Magic Man

A magician came to our town one dreary day after a large thunderstorm. He carried a briefcase that he claimed was filled with people's hopes and dreams. The briefcase was large and wrapped in an exotic coating. Many witnesses described seeing it move under the magician's grasp.

The magician was a tall man wearing bizarre, yet exquisite clothes. People found themselves mesmerized by the stranger for reasons they didn't understand at the time. He charmed the crowds with his many otherworldly tricks such as conjuring daisies out of thin air. He set up a shop in the town afterward. He had claimed that he had entertained the likes of olden kings and queens in their courts.

"Come one and all for a special one-chance opportunity. For a certain fee, you'll get what you want."

His first customer was a single woman who was blind from birth. She always spent her life imagining sights in her mind. She received her sight a few days later, and was delighted for a good while. But then came the ugly truth. Pus-filled boils were all over her body somehow manifesting in the night. The skin around her face sagged giving her a permanent frown. A hunchback formed on her back, her fingernails grew long and gnarled. She hid in her home to hide her shame.

Another was a man who had a talkative child that brought unwanted attention to himself. The magician worked his magic, and it was a resounding success. Without a tongue, the boy permanently kept to himself and was never a bother again. The father would forever be tormented by his decision.

A working mom asked the magician for a vacation to a place far away. She disappeared without a trace. Soon after her, the people of the town became ensnared by the magician's promises. The town was washed in chaos with the residents' wishes being fulfilled at drastic costs. People coveted their neighbor's possessions. Some found themselves further looking up towards the magician with new additions to their demands. They became like rabid animals biting and assaulting each other to get the magician's attention. He gave them markings of his symbol to act as payments for his services. It was of his name, the first two initials being conjoined and indescribable. Like a shepherd walking his flock, he convinced them to follow him into the mountains promising them better lives than the ones they were already leading.

The trek through the mountains was treacherous. Several townsfolk stepped on disheveled sheets of flat rock and fell to their deaths. Bodies were ripped apart by the sharp rocks and yet, their final moments were spent thinking about the magician. Those that survived were sorely decreased in number some succumbing to pneumonia and other sicknesses. They were down to 3/4ths of the population. They approached a cave inscribed with the same alien symbols that they had on their bodies. A great panic filled the remaining citizen's hearts and the days were rent with endless screaming.