A long time ago, wars were fought with sticks and stones. Then swords and shields, and then guns and grenades. And then, there were spells. Spells destroyed the world, and humans were forced to start all over from sticks and stones. But there were remnants of the magical past left over, sometimes appearing in the strangest of ways.  

Calmly, the man drew a bowling ball on the sheet of paper. The crowd leaned forward, crammed into the small, air conditioned room. A poster on the wall said “Fabulous Fred pulls a bowling ball out of thin air!” a smaller font under it said “3:00 O’clock in the library.” With a flourish, Fred pulls the paper taunt with a sharp snap, and a bowling ball falls out of thin air, landing on the floor with a thud. The audience gasps. A little kid in the front yells out “How did you do that?” Fred only smiles, before packing up and exiting the stage. 

As Fred is driving home, he hears a thud coming from the trunk of his car. Confused, he stops on the side of the road, and gets out, looking for damage. Nothing. He gets back in the car, before hearing another thud. It sounds like it’s coming from the trunk. He creeps around to the back of the car, and pops open the trunk. 3 bowling balls are sitting innocently on the floor of the trunk. The drawing of the bowling ball suddenly ripples with movement, and another bowling ball pops out. He waits a long while by the trunk, but no more bowling balls pop out. He drives home in a daze, forgetting to eat dinner and going straight to bed. He isn’t sure what to think.

Fred wakes up in the morning, and prepares for the next magic show at a small town hall. He looks at the drawing of the bowling ball, and decides to leave it behind, electing to stick to other, simpler magic tricks. Getting ready for the show, he runs through all of his tricks to keep his mind off the events of yesterday. The show goes smoothly, and he packs up and prepares for the drive home again. While driving home, he feels on edge, his ears straining for any sort of thump from his trunk. Nothing happens. He pulls into his driveway and feels an immense weight lift from his shoulders. He opens the trunk, convinced that he imagined yesterday. As he pulls the trunk open, a burst of white startles him, making him lose his balance and fall. From the pavement, he stares in wonder at the three white doves winging their way up into the trees and cooing softly. 

On the third day, he is scared to get out of bed, but his rumbling stomach forces him out. While preparing for his next show, he puts on a fake thumb that glows when you press on it. It works normally, and he takes a breath. Taking it off, he continues with his day. But it doesn't come off. He scrabbles at his skin, but the gap between rubber and skin is seamless. He presses on his thumb, and it glows with a gentle red light. Behind his panicked thoughts of amputation, an idea begins to form.

Fred looks at his watch. He can still make the show he has planned for today. He drives to the venue, thumb turning red every time he touches the steering wheel of his car. On his poster, he writes “$1000 cash to the person who can figure out any of my glowing thumb.” The room starts to fill. When he starts, the room is packed with hungry eyes, watching his every move. Some people are taking videos on their phones. The show begins, and the crowd goes silent. 

Afterwards, he entertains a long line of people, but all of them are just guessing. A few days later, he goes viral online. The comments under the video are filled with magicians, each having their own theory on how he is pulling off these stunts, now not just a glowing thumb. He starts charging more for his shows, starts going to shows in concert halls instead of small rooms. But a storm is brewing, and Fred is too busy soaking up his newfound fame to see it.

His magic starts going wrong. It starts small at first. A pick-a-card trick sets the card on fire, and Fred goes to bed with 3rd degree burns on his hands. Instead of a bowling ball popping out, a rotten watermelon falls onto the stage with a squish. The show has to be canceled because the smell is so bad. Even through this, he builds popularity.

He is at the height of glory, filling theaters and commanding the audience’s attention. Tonight, however, he has a new trick up his sleeve. He picks a random person from the crowd, pulling them up to the stage among excited applause. He wheels out a curtain, and the audience instantly knows what it is. The classic disappearing person trick. With the light of thousands of phone cameras shining, Fred directs the guest to stand behind the curtain. With a flourish, and a gasp from the audience, Fred pulls back the curtain, to reveal an empty stage. 

The audience marvels, and looks around for the volunteer. But he is nowhere to be seen.

Fred calmly walks over to a previously unnoticed wooden box sitting in the corner of the stage, and the audience already knows what will come next. But the box is empty. The audience stirs, their already completed story falling to pieces in their head. They start to lean forward, and some of the more attentive members of the first row notice a sheen of sweat starting to form on Fred’s forehead. Fred moves to talk to someone offstage, and the audience leans forward. Half of them are convinced something is wrong, half of them think it’s part of the act. Fred disappears behind a curtain. In the silence that follows, the audience hears sirens rush past the hall. Fred moves on, and the audience moves on with him, content to let it go.

Drew is sitting on the couch, the ticket stubs to Fabulous Fred’s Magic Show still sitting in his pocket. He turns on the TV, and sees Fred, the man he just saw on stage, being put in handcuffs and pushed into the backseat of a police car. Shocked, he does more research. The man in the alley is identified as Darragh Currier, the man in the vanishing act. Public opinion against Fred begins to turn sour. Fred goes on trial for the murder of Darragh, but gets proven innocent from lack of evidence. A mob begins to form on an online forum, eager for justice for Darragh. They meet outside Fred’s house, eager for blood. But in a final act of magic, Fred has vanished. His body turns up in an alley days later, and the mob quiets, content to let Fred's final magic trick go unsolved.