe 18" wide, and rested on four thin, round legs, about two and a half feet high. The legs were attached to two wider bars, running from front to back for stability, and there were casters on the bars, allowing the bench to be wheeled around.

The Magician glanced at the audience around him, and turned to a brunette in a one piece bathing suit, who was leaning against one of the pergola's supports. "Miss, would you care to have a seat?" He offered his hand. She smiled and took it, and he led her to the center of the stage, asking her name as they went. "Ladies and gentlemen, the lovely Stephanie!" The audience applauded as he helped her sit. She put her hands on her side. The bench was just slightly wider than her shoulders.

Another of the Magician's assistants, Laurel, with her short blonde hair, handed him a thin board with slots cut through it. He spun it around- a picture of a woman was painted on the back. He slid it in place against the bench behind his volunteer. It was just as wide as the bench, and just as high as the top of Stephanie's head, as she sat up straight.

Robyn returned with more wood, in a blocky U-shape. The Magician took it from her and slid it down onto the bench- each side brushing Stephanie's arms and shoulders, and the top touching her head. A picture painted on each side showed it was just as deep as her body, and a very tight fit. It was obvious now, he was building a box around her. Stephanie leaned forward and waved, looking around smiling, "Bye everyone!"

Laurel brought the last piece, the front, which had more slots, two holes scooped out close together at the bottom, and another stylized picture. Stephanie leaned back, and the Magician slid it in place, latching it to the sides, and enclosing her body, leaving her legs, which emerged from the two holes, in full view right up to the top of her thighs. She crossed her right ankle over her left.

"Now, as small as this box seems, ladies and gentlemen, there is actually quite a bit of room to spare, as my volunteer will help me demonstrate." The Magician turned, and Robyn stepped up to offer him a broad blade, the metal fully as wide as the handle. "For example, there's plenty of room for Stephanie on the left side of the box." He took the blade, and slid it through a slot in the front, which went diagonally from the upper right corner, down through the chest of the picture, almost to the middle of the box. I couldn't see how the girl inside could have possibly moved out of the way.

The Magician took another blade. "There's also room on the right side of the box," he said, and slid this blade through a slot that ran from the bottom left, up through the middle of the girl painted on the front panel- apparently slicing right through his volunteer's belly. "How are you doing in there, Steph?"

From inside the box came her muffled voice, "Peachy!" The Magician turned the box around, and she moved her legs to compensate. She was still sitting on that bench, and I could see the people behind through its legs. The blades clearly extended right through the box and out the back side. I applauded.

The Magician took another blade, and pushed it in opposite the first blade he'd inserted- from the upper left down to the middle. "As you can see, there's still plenty of room for such a lovely lady like Stephanie in the bottom of the box." There was no way she could have bent over, I was certain. The box wasn't deep enough. The Magician took a fourth blade, and paired it with the one in the bottom, from the lower right up to the middle.

"See?" said the Magician after the fourth blade had been thrust through. "Plenty of space, right, Stephanie?"

"Right!" came her reply from inside the box.

Laurel handed the Magician a much wider blade. He positioned it vertically and slid it through the center of the box, from nearly the top, straight down to the bellybutton of the girl drawn on the front. He turned the box around again. "All right, now I'll concede there is not a lot of space in there for Stephanie."

"Nope!" squeaked his victim from inside.

"Still okay, Steph?"

"Yep!" she somehow managed.

"Good!" He replied, taking two last blades from Robyn, and banged them together. These were longer and thinner than the others. "Now let's take care of that last little bit of space!"

He put the two blades together, and slid them into the side of the box, through a slot I hadn't noticed, so they passed right beneath the vertical blade he'd inserted. He smiled, and walked to the front, then the back, throwing tiny latches. Instead of turning the box around, he lifted the top off completely, and left the bottom, with Stephanie's legs- one foot wiggling nervously- sitting in the middle as he walked around the stage. Either the girl had managed to squeeze herself completely and impossibly into the bottom space like the Magician insinuated, or he had just sliced into his volunteer, then cut her completely and impossibly in half.

Everyone applauded as he made the rounds with the box. Jessie started to shift herself onto my lap for a better look. She stopped, reached under her butt to feel what she'd sat on, and squeezed. Then she sat down and wiggled, giggling.

The Magician returned to the center of the stage, where the bottom of the box, and Stephanie's legs, waited. They uncrossed, then crossed in the other direction.

He put the top back in place, carefully, and shut the latches, then quickly removed all the blades, handing them to his waiting assistants. Then, in one fluid motion, he lifted the back, sides, and front off the bench in one piece, to reveal Stephanie still sitting, in much the same position the pictures on the box indicated. She blinked and looked around as he helped her up, then smiled as he twirled her to show she was completely intact and unhurt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a big hand for my lovely volunteer, Stephanie!" Everyone applauded, and someone moved to provide her a seat, which the Magician led her to.

"Well, you were right," said the blue-haired girl beside us, barely audible over the applauds. "That was pretty cool. Weird, but cool." She looked around, then leaned forward to look over the edge of the hot tub into the pool. "I hope he remembers that girl in the bag is still chained to the cinderblock underwater..."