The crowd simmered down as the act ended, the lights and effects still burnt into their eyelids.

The society they lived in was a boring one. A twenty-four hour schedule, with no breaks or interruptions. A monotonous slog filled with dull lectures, workshifts, and unending tedium. The times of crusaders and heroes, the times of swashbuckling adventures long history. The planet they inhabited was barren of life and adventure, and the distant lights in the sky teased riches and insanity like a seductive maiden.

As it was, an event such as this one was a treat to behold. A magic show. For a couple of wondrous moments, one could forget about the life they lived. A life of tapping and scribbling replaced with a world of unending possibilities looming in the horizon. The audience gasped and laughed at all the appropriate moments, appreciating the vistas of magic and mystery.

Even if all that was nothing but a fantasy.

They awaited silently, murmuring amongst themselves, as another candidate was called upon. Candidate number ten. What would they have to show the jeering crowds? They’d seen so much already, their suspension of disbelief tensed and tested by the nine come before.

The child stepped forward, his grin illuminating the stage with the vigor of the young.

He bowed politely, making sure his pointed little witch hat did not tip over. He stepped slowly, one by one, making sure not to trip on his overly long overcoat. He gripped his little wooden stick tightly, his hand sweating from the pressure.

The audience wooed and cheered, unsure of what to expect.

He spoke slowly into the microphone, his small cheeks blushing as each word slipped from his blubbering mouth. Nervously, he introduced himself, and stepped onto the center of the stage.

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As the spotlight focused on the child, his face relaxed, an endless clarity washing over him.

The world was silent. Nervously, the crowd stilled down, watching patiently, unsure of what to expect of the yet too-young child. The microphones stood unmanned, the operators and organizers too transfixed on what was about to unfold.

The child began slowly waving his arms. Up and down, left and right, like a conductor at an orchestra. Slowly, his arms moved, swishing and swaying.

All around the audience, the chords of a well-tuned piano began chorusing, the walls themselves the origin. The microphones stood silently, and the speakers took no input. And yet, a crisp, clear instrument played the sonatas of Mozart.

The walls disappeared, a lush, green forest sprouting in its absence. The flickering spirits danced between the gaps of the evergreen trees. The wildlife flew and danced around the crowd, a pair of does timidly intruding upon the surprised audience, nibbling at the popcorn on the ground.

Otherworldly beings of all manners and shapes frolicked amongst the crowd. Succubi and demons teased the deplorable, goblins and gremlins poked and prodded with a dastardly grin, and the sirens stepped and sang with a beauty unknown. The ceiling was lifted by a monolithic titan, smiling down on the flabbergasted crowd as they glimpsed at the impossible.

The music crescendoed, the notes becoming more and more vibrant.

With each and every chord, with each and every vibration, the world became more and more imbued with the magic of the beyond, as even the sceptics began smiling and grinning widely at the mystical scenery in amazement. Lights of all hues and colors spiraled about, leaving trails of neon as the balls swayed and swung.

But as abruptly as the performance began, as suddenly as the music started- the magic faded away, as the piano played its final tunes. The crowd looked around, confused, as the magician on the stage was nowhere to be found.

For months after the boy was sought. But yet, he was nowhere to be found. And so, the world returned to mundanity.

But in the hearts of the crowd, something long-forgotten had taken root. The seeds of fantasy.