# JAMS (Just Another Magic Show) Preview

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## Arrival

It was a balmy spring day, and the Riverbend Music festival was off to a great start. I’d arrived as soon as they opened, spend the morning setting up a camp site, and now was sipping a coffee while I wandered the grounds. I listened to 3 old guys play some bluegrass for a while, and then a Caribbean drum band, the edible I took was kicking in perfectly.

I would say I couldn’t have asked for more, but the circumstances I was there under … weren’t the best.

Let’s back up — my name is Emma. About six months ago my boyfriend Travis and I had bought tickets to this festival planning to camp all weekend. Then three weeks ago, we broke up.

As breakups go, this was maybe average — it had been what we both wanted, until it wasn’t. It was not exactly a surprise to either of us. Still, I’d been in a hard spot emotionally before this unraveled, and was now finally starting to move on.

The only complicated thing was the tickets. I still wanted to go to the show, but at that point, more camping passes were sold out — so adding more friends wasn’t a possibility. And despite my persistent efforts, none of my other close friends could make something work on such short notice, and besides, who really wants to go hang out 1 on 1 all weekend with a freshly broken-hearted Emma.

Still with all that said, I was actually in a good mood. The weather was amazing, the vibes were off the charts, and you know what, I was in a perfect place to make some new friends. I even knew a few people there already — there was Nate and Cassie, who lived at the end of my block, and a guy at my climbing gym that everyone calls ‘Scooter.’

It was now around 2pm, the vibe was shifting from a chill morning into a more celebratory atmosphere. The energy was undeniably pleasant. I went to get a beer and sat down somewhere in the shade. A group of 20ish people were eagerly clustered around a stage, waiting for something to start.

I checked my copy of the schedule.

> “JAMS (Just Another Magic Show) - A Comedy & Body Magic Performance by the Pineapple Magic Troupe”

It was there, at the Meadow Stage, that our story gets interesting.

“Hey,” said a female voice behind me. “Is it okay if we share the shade here?”

“Of course,” I said, turning around.

I looked at the two people who’d just approached — the girl who’d spoken had a blanket she was spreading out. The guy she was with nodded to me.

“Thanks,” said the girl.

I noticed two things about them. The first was the most obvious.

I don’t know the best way to summarize this, except to say that she _had his arms_. Like, she’d taken them away from him, and now she had _four_ arms, while this guy had _zero_ arms.

This assumption was, admittedly based on the mismatch in skin tones, the relative proportions and overall musculature of the ‘upper’ arms she was sporting. But given that the guy was also shirtless, it seemed like an easy inference to make.

The second thing I noticed, maybe a more subtle read, was that while these two were there together, they didn’t read as _together_ together. And what can I say — the guy was pretty cute without arms. And she was pretty cute with _extra_ arms.

In any case, I found my interest was piqued.

“I love your tattoos,” I said, smiling at the girl.

“Oh these babies,” she said, flexing a bicep and grinning back at me, then flashing her eyebrows back at the guy. “Yeah I worked really hard on these.”

I laughed, along with the other guy. We made eye contact for just a millisecond longer than needed.

“I’m Kelly,” she said, extending a hand. “And this is Tommy.”

“Hey, I’m Emma,” I said, shaking a hand.

“I’ll shake hands for him,” she said, adding another delighted grin. I laughed in response as well, accepting a double handshake.

“How did you … make this trade?” I asked them.

“It’s a long and complicated story—“ started Kelly.

“She won them for the weekend in a dice roll,” said Tommy, laughing. “It’s like a game all our friends play.”

“We need a better story for you than that Tommy,” said Kelly, admonishingly. “Like, I think maybe you donated your arms to charity, and I’m the rich heiress who purchased them at auction for a ridiculous price.”

“I don’t think you can sell the heiress part,” said Tommy, with a smirk.

Kelly rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Anyway yeah,” she said, with a shrug. “It’s this silly dice game, if you call your role, you can make someone else do a magic-based dare, then you pass them the dice either way.”

“Sounds fun,” I said.

“It gets pretty ridiculous,” said Tommy.

“Last month I lost a roll and had to wear my nose upside down for a week,” said Kelly, with a smirk.

“So you two sound like you must know your way around some magic,” I said, nodding to the stage.

“Oh yeah,” said Kelly laughing. “The three people performing this are those same friends.”

“Speaking of,” said Tommy. “I think the show is about to start.”