"Now, if I can get the birthday boy up on stage with me, there we go. Now, there's nothing up my sleeves..." She flourished her tuxedo sleeves. "...But I think there is something in... your... mouth." Reaching into the ten-year-old's now-bulging mouth, she pulled out a scrap of denim. It kept coming, like the traditional magician's scarves, until she revealed an entire pair of jeans. The boy's jeans, which he was somehow no longer wearing. A dozen children laughed. So did some of the adults. The boy cried out, embarrassed, and fled the room.

The magician chuckled. "Always gets the crowd."

The boy's father walked up. "Why did you do that?"

"Ah ah aahhhh." She wagged her finger at him. "A magician never reveals her secrets."

"Not how, you jackass, why?"

"Sorry, can't. They'd kick me out of the union." She winked at him.

He shook his head in befuddlement. "Get out."

"Aren't we—" She cleared her throat and held out her empty palm. "—forgetting something?"

"Invoice me." He hustled her out the front door and slammed it behind her.

"I've gotta stop working children's parties." She took out the man's wallet, dropped his pants, and walked to her car.