Ten-year-old twins Anjali and Arjun couldn’t wait for the evening. Their parents had promised to take them to a magic show. Usually, when they were going out someplace, the parents would need to coax and plead with them to be ready on time. But this evening, even before their parents were ready Anjali and Arjun were at the front door.
The hall was crowded but since they had special passes they were ushered up to the front where they had a good view of the stage. The lights dimmed and music filled the hall. The spotlight shone on the stage and slowly into the centre came the magician.
“Hello, I am Sorsera, the greatest magician the world has ever known! I am so thirsty, I need some water.” He took a jug that was placed on the table, but his hand slipped and all the water flowed out of the jug leaving it empty. “Oh no! What have I done! Now I don’t have any water to drink. Ah! But never mind….I will manage.” Smiling, he picked up the jug and began to pour into a glass. Anjali and Arjun clapped when they saw water flowing out of the jug into the glass.
“My head is itching,” he said, as he pulled off his magician’s hat. He put his hand into the hat and pulled out a rabbit, a crow, a bouquet and a rubber ball. Anjali and Arjun shrieked with laughter and clapped till their hands ached.
“For my next trick, I need two volunteers. Preferably siblings.”
Even before he could finish his sentence, Anjali and Arjun raced up to the stage. They waved to their parents, who were so shocked they could not even wave back.
“Are you ready for some magic?” asked Mr. Sorsera. “But before that tell me your names.”
“Wonderful! Wonderful!” beamed Mr. Sorsera when he heard their names. “Now, get into that cupboard.”
He ushered them into the cupboard. “Wave goodbye to your parents,” he said aloud. As the cupboard door shut on them they caught a glimpse of the scared, pale faces of their parents in the audience.
Darkness
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you. I have performed this trick many times,” whispered Mr Sorsena.
With the door shut, it was dark and airless in the tiny space. They could not hear anything. Arjun began to hit the sides of the cupboard. He had a fear of closed spaces, — “closetrophonia” as Anjali liked to tell everyone. Suddenly a panel inside the cupboard slipped away and Anjali and Arjun stumbled out into the light. They were not in the hall with Mr. Sorsera or their parents. They were in a wide open place and it was biting cold. They shivered and huddled together. Just then, big fat raindrops fell on them.
“Where are we? What are we going to do?” said Arjun in panic.
“It is all your fault. Because of your closetrophonia!”
They were still arguing when a cow walked past, nonchalantly. It said, “Get out of the rain and continue your argument.”
They stopped their argument and stared, “A talking cow?”
While they still wondered, the cow looked at them, winked and waddled off into the rain.
“Quick, let’s follow her,” said Anjali. But they had lost the cow. A crow flew past.
“Mr. Sorsera’s lost children are you?” he asked laughing wickedly.
“Tell us how we can get back home?” asked Arjun.
“You use the magic words,” said the crow haughtily, before flying away.
“You’ve done it again!” said Anjali.
“You are always blaming me for everything,” said Arjun. “I refuse to listen to you anymore.”
Just as suddenly, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine. It became so hot that they quickly dried off.
“Come Arjun. We need to get out of here.”
They arrived at a beautifully laid out park. But there didn’t seem to be anyone or anything. They were walking around the park when they heard, “pssst…pssst…” They looked around, nothing. They looked up, nothing. They looked into the trees, nothing. But the “psst…pssst” was insistent.
“Hey kiddos, lookee here!”
“We are looking but can’t find you anywhere.”
“Lookee downee,” came the voice.
They looked down to find a small, quivering nose peeking out of a hole in the ground.
“Yes, its me all right. Comee downee to my housee. Everything will be fine.”
“We are too big to get down that little hole,” said Anjali.
“Sigh! Yes you are. Guess I must get my stuff out here for you then.” The nose disappeared down the hole. A second later, huffing and puffing the creature behind the quivering nose appeared. It was a mole. It dragged a tiny table up and scampered off. Then it brought up some tiny chairs and little later some miniature teacups, teapot and cakes.
“We can’t sit on those chairs,” said Arjun.
“We will sit on the grass while you pour out the tea,” said Anjali.
Soon they were having a merry tea party in a lovely park in an unknown place. Anjali and Arjun were trying to figure out how they were to drink the tea from the teeny weeny cup, when there was a flash of lightening followed quickly by the loud booming of thunder and it became dark, almost like night.
“Oh dearie meeee, my tea things,” said the mole.
That was the last they heard of the mole. Their ears were filled with the sound of people clapping and loud music. The light blinded them at first, but slowly they began to focus and found they were back in the hall with Mr. Sorsera. They saw their parents, smiling and waving, relief written all over their faces.
