Ego One shots- Oct-Dec 2017

Stranger on the bus

"Ok, now I'm going to look away and I want you to place your card back on the pile," Marvin covered his eyes with one hand and extended to other, holding a deck of card to a small child. He'd gathered a crowd and was performing some small magic tricks for them. There weren't a lot of people, but enough to make him want to keep performing. "Did you put it back?" Marvin questioned, still looking away.

The little girl with pigtails giggled. "Yes!" She said enthusiastically. Marvin looked back and began shuffling.

"Now the trick to any good magic trick is that you have to believe," As Marvin was talking he shotgun shuffled the deck back and forth in his hands, getting more complicated as he went. The kids around seemed impressed, most of the parents looked bored and ready to just leave. "If you don't believe in the magic, then the spell won't work," Marvin did a little spin and faced the kid again. She was still laughing at his tricks. "So do you believe?" the girl giggled again and frantically nodded.

"Alrighty then!" Marvin jumped and confidently picked a card, holding it to the little girl. "Is this your card?" the girl's face immediately dropped as she shook her head. Marvin frowned then looked around. The kids all seemed disappointed and the parents all had this "I knew it" expression. Marvin glanced at a man standing behind the little girl. "Wait a second!" He yelled pointing at the man. Everyone's expressions went back and forth between Marvin and the man.

Marvin walked up to him and quickly pull a piece of paper from the man's shirt pocket, revealing it to the little girl. "Is this your card?"

Her face lit up like a christmas tree. "It is! It is! It's my card! Daddy the cat man found my card," The audience erupted in applause, even the adults seemed impressed. Marvin took a bow, just enjoying this for a moment.

A few trick later and Marvin was packing up his supplies. Some people stayed and watched as he continually stuffed things into a never ending bag like a male cat version of Mary Poppins. Some people had been kind enough to even give him tips, even though he didn't set out a hat or cup. He just wanted to entertain. As he began walking away with his suit case in hand, Marvin threw his hoodie on then removed his cat mask, stuffing it in his front pocket.

Of course there would be heavy traffic today. The one day when Marvin really didn't feel like sitting on a crowded bus for a long time. Oh well, there couldn't really be much done. Marvin didn't really notice anyways, he had his head buried in a sketchbook, trying to come up with a "Marvin the Magnificent" poster design.

The bus came to another stop and more people flooded in. "Excuse me?" A sweet voice said. Marvin looked up to see a girl with short wavy hair looking down at him. "May I sit here?" She asked gesturing to the seat that had been taken by his bag. Marvin looked around and noticed no other opened seats and felt a little rude now.

"Oh yeah, of course," He hastily moved his bag to sit by his feet. "Sorry about that,"

The girl just smiled and took her seat. The two sat in silence for the next 10 minutes, just waiting through the stop and go traffic. Marvin hated this part of the city. There was either always construction, or crazy traffic. However this bus was the best for getting him back to his apartment, so he'd just have to deal with it.

"So how Magnificent actually are you?" the girl asked out of nowhere. Marvin looked her in the eyes and noticed she must have seen his sketch.

Marvin blushed in embarrassment and tried covering the page with both hands. "Umm..."

The girl noticed him struggle to answer. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey. I just thought that your sketch looked really cute."

"Hehe, thanks. I do magic tricks in my spare time, but this is an idea that I came up with. Ya know, if I ever do a real show. It's just a little dream of mine," He explained.

The girl shrugged, but seem to understand. "I think that the only magic in this world is the kind that children make up with their imagination,"

Marvin looked at her puzzled. "That's kind of sad, in a way," the girl returned the confused expression. "Magic doesn't have to be doves flying through a hat or cutting a person in half. It can be an underdog winning against all odds. Magic doesn't have to be supernatural, but it doesn't have to be natural."

The girl was looking deeply into his blue eyes. "That's really beautiful," she pause. She seemed to be thinking for a second. "Marvin would you like to come have dinner with me? I have a recipe for tacos that is simply to die for,"

Marvin thought for a moment. How was this happening so quickly? "I'm flattered really but," Marvin looked away, rubbing the side of his arm. He didn't want to sound rude. "I don't think so. I'm sorry. You seem nice it's just,"

"Oh that's a shame. My boyfriend knows some magic tricks too and I think you two would be good friends," Marvin looked up. The girl had this huge smirk. Boyfriend? So she really did just want to invite him to dinner. Now he felt kind of mean for assuming.

Marvin chuckled a little. "Oh, well I guess we could, uh, you know. Trade secrets. I can probably make an acception then," the two laughed, but suddenly, their bodies were pushed against the back of the seat in front of them as the bus suddenly stopped.

The girl looked up. "Come on, this is my stop," Marvin grabbed his bag, and followed her off the bus. Marvin noticed that this stop actually wasn't too far from his. He could probably just walk home after dinner.

The two chatted as they walked, as they did, Marvin couldn't help but feel some kind of connection to this girl. Something about her felt so familiar to him, like they had met before. Maybe he'd seen her when taking the bus. No it felt more than that. He didn't know why, but he just felt like he could trust her for some reason.

Marvin didn't mean to peak over her shoulder, but he noticed her texting someone. He didn't see the name, but there was a heart emoji next to it. Must have been her boyfriend. As they walked up the stairs of her apartment building, Marvin felt strangely anxious. Like he was a kid about to walk in on a surprise birthday party that he knew about.

The two stopped at her door and as the girl rummaged through her purse for her keys. "Wow I feel so dumb right now," Marvin said.

"Why's that Marvin?" She asked, unlocking the door.

"I never got your name," suddenly as he walked in, it hit him. "Wait, how'd you know my name," The girl closed the door behind him. Marvin felt slightly nervous. Not threatened, just confused.

Instead of answering, the girl just called out into the apartment. "Sean! I think there's someone you should come meet!" She took a step forward. "Sorry, I guess I never did tell you. This is going to be confusing, but don't worry. We won't hurt you," She gently touched his arm and looked over his shoulder. Marvin could tell that she was looking at someone else. "My name is Signe," she nudged him to turn around, so he complied.

Marvin's eyes went wide when he came face to face with the man. He couldn't believe it. He... he looks just like me? The other man stepped forward and reached out his hand. "Hi! My name's Sean, or Jack. You're Marvin right?"

Marvin took Jack's hand and just nodded. He still couldn't believe his eyes. Jack saw the his freeze and chuckled slightly. "You seem a little overwhelmed," He nodded towards the kitchen. "Why not have some tacos. Then I can show you some magic tricks."