PART 15

And that is how an old bearded man dressed in red changed my life on a December twenty-fifth morning.

Now that I know where it is, I often go back to the Double Knot Cul-de-Sac. I never found the magic shop again. There is an empty, impenetrable brick wall covered in circus posters where it used to be.

I don’t think I’ll see the enchanter again any time soon. Only when I’ll be ready to add to his grimoire, I imagine. In the meantime, I have to be satisfied with the last memory I have of it, when he came out of his shop and gave me a scarf so I wouldn’t get cold, and when, with a snap of fingers of which sparks came out, he lit his pipe as a goodbye. But that doesn’t matter. In a way, he is with me every day, in a corner of my mind and at the tips of my fingers.

After I left, everything happened like he promised. My brother was human again and peacefully sleeping in his bed. I woke him up, he told me he had had a funny dream, and that was all. My parents? Well, they hadn’t noticed anything, busy preparing the traditional celebratory Christmas meal. I didn't hurry to tell them, I hope you understand why.

My magic box’s absence was never noticed. No family member had given it to me. How did it find itself under my Christmas tree? The answer seems obvious…

At the first family supper the year that followed, I surprised my audience for the first time with my routine. Instead of simply executing ready-made tricks, I had started injecting them with a little dose of imagination, and that did wonders: not a single burnt beard or a single spilled vase to cry over. I was on a little cloud. My brother couldn’t believe it. You should have seen his face when everyone stood up to shower me with applause!

Since that fateful day, not a day goes by when I don’t practice. I spend most of the night dreaming of my tricks, and when morning comes I’ve invented a new one! I can now, for example, make a scarf dance in the air, or make a bouquet of flowers appear out of thin air in front of my audience’s disbelieving eyes. There is a trick, of course, but you’ll never find it.

I seize every opportunity to show off my skills around me. At home, I’ve become the main attraction of every family reunion. At my friends’ birthdays, same thing: I’m seen as the must-have entertainment for a successful party. Recently, I even got my first interview in the local paper after having played chess against six players from the city team at once and beating three of them. Not bad, eh? Especially for someone who, between us, barely knows the rules!

My brother Benedict is the only one still denying himself. Maybe he keeps a vague memory of his adventure as a macaque? Maybe he’s angry at me for having made him fall out of a Christmas tree? I’m not angry at him. I can see that, slowly but surely, he’s turning around. One of these days, when he's ready, I’ll honestly ask him the question: Benedict, would you like to be my assistant?

I’m sure he’ll say yes.

In the meantime, I’m developing my main weapon, the one I discovered during my adventure with the enchanter: a powerful, formidable IMAGINATION. Thanks to it, I’ll end up on the most prestigious music hall stages. I know it, I feel it, I’m happy.

I’m inviting you today. Thanks to my stage name – what do you think of The Empress of Hearts, it sounds good no? – you’ll recognise me on television, and I hope with all my heart that I’ll be able to make you dream, too.

(Go to PART 16)