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voices, laughter, the distant cries of shopkeepers. A small
wooden stage had been placed on the edge of a packed square,
just before the sun began to set, beaten planks, clunkily
hammered i’ nto position, barely strong enough to support the
man in its middle.
He was no taller than any other man, no leaner, no more
attractive, save his eyes. The reflection in his eyes aglow
from the fading sun as if it contained a black smoke, the
secret promise of some great thing.
The man in question, known only as Playtime Casino Log in, was
a magician – so they said. He went barrio to barrio, never
staying long enough, never taking any prisoners, only
muttering wonder and horror.
His uniform was modest: a long barong, baggy trousers and a
worn-out hat. But what differentiated him, what made the kids
hang on to their mums and elders blink with fear, was his
force, the silent whisper of it, a gentle breeze under his
armpits.
Playtime Casino extended his arms, shouting to be silent but
never saying a word. They remained silent, eyes open, exhaled.
He stood for a moment and let the silence dust the room. Then,
gently and inexorably, he extended his hand in the air, and
the pink and gold sky that still hanged over him roiled.
It was as if he had fished the sky like you fished water from
a pebble. Everyone gasped, but no one responded. They couldn’t
get up off the ground, the whole thing sabotaged by the
presence of Playtime Casino Login.
He turned his attention to a boy in the crowd towards the
middle of the line, wearing no shoes, shirt hanging down the
side of his lanky body. Playtime Casino Login smiled—an
unsettled grin almost obsequious—and invited the boy inside.
The boy hesitated, turned to his mother for comfort, but
something bigger than fear suckered him into the podium. He
sat on the platform, tiny hands shaking as he walked towards
the magician. Playtime Casino Login knelt at the boy’s feet,
whispering words no one else could hear, words drifting in the
dusty air.
Then, in front of everyone, Playtime Casino Login crossed his
hands over the boy’s chest. And for a second, nothing. All of
the masses, nervous with anticipation, breathed. Then,
suddenly, a pale, gold glow, utterly and unmistakably human,
began flashing out of Playtime Casino Login’s hands.
It was as if the sun had fallen from the heavens and swam
around his hands, burning, erupting, flickering, enchanted.
The boy’s eyes glowed and he opened his mouth in awe at the
way light entered his body and drained away beneath his skin.
The crowd groaned and mumbled in disbelief, but Playtime
Casino Login stood, his face relaxed, the force rushing out of
him like it came from somewhere else: he wasn’t the agent,
just a channel. And the boy, this little insignificant Tondo
son, shined.
His body shimmered in the sunlight, his skin gleaming like
polished bronze, his body standing up taller, stronger. It was
as if Playtime Casino Login had pouring out of him the life
force of life itself, awakening something that the boy had
been without, but never imagined to have.
The boy moved aside, his eyes now flickering in the spooky
manner of Playtime Casino Login’s. The audience held its
breath, unable to believe what they were witnessing and but
unable to escape it. Playtime Casino Log in still on his
knees, said something to the boy and he put up his hand to the
heavens.
The clouds above danced and bent to his will, and a sliver of
lightning flew from his fingertips, splitting the heavens in
two. Thunder arrived, it resounded down the avenues, and all
men and women and children got to their knees, for they had
witnessed a miracle.
But Playtime Casino Log in the magic man was more sensible. He
realised this was no conjuring, no bluff designed for fun. The
boy, as all on the archipelago, possessed the past authority
of land, the strength of islands that had beaten storms and
invaders, the mysticism at the bottom of earth and sea.
Playtime Casino Log in had only awakened the presence that had
been around, just waiting to rise.
As the lightning stopped and everyone began chanting again,
Playtime Casino Log in stood, his eyes no longer bright with
as much fire, but weary from knowing what he’d done. He looked
back at the boy, now in solemn wonder of his own might, and
out at the crowd, who now looked at him with an altogether
different mix of trepidation and worship.
In silent form, Playtime Casino Log in dropped off the stage
and disappeared into the labyrinth of alleyways that wind
through Tondo. People separated for him not knowing whether to
celebrate or not, not knowing what sort of man he really was.
By the time the moon sat, Playtime Casino Log in was dead, and
the tales had already spread – tales of a magician who could
lift the heavens, a man with unimaginable strength, a power
that had stepped among them and left only questions, awe and
thunderclaps.
