Kristen Meets the Blade

"Hello, my lovely audience! Welcome to the show! Prepare to be amazed and astounded by oddities, antiquities, and other bizarre occurrences!" Chardonnay bowed low. "Kristen, come up, please."
The brown-haired girl bounced up the steps and onto the stage.
"Kristen here, has volunteered to let me start the show in a grand manner. Let's begin with a simple demonstration of mesmerism!"
The magicienne turned to the young woman, and waved her hand in front of the woman's face. "Are you ready to be hypnotized?"

"Um, that doesn't sound very grand, but, yes-"

"Good, and don't worry. Now, Kristen, imagine you're some place nice and peaceful. Now- sleep!" With a snap of Chardonnay's fingers, Kristen closed her eyes. Her arms dropped limp to her side, and she swayed a bit on her feet, a content smile on her face.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, it was believed that once a subject was mesmerized, they were capable of miraculous feats- becoming stiff as a board, or even light as a feather and floating. However, now I want to show you the grand part- a grand device, one that's quite familiar, in an experiment to see if hypnosis can make the subject as hard as steel..." Behind the magicienne, the curtain opened, revealing a large guillotine. "I suspect just the thought of the lovely Kristen in peril under the blade has some of the men here hard as steel already..."
She stepped back. "Now, let's all hope this works, because if it doesn't, Kristen is going to have the worst headache in her life- and also the shortest!"

To be continued...