The Magic World of Roxanne (English Version

#1: The 4 Elements

"COME CLOSER, COME CLOSER! Otherwise you'll miss the best performance ever!" shouted a magician full of vigour.

Except that no one was listening to him.

But he didn't give up. He kept shouting, even went into the crowd and tried to get some people excited. Why not - he's at the biggest festival in Unicorn City. To succeed here, you have to wow the crowd. But it looks like it would soon be the end for the magician. Because if he inspires anyone to see him within the next 5 minutes, the festival organisers will clear his stage."Really? Don't you want to see how enchanting magic is?" he shouted again. That must mean - showtime. There's no other way he can pull this off. He pulled out a magic wand and began with the simple tricks. The rabbit out of the hat, the flowers out of the sleeve, the endless scarf..."Somehow I'm not attracting anyone..." the magician muttered to himself. "Then I guess I'll have to reach into my bag of tricks..."

He touched his sleeve and seemed to be turning something. A soft hiss sounded and suddenly everyone walking past the magician realised that it had got colder. "Look here, look here! How about some ice magic?" he called out and a little snowman appeared. Nothing special at first. But just then it came to life. "Hi! Would anyone like to play with me?" a squeaky voice sounded from the snowman. Of course the little children want to take a closer look at the little wonder. The parents, already exhausted from all the attractions, just rolled their eyes but went along. "But one snowman is not enough for such a crowd... How about 100?" shouted the magician delightedly and created 100 more. The children shrieked with delight and there was no stopping them. Everyone wanted to see the enchanted snowman. "Mum, Dad, can we please keep him? Please, please, please!" came from everywhere. "Your plan is working, master!" the first snowman praised the magician. "It's working, yes... But that was just the beginning!" said the magician and set to work. He conjured up the water from the fountain and turned his stage into an ice arena. He used the remaining water to conjure up ice skates and skated across the ice. He performed various tricks and was finally cheered on by the adults too! It works! And best of all - teenagers and young people also joined in and watched with excitement.

Even a 15-year-old girl who happened to be passing by. She seemed to be very happy about it and also played with one of the snowmen.But when she touched the snowman, it made its eyes wide. "Could it be...", she mumbled. "Could it be something?", the girl asked. The snowman just shook his head. "No, no, I've mistaken you for someone else..." the snowman admitted.

But the first snowman didn't seem to miss it. He hastily tugged at the mage and pointed at her. "M-M-Master! Isn't that... Isn't that Roxie?" it asked excitedly. Roxie? It can't be... Ten years ago, he had to hear that the family had no chance against "him" and had been wiped out. But how... How could she survive?

He looked at the girl again. Fact - the slight afro, the mother's smile, the father's eyes... No doubt about it, it IS Roxanne!

"Make sure I can talk to her. Alone," he ordered the first snowman. "I have to know..." "Don't worry, master. We'll take care of it!" the snowman promised and ran to the snowman standing near Roxanne. Roxanne is just about to try to teach the snowman a few tricks. But whenever Roxanne says something like "Rupert, sit!", the snowman, whom she has named Rupert, replies: "Sorry, but I only listen to the master. Besides, my name isn't Rupert." "Well, but you do need a name... And I was thinking of Rupert," Roxanne replied. "But I don't need one. My master knows what to do. And if he orders us to jump, then we'll do it. After all-"

He was just about to explain the background to the magic when the first snowman came along and interrupted him. "I'm sorry, but the magician wants to speak to you in person," it said and waddled back again. The magician wants to talk to her alone? Why, she doesn't even know him. But somehow... She really wanted to know how he did this. How could the snowmen even talk? And why were they alive? She would probably accept this conversation with anticipation...