Is
there such a thing as magic? asked Christopher.
Sure,
kid, Mr. Grunblie said, pulling the laces of his black leather shoe
tight and taking his foot off the bench. He pulled a quarter from his
pocket, and it glinted in the bright morning sunlight. With a swift motion
of his hands, Mr. Grunblie held two closed fists in front of Christopher.
Pick a hand, he instructed.
Christopher
tugged his lip for a moment and pointed at Mr. Grunblies right hand.
Wrong,
Mr. Grunblie told him, revealing the empty palm of his right hand. When
he opened his left hand, the quarter wasnt there either. Christopher
squinted as if to see through Mr. Grunblies sports jacket but giggled
when the grownup put his right hand behind Christophers ear and produced
the quarter.
Thats
not magic, Christopher said, with a laugh. Thats just a trick.
Smart
boy, said Mr. Grunblie, giving him the quarter and patting his head.
As
Mr. Grunblie lifted his suitcase from the ground, Christopher put the
quarter in his pocket and specified, I mean magic like a genie or
angel does.
I
cant help you there. I think that quarters about as magic
as anything gets.
Nonsense,
interjected Uncle Leo, over Christophers shoulder, in his strange
accent.
Mr.
Grunblie smiled at Uncle Leo, who was sitting on the bench with his hands
overlapping on the top of an old wooden cane, and told him, Well,
Leo, I guess youll have to pick it up from here, then. I have to
get to work anyway. Have a good day, gentlemen.
Tipping
an imaginary hat, Mr. Grunblie turned and walked into the apartment complexs
parking lot. Christopher watched him and tried to remember if a quarter
could get anything from the ice cream truck. He turned toward Uncle Leo.
The old man was stroking his long white beard and smiling slightly as
Mr. Grunblie got into his car. Christopher had always thought that Uncle
Leo, who wasnt really his uncle, should dress up as Santa at Christmas
time, but his parents said that Leo was Jewish. Christopher had told them
that he didnt think Santa would mind, especially since they were
probably the same age.
So
there is magic like genies and angels do? Christopher asked loudly
enough to distract Uncle Leo from whatever he was daydreaming about.
Uncle
Leo looked surprised at the question. Of course there is,
he said.
Have
you ever seen it happen?
Oh,
many many times, Uncle Leo told Christopher, shifting in his seat
and tapping the boys knee lightly with the silver top of his cane.
Do you remember that big snow storm in January?
Christopher
nodded with wide eyes and a little smile that suggested that so much fun
would not soon be forgotten.
Well,
the day it stopped, I wanted to go visit a friend in the hospital, but
I thought it would take me all day to shovel all that heavy snow away
from my car. But what do you know… when I looked out my window in the
morning, my car was already shoveled out.
That
wasnt magic, Christopher told him skeptically. Mr.
Grunblie did that; I saw him.
Stretching
out his face and tilting his head to the side, Uncle Leo asked, Would
it have been magic if the snow had just disappeared before your eyes?
Of
course!
What
if an angel or genie did it?
Yes.
But Mr. Grunblie did it. I saw him do it, and I know how it happened,
so that isnt magic.
But
I didnt know that he did it until you told me. And dont you
think a genie would know how it happened if the genie did it? Besides,
Mr. Grunblie doesnt usually do that for me, so maybe an angel told
him to do it. Would that be magic?
I
guess, Christopher replied, but his eyebrows were lowered, and he
didnt seem convinced. Does that mean Mr. Grunblie is magic?
I
suppose for me it does, Uncle Leo nodded. Then, looking meaningfully
at Christopher, he continued, And you know what else? Magic helped
me to scrape the ice off my windshield that day, too.
Christopher
giggled. But I did that! Uncle Leo had let Christopher climb
on the hood of his gigantic car to scrape the front windshield.
Exactly!
But
Im not magic!
Arent
you? I think you are; your parents think you are; and Im sure even
Mr. Grunblie thinks you are even if he wont admit it.
Christopher
tried to think of something else that he had done that might have been
magic according to Uncle Leo, but he couldnt remember anything.
Then he tried to think of anything at all that he might have seen that
was really real magic and not just a trick. Uncle Leo was wearing a short-sleeved
dress shirt, and Christopher could see the numbers that were tattooed
on his forearm.
Are
those numbers on your arm magic? Christopher asked, pointing to
them.
Uncle
Leo looked at the faded numbers reminiscently, but without surprise at
the question or a darkening of his mood. No, young Christopher,
Im pretty sure that they are not.
Then
where did they come from?
Uncle
Leo took Christopher by the hand, and they both stood up. The old man
leaned over and smiled closely at the boy. That is not a story for
such a beautiful summer morning. Do you know what today is perfect for?
What?
Todays
a good day to go around finding ways to be magic.
Today?
How?
Straightening
up as much as he could, Uncle Leo said, Well, first you must look
around for things that an angel would do if she were around, and then
you just do them!
Is
that it? That sounds too easy.
Uncle
Leo patted Christophers shoulder and told him, Thats
the first rule of magic, Mr. Christopher: it will always be easy if it
starts at your heart and is done with a smile.
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