The smog stained town of Riftdale is very untidy. Beggars are around every corner, crimes are committed every day, and trash overflows from dumpsters onto the city streets. Every once in a while there is a light in the darkness, a sparkling spot in the grime. Through a child's eyes, a magician on a street corner is amazing. He can pull a rabbit out of his hat, or start a fire with the snap of his fingers. Brian knew that this is who he wanted to be. He wanted to make people happy, and cast magic spells, fascinate people, make them forget about the filthiness around them.
When Brian was 15, he was kicked out of his home. He lived on the street for two months, with very little food. He spent his days alone in the roots of a tree, occasionally going out in public and begging for food or money.One day, he met Big Frank. Big Frank saved him from his horrible life of starvation and muck. Well, Brian would argue that he didn't save him at all. Big Frank ran a 24 hour bar on Rose street. Frank let Brian live in the apartment above the bar under one condition, he worked the night shift. Brian of course, agreed, not knowing how much torture the night shift would be.
Big Frank, truthful to his name, was a big man. Not big as in muscular, big as in fat. He always smelled of bodily waste and sweated constantly. Whenever he barked orders at Brian, spit would fly out of Frank's mouth, spattering all over Brian's face. Brian hated working at the bar, he hated the drunken customers, he hated Big Frank, he hated his parents, and most of all he hated his life.
All of this changed one late afternoon. Brian was washing dishes in the back room when he heard a loud crash behind him. He peeked his head out of the door and saw what seemed to be a bar fight. A muscular man with blue colored tattoos covering his face clutched a broken Budweiser bottle in his hand. The man was facing a smaller man, who looked rather normal, with blue eyes and straight brown hair. Laying on the floor between them, was a small red bag.
The tattooed man stepped toward the bag, looked up at the other man, then took another step. He reached down and- Brian, eyes wide, watched as the husky man was lifted off of the ground and thrown across the room, seemingly by nothing. Brian's eyes shifted back to the smaller man, who stood there, grinning. He walked over to the bag, scooped it up, and left. Everyone in the room stared at the closing door, opened mouthed. Soon, the tattooed man was taken to a hospital.
At around 3 AM, Brian was scrubbing vomit off of the dirty bar floor. As he got up to rinse his rag, he noticed a lone person sitting at the bar. He walked over to the stranger and asked him if he could get him anything. The man looked up, revealing bright blue eyes.It was the man from before. Brian gasped and backed away. The man said, "No, thank you." Brian walked away, glad to be out of the mans cold gaze.
An hour passed, and soon Brian couldn't help but to stare at the man. There was something about him that seemed off. As Brian stood there, the man turned and looked back at him. He motioned for Brian to come closer. Brian obeyed, and stepped over a pile of who-knows-what. The man asked Brian if he liked magic. Brian nodded quickly, showing his love for magic. The man grabbed a napkin from the bar counter, pulled a pen out of his pocket, and drew a door. "How is that magic?" Brian asked. In response, the man tapped the middle of the drawing, and the door opened. Brian gasped, and stared into the portal, inside the door was pitch black, with white flecks, like the starry sky outside.
Brian stuttered, "H-how?" The man picked up the pen again, and wrote down an address.The blue eyed stranger then got up, and walked out of the bar, without answering Brian's question. When Brian glanced back down at the napkin, the door was closed.
