The Magician who didn't believe in Magic

Sam was slowly walking uphill, carrying in one hand a heavy bag which was too small for its contents and in the other, a rabbit cage. It was a long walk home. He was extremely careful not to have anything fall and roll down to the bottom of the hill.

"Can I help with Mr. Jimmy? He looks so uneasy." Alice came, bringing a smile to his tired face.
"Rabbits are not misters. And yes, you can take him, he would like that."
"Of course, he is a mister. He looks so respectable." Alice said softly as she took the cage from Sam. "Ah, the rodent is a mister, and his owner is just Sam. What flattery, dear Alice!" laughed Sam, as his weariness slowly vanished away.

Sam had work only a few days a month. As a magician, he performed shows for children's parties in the city. He lived in a small rented room where he practiced his tricks. Seven-year-old Alice was the only child of Mary, the landlady. She too, had little means of making money, other than letting a room in her old man’s house. Small rooms like that in a house far from the city were barely enough to feed a daughter and a tenant.

Sam took out half of the day’s earnings from his pocket and handed them to Mary. “That makes us even for this month, right?”
“Yes, yes. Thank you, Sam.”
“Mary, you have been so generous to me, and I should be thanking you. I know I am not a punctual man, and I am sorry for all the delays...”
“No way, no way! Alice and I love having you here. You make her very happy."
“No, she makes me.”

The other half of the income went into an old tin box. He counted all the money in there, as he routinely did. It wasn’t multiplying as fast as he had wanted, but he was hopeful that in a few months, he could save enough for a Selbit box. "It's the one thing that can change my life", he had told Alice. "They will keep me at the circus. Rich people love watching a woman being sawed and coming out of that box alive."
"Whoa! A magic box inside which you cannot die! I want one too."
"It's no magic box. It's a trick. Everything is a trick."
"So you fool people. That makes you... a fooler!"
"No, I am a magician."
"But you don't do the magic."
"I do tricks, and other people think it's magic. There is no such thing as magic, but people think there is because they can only see what I want to show."
"So when Mr Jimmy comes out of your hat, or an object disappears, you are fooling those children? You fool me too!"
"I do it to make you happy, Alice."
"It does make me happy. Everything that disappears comes back. Or... it never disappears!"
"That's right!"
"So Sam, once you get this box and work at the circus, will you still do magic shows for children? For me? Will you live here?"

He had not thought about that. He never wanted to leave that house, where Alice lived. Sam had lost his father, who was a worker at a mine, to a terrible disaster. Months later, his mother caught the flu and never recovered. His parents and an unborn sibling had been taken from him at a young age. For many years, then, the young boy cleaned the floors and dishes of an alcoholic circus magician. On some days, he was beaten and sent on liquor runs, and on others, he was taught a little magic. At fifteen, he ran away with some tricks and the drunk magician's rabbit. Sam never had a perfect life, but Alice was a perfect companion. With her innocence, he felt safe. He felt peaceful. He liked making her happy, and that meant he was the happiest.

"Things may change, Alice. They change all the time. But I will always be your friend. Will you be my friend too?"
"Okay." She got up as Mary called. "But get another rabbit soon because Mr Jimmy is not leaving." He smiled and followed her in for supper.

***

A month passed, and the holidays came. Sam had a busy Christmas week at the city store, spreading Christmas cheer. "If I can get enough tips, I'll be able to pay for the Selbit box on New Year's Eve", he thought. He had it figured out already. The best carpenter in the city had agreed to start building the box as soon as the down payment was made. The store closed at eleven, and Sam headed home with a pocket heavier than on most other days. He had gotten the scarves that he had been eyeing every time he came to the city as a present for Mary and Alice. He could not wait to be home.

When he reached it was almost midnight, and he found the place in a mess. Mary appeared from the kitchen. Her face was pale and wet from excessive crying. In her hand was a gold chain and a few other ornaments of various metals.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" Sam asked, as he started to panic.

"Oh, Sam." She could barely be heard. With much sadness in her voice, she said, "It's Alice, oh, how sick she is! I took her to the hospital in the afternoon, and we had been waiting for so long." She let out a sigh. "She has measles. They have kept her there, but they won't treat her without the money! I have to go and sell whatever I have."

"At this hour on Christmas, what shop would give you money for that?" Feeling worried for Alice, he asked Mary to stop at once, grabbed the tin box, and gave it to her.
"Have it, Mary." She tried to refuse, but he persisted. It was much more important to defer the dreams of a Selbit box and a circus and have Alice's laughter in the house again. Perhaps that tin box had her name written all over it. Dreams are dreams, it was important to save something that did live.

Mary thanked him for his kindness and offered to return all his money, but Sam did not want it. Yes, he was worried about what he had let go, but a second thought was not required. Days passed, and Alice got better. Sam forgot all about the box and stayed by her side. He gave her the scarf, brought her pudding, performed little tricks and made her laugh. It was not long before the glow of her face returned. It was not just Alice, the other two patients also laughed at his humour, and smiled at his witty tricks. The old woman who just had surgery challenged him repeatedly about the card games. She said she remembered knowing a few tricks herself when she was younger. The other patient was a boy who was blind and had severely injured himself in an accident. He couldn't see the tricks Sam performed, but was an active participant in the "party hour". That's what they all called it whenever Sam visited. Even the doctors liked taking rounds there. They all said that the three were making speedy recoveries. Almost everyone thought it was a coincidence, but not Dr Marshall.

Dr Marshall was a senior doctor at the hospital. He was understood to be a wonderful man. He took a round every day to speak to the patients. He particularly liked Sam, as he observed how he made the sad and lonely ward room no less than a circus. He felt that such a presence was much needed at a hospital. Surgeries, medical tools, drips and bland meals did help a body recover, but the mind needs to be at ease when people are going through such scary diseases! No, he didn't want a magician to turn the hospital into a circus, but he did want someone who could provide the patients with a healthy distraction once in a while. Sam could be that companion. The magic was just a bonus. When it was time to take Alice home, Dr Marshall decided to have a word with Sam and offer him work. Permanent work. He was no longer needed solely for his tricks or magical boxes. He wasn't needed for magic at all; he didn't believe in it anyway! He would be making people happy while they healed. How was THAT any less magical?

When he told Alice and Mary about the offer, they expressed their delight. "Sam, oh dear, we are so happy for you! It is like you were made for this!" Mary jumped.
"That's lovely, Sam. You always make people happy. And now you will not have to fool people!" Alice hugged him. She was much smaller, and yet so comforting. She whispered to him, "Will you live with us anymore, Sam?"
"Of course, Alice!" He replied without a moment's break. "I'm never leaving you."
"And what about the magic box?"
"I don't need it anymore. I have a magic wand."