The Hanging Man • JW

The Hooded Man

Chatter filled the open cafe, oblivious to the young woman that strode in confidently. Her blonde hair bounced behind her as she turned to face the diners.

"People of cafe de monde! May I have your attention please?" She called out with a playful tone, a slight smirk on her lips. A few heads turned to face her way, some curious, some annoyed at her for interrupting their lunch. "I'm Athena Stark, a street magician, and today I'll prove to you just how real magic is."

At the mention of magic, the crowd went silent, and all heads turned to face her. Athena couldn't help a impressed smile form.

"I'll need a volunteer!"

Many hands skimmed the air, waving excitedly at her. Her rich blue eyes scanned the people before choosing a man with light brown hair and green eyes.

"Your name?" Athena started, but interrupted him as he went to speak. "No- never mind." She paused, ignoring the confusion in his eyes. Athena stared into them, getting every detail possible. The darker green circle around the lighter green, brown flecks scattered around the eyeball. That is how she managed to do these tricks, concentrate, pick up every detail. "L? Liam?" He shook his head. "Oh of course not, Leo."

As he nodded, the crowd clapped their hands excitedly.

"You finished with that?" Athena used her eyes to gesture to the water bottle which was grasped in his hand, but before he could reply she took the bottle from him and poured the rest of the water onto the floor. "Thank you, and may I use your phone? I guarantee you'll have it back in the end."

Pulling a expensive looking phone from his pocket, he laid it uncertainly in Athena's stretched out hand. Smiling, she inspected the phone and showed it to the crowd. They waited curiously, watching her every move.

Unscrewing the bottle lid, she attempted to squeeze the large phone into the bottle, but obviously it was well to big to fit through the gap. Frowning, she pushed a bit harder, but still it didn't slip through. The crowd watched intently, seeming slightly confused.

"You don't mind if I accidentally smash the phone trying to do this do you?" Athena asks innocently, the man reached forward to grab his phone of this maniac, but instead Athena slammed the phone hard against the bottle...

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Athena held up what used to be a empty bottle. Inside was the mans phone, perfectly safe and well. Sighing with relief, Leo smiled at her.

"Here you go," Athena handed the bottle to him, "check its not a fake. Try get it out..."

He shook the bottle, and the phone rattled inside of it. Leo tried to squeeze the phone through the top, but nothing happened.

"It's real alright," he chuckled, and the crowd applauded again.

Athena smirked, bowing slightly.

"That's my work done then." Spinning around, she walked from the open restraint, leaving behind a very confused man.

"How do I get it out!" He called after the street magician, but she ignored him.

This was how it felt. To have a crowd cheer after her. It was like all her parents doubt and hate for her magic was drowned out by the claps and whoops of the overwhelmed crowd. To give someone a new spark of life, a new sense of adventure. To Athena, magic was a whole different world, and anyone who didn't believe in magic was to blind to see it.

The smile on her face didn't fade until she bumped into a man wearing a dark navy hoodie, his face masked by the shadow of his hood. She turned around to apologise, but he was already long gone. Shrugging, Athena continued walking until she felt her phone buzzing in her bag.

Opening up her bag she noticed a water bottle that hadn't been there before. Pulling the item out of her bag she realised that her phone was buzzing away inside the bottle as a unknown caller rung her.

"What the..." She mumbled, trying to figure out who done this trick on her. Surely someone couldn't of figured it out and done the same to her within five minutes?

Turning the bottle Athena noticed a tarot card behind her phone.

The Hanging Man
It read, showing a man who was hanging by his foot of what looked like a branch.

Shaking the bottle so she could see the other side, her eyes squinted as she read the smaller letters.

March 29th
4:44pm
45 East Evans st
NY, NY