Deception || Jack Wilder [1]

| 01. slight roasted coffee with cream and two packs of sugar

"what do the kids call it these days? oh, that's right. magic."

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New York
Thursday

"PICK A CARD, ANY CARD." The most well known phrase of a magician there ever was.

The young soul of Maeve King held out a deck of cards in front of a stranger that she picked from the street, her charm never ceasing to draw people's attention.

The man scanned over the deck in her hand before finally picking one from the middle. While this trick progressed, there was a man in a blue hoodie watching intently as the girl shuffled the cards in her hands.

Maeve nodded at the man. "Okay, so memorize that card and- shit!" She dramatically dropped all of her cards onto the ground.

As she bends down to pick them up, the man slipped the card into his shirt pocket before kneeling down to help.

Maeve immediately placed her hand in front of him. "Sir, where is your card?" By now, a cluster of bodies started forming around the magician and her volunteer at the corner of the street.

The man reached into his pocket to show her, but his fingers only skimmed over the lining of his shirt. His face showed confusion and slight panic as he started checking his other pockets.

Maeve pointed to a random middle-aged woman standing in the front. "I think I saw it go into that lady's bag."

She finished collecting the cards that she 'dropped' and walked over. "Would you please check your bag?" The woman started fishing around in her purse before pulling out an Ace of Spades.

Maeve motioned to the card and turned to the man. "Is this your card?" The man's mouth dropped open as well as plenty of other people from the crowd. "I'll go with that as a yes." Maeve put up a finger. "Tsk tsk, you shouldn't lose your card like that. Ma'am can you turn over the card, please?"

The woman turned it over in her hand, the Ace facing the ground. When she turned it back over, the side with the Ace of Spades was blank.

Maeve took the card from the woman's grasp and walked around with it, showing everyone that gathered around to see the show.

Gasps and whispers were heard from the audience. "No worries!" Maeve tossed the card into the air, causing it to go up in flames. Oh how she loved flash paper.

The crowd 'ahh'ed at the sight, which made her smirk. "I just put the card in a better view for everyone to see."

Two seconds later, a person gasped, "What is that?!" Above the crowd stood a billboard with hundreds of cards, making the shape of the one that the man chose: Ace of Spades.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Maeve beamed at the crowd in front of her. The people broke out in cheers and applause as she took her final bow. The man in the blue hoodie suddenly became interested in the young magician.

Regularly, Maeve collected the money that the people kindly gave to her before walking down to the coffee shop in the middle of the city. It was like a routine for her: Wake up, get ready, perform, get something from the coffee shop on 5th Avenue, go to bed, repeat.