Okay, let's make up for the delay on Shannon, as well as put up something that's not off limits to some people.<br />
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This was written for a story contest at a "stage magic" Yahoo group with the theme of "Competitions".  I wrote it as a tribute to a friend, another writer who had a long running series about a magician and his assistants at that same group.  At the time, it was supposed to be a one-off story.  But I found myself growing rather fond of the characters, and so far, there have been three more stories about them.  <br />
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I hope you find them as much fun as I did.