The act is finalized, the tricks laid out prettily on the table. The beautiful assistant flashes you her most winning smile and the crowd keeps you going. Spotting a few people here and there in the meaningless babble, you wave to keep the rhythm going. The lights then dim and your shadow now follows you. Then everything goes wrong.
The props aren't right, the trick is a disaster, your friend in the audience is no longer on-board and the people's mutters rev up like some machine about to mince meat. But what you miss most is the applause. Your soul is gone. Where to find solace now that you found out that everything was a huge mistake? Whom to turn to for help when you know that nobody cares? Your troubles seem to swell up, tears daring each other to break away from your eyes. You want to scream but the audience took your voice away with them.
No friend, no lover. No one but you. One man battles are not unheard of, but what for are you fighting?
Glory? It was never there to begin with.
Love? That too.
Yourself? It will never be the same again.
So what? In some smelly, unattended, rat-infested corner of this huge world, you might just find it. Pure and crying to be rejuvenated. The jagged edges will bear witness to your rough sail, but polish it you can. Don't lose it again lest you become a nameless speck of dust with a mundane existence with the might of the universe behind you; ready to swallow you at the slightest imbalance.
