The Prestige

Jack Borden and Simeon Cohen

"Not as daft as you look, are you, Just Jack?"

The voice made him jump right out of his skin and he span around to confront the elderly man in white and grey from earlier. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "You trying t'give me a heart attack or something?"

Simeon laughed easily, taking the seat next to him, the smirk making him seem younger than he was. "Now why would I do that? In this age of knowledge and truth, there are so few true magicians left, it would be such a pity to rid the universe of one prematurely." He patted the boy's shoulder absently, his eyes taking on a serious edge. "No, I'm here to make you an offer that you cannot possibly refuse."

The two of them had gone for a walk, in and out of the busy city streets, talking of magic, the art of good tricks, Simeon's life as a professional performer and then as an ingénieur and finally as the outreach for the Circle of Fire. As far as Jack could tell, they weren't actually affiliated with the Magic Circle, the Galaxy's most prestigious society of magic. They seemed to be even more elite than that. Simeon told him that they only ever offered places to those who had turned down membership to the other organisations. Somehow that made Jack feel slightly better.

"So, Jack, this is where I leave you with a choice," the white haired man told him, pausing beneath the wide, high arch of marble at the mouth of Hyde Park. "Either go back to your little room and your menial part time life, or come with me and join the Circle."

Jack stared at the ground for a moment, suddenly finding the gravel infinitely interesting. "I..." The hand on his shoulder stopped him and he looked up into shining blue eyes.

"Perhaps you, like many others, need some time to consider it," Simeon mused kindly. "When you're ready to see more, find the door. Until then, I'll see you again." Instead of disappearing in a puff of smoke, Simeon simply patted Jack's shoulder and sauntered off to the subway entrance at the edge of the park.

His head was spinning, round and round, up and down, like someone dancing to a fast beat that only increased. Hugging his arms around himself, he wandered off into the park.

It was a long stretch across the flat land toward the dip. He weaved in and out of picnickers with their blankets spread out in the spring sunshine. An old couple were waltzing to an old song on their little music box. Children screamed in and out, laughing and playing. Everything felt surreal.

Find the door... There were billions of doors in London on its down, let alone the rest of the planet. If you factored in the whole of the known Galaxy, it'd blow your mind. This guy had to be out of his head if he thought Jack could just click his fingers and find "the door".

Frustration was not something he was used to in his short and easy life so far. Running a hand through his already ruffled short brown hair, he sighed and started to wander around the winding lake. Why did everything suddenly make no sense at all? Sticking his hand in his pocket, he felt the coin so he took it out and glanced at it glinting in the middle of his palm.

All he had to do was decide... That was all it took. He'd once been offered a place on the Magic Circle because of one of his best tricks but he'd said no, thank you. He didn't want to be a professional or even a well known amateur. He wanted what he had, simplicity. This offer wasn't about that and he knew it but it would lead to something better than anonymity, Jack was sure. Taking the coin in hand, he went in search of a door... the door... that would lead to the rest of his life.