Eilise, God, And The Witches [Fake Tattoos #2]

Magic Act

Nevada – Present Day

Eilise made her way up to the stage.

"And next up is Eilise, who will be singing Que Sera Sera..."

Eilise folded a twenty dollar bill of the edge of the Karaoke VJ's tip jar. She sat on the stool in front of the glowing blue monitor and grabbed the microphone."

"Give it up for the lovely and talented, Eilise! Everyone!"

The crowd of drunks trying to work up the courage to go back to the slots gave halfhearted claps. Eilise knew when you were in a jam, it wasn't about finding someone rich, it was about finding the people who had just a little bit of extra money and didn't know what to do with it. Not the sharks, but the fish that were a bit fatter than they were used to.

The music began to play. God began to sing.

"Que Sera Sera, whatever will be, will be..."

Elise wasn't singing. She just stared at God.

"You know, this is a song... I've been singing for a very long time..." Eilise said into the microphone.

"Would you like another song?" The VJ asked.

"No, can you just play this and just let me talk for a second?"

"It's your song," the VJ said.

"Thank you."

"I've had this partner almost all my life. Whether I like it or not, he's always there for me. The first time we sang karaoke together was in 1984. We sang this song together. He has the thickest Irish accent. And I never realized until now... This song sounds absolutely ridiculous with an Irish accent. No offense, if any of you are Irish." Eilise let out an uncomfortable laugh. The audience uncomfortably chuckled along with her.

"Anyway, we used to do a magic act a long time ago..."

"Oh, no," God said with a bit of a grimace. "You are not going to..."

"Oh yes, I am..." Eilise said, looking a little bit sly. "If it's okay with everyone, I'd like to do a little magic trick for you, for old times' sake..."

The audience cheered.

"Well, looks like everyone's okay with it," said the VJ.

"Okay then, are you ready?" Eilise asked, standing up. She gave a sideways glance in the Lord's direction.

"I could just drop it on the ground, you know," God said.

"But you won't... Believe your eyes, ladies and gentlemen... I just need a new cigarette from the audience, I'm fresh out myself. Bad luck at the slots, you know what I mean?"

A plump couple in their fifties offered up a cigarette. Eilise thanked them and lit it up.

"Ah... Yeah... I haven't had a smoke since this morning. Tough day for it too. But isn't always a tough day when you've run out of smokes?"

"My partner, he hates smoking. Drives him crazy. He's very sensitive to smells. I remember one time we were here in Reno, in this casino, and he grabbed the cigarette right out of my hand and stamped it out in the ashtray. Right in front of everyone. I was so embraced. I didn't know what to do. I was so mad."

"But I understand now. I understand why he did it. It wasn't out of spite, like something I would have done. It was because he loved me."

"And even though, he isn't on earth, like we are, I like to think he's out there..."

"You're really going to go for it, aren't you?" God asked Eilise.

"Yes... Somewhere... Looking out for me still."

"I'm only doing this because we're friends, for old times' sake. Let's not make this a regular thing," God said.

Eilise took a big drag of the cigarette and blew a large smoke cloud over her hand. The cigarette floated up into the air, passed over the audiences' heads, out the door of the bar, and stamped itself out in the hallway ashtray. The audience was dumbfounded.

"Thank you! They call me Magic Sister Eilise!"

The audience clapped their way out of shock.

"I do close up magic and I work for tips! Feel free to flag me down if you want to see more."

Eilise walked off the stage and was being flagged down by the plump couple before she could even put a foot on the floor.

"Okay... Wow!" Said the VJ, "I guess... Magic Sister Eilise! Give a hand everyone. Wow! What was that? I hope someone got that on their phone! Be sure to give us a hashtag."