"Amazing Stories" Retro Recap: "Mr. Magic"

Written by Scotty

As you start to get older, you start lose that extra step that you have relied on all of your life.  Things that you were able to do with your eyes closed start to present more of a problem for you if you do not focus.  It is hard to believe that this will happen, but as your years start to catch up with you, you will see it happening with more frequency.  There is nothing to fear about getting older, as your friends will be going through the same problems, and even though they will not admit it, they are feeling the same pain you are as well.

The great Lou Bundles has been in magic for over seventy years and is far from ready to hang it up.  Knowing all of the crowd’s favorite tricks by heart, he is starting to hit a couple road blocks.  When he is no longer able to pull a person’s card from the deck, he needs a little help and looks to his old magic shop to get some new tricks.  When picking up his levitating ball, Lou asks the kid to grab him a couple decks of cards as well.  When he gets handed some of the newer playing cards, Lou gets upset and asks for the old ones that are in the case.  Since nobody likes to use the antiques anymore, the deck is handed over to him without question.

During his next show, Lou loses everything on stage and is unable to get situated for the crowd. Demanding them to stop laughing at him as he still has many tricks to perform, they will not listen so he pulls out his deck of cards and asks for a person to come up on stage.  What Lou does not know is that the cards are actually magic and come to life in his very hands.  With two cards flying around the room and no one being able to pinpoint what is happening, Lou has made a name for himself once again.  Having lunch with the young man that runs the joint, Lou gets offered a job that he cannot refuse and takes it graciously.  With the cards by his side, he cannot fail.

As his act starts to grow, the cards respond and do everything that he asks them to do.  With his name in the light again, Lou returns to his local diner where his friends are looking to congratulate him on his current run of success and demand a trick.  But the cards are not willing to comply and Lou feels like the ultimate fool.  Trying to take his cards back from his friends, he rips them and knows that they are on their last legs, just like Lou.  After repairing the cards and giving them a little wax touch up, Lou comes up with his next act, but once again the cards are becoming more lifeless than he has ever seen them.  Needing to do something for his next show, Lou has to devise a plan to go out on top, just the way he had intended.

This story tells the tale of a man wanting to go out on his own terms, but when something magical is put into his lap, he changes his wish.  Wanting to get back into the spotlight, Lou will do anything to hold his top spot in the club, but knows that it will take more than he can bring.  Being presented with some actual magic, Lou wants to exploit his new gift, but then finds out that his new deck of cards are just trying to grant him his previous wish.  I would say to be careful what you wish for, but that is not the case as the wish will be granted to the old timer, just not in the way he expected.  Always keep an eye on the magicians other hand, as he is pulling out a rabbit with one, he could be robbing you blind with the other.

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