Johnny Whitmore was a magician. He had the black cape, the top hat, and his little sister, Emily, who occasionally stepped in as his assistant. All the best men of magic had one. She didn't quite have the moves down just yet, but she had potential.

His parents refused to let him saw her in half, which was a crying shame because he had read all the books the town library had to offer, and he was convinced he could pull it off without any blood, which was really all mum and dad were worried about. It was a trick, after all. Making it look real was the nature of his craft.

He knew all the standards, but he was fed up with the same old gags. He could pluck a coin from just about anywhere, and could find the six of diamonds in his pocket anytime he wanted, but that was kids' stuff. He was bored with the linking rings, and the subsequent and inevitable unlinking rings; as well as the snooze-worthy never-ending handkerchief. Even the old rabbit-from-the-hat bit failed to raise his pulse or indeed generate the same 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' it did when he had been eight.

He used to have one of those stupid black and white wands that he had fished out of a box of Corn Flakes, along with a gazillion other budding conjurers way back when, but it looked like a plastic liquorice stick and was no more magical as a result. He got rid of the wand right around the time he stopped saying Abracadabra, and that was a long time ago.

"Why don't you disappear yourself?" Emily asked as she bounced on her bed.

"Why don't you make yourself disappear," Johnny replied. "Disappear all the way out of my room."

Emily smiled smugly. "This is my room, so there!" She came within inches of smacking her blonde head on the ceiling every time she lifted off the mattress. "So are you gonna do it?"

"What?"

Emily bounced higher. "Make yourself indivisible."

"You mean, invisible."

"Yeah, that."

Johnny watched his sister closely. She was almost out of breath. She had been using her bed as a trampoline for the best part of the last twenty minutes.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea, Em."

"Huh?"

Johnny caught her in mid-flight and sat her down on the edge of the bed. "How would you like to be The Amazing Jonathan's assistant again?"

Emily's eyes lit up. "Are you gonna cut me in half?"

"Not today." Johnny kept his voice low. "Maybe when mum and dad are out."

"Cool."

Johnny looked around Emily's room. "Now we need something to put you in."

"What about my toy chest?" Emily dashed to her closet and pulled the large red box out into the middle of the floor.

"Great. That's perfect!"

"What are we gonna do?"

Johnny flipped the lid and started flinging stuffed animals and busted Barbie dolls out of the box and onto the floor. "You are going to get in here, and then I'm going to disappear you."

"Cool."

Emily joined in, throwing toys she hadn't seen for months, over her shoulder. Eventually they saw the bottom of the toy chest. It was a mess of broken crayons and old Lego bricks.

"OK, get in," Johnny said.

"Say it properly."

The Amazing Jonathan cleared his throat and raised his voice. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, my beautiful assistant Emily will step into - "

He was interrupted by his sister tugging on his sleeve.

"What?"

"I don't want to be Emily anymore. I want to be Stephanie!"

Johnny sighed. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, my beautiful assistant, Stephanie -" he paused and saw Emily smile up at him " - will step into this chest, which as you can plainly see, is solid all the way round." He knocked three times on each side to prove his word to the imaginary audience. "Now Stephanie, if you wouldn't mind, please step inside and take your position."

Emily flashed the widest smile she had and stepped into the toy box. She got down on her knees and curled into a ball.

"With my assistant now in the chest - "

"Beautiful assistant."

"Of course," Johnny agreed. "With my beautiful assistant now in the chest I will close the lid, thus sealing her inside without any means of escape."

The Amazing Jonathan placed both hands on the lid and slowly pushed it down. Once the chest was closed he snapped both locks into position. Leaning down over the box he whispered, ""Are you all right in there?"

"It smells kinda funny," Emily said. "It's all dusty."

The Amazing Jonathan's shoulders sagged. He stood up and cleared his throat again. "And now I will place this sheet over the box."

"What sheet?"

Johnny pulled the white top-sheet from Emily's bed, like a showman pulling a table-cover from beneath the plates and glasses. He held two corners of the sheet and floated it down over the chest.

"Hurry up John," Emily said, "my knees are itchy."

"Don't rush me, Em. And do try to stick to the script. The magician's assistant only speaks when she is spoken to - no matter how beautiful she may be." Johnny knew she was smiling in the box; he could tell. She would be quiet now. "OK, and now with a few magic words I will make Stephanie disappear!"

The Amazing Jonathan closed his eyes and tried to think of something catchy and clever to say to fill the silence, but all he could think of was Alacazam, and that only worked in cartoons.

"Hello? What are the magic words?"

Johnny hushed her. "Pipe down. I'm thinking."

"Well think faster. It's hot in here!"

Jonathan didn't feel quite so amazing at that moment. He scratched his head and pouted.

"I can't think of anything, Em. I'm hungry. I'm going to get something to eat."

Emily was disappointed. "OK then." She tried to stand up but smacked her head on the lid of the chest. "Owww!"

"Sorry sis." Johnny snapped the locks open and blindly lifted the lid.

Emily gasped for air theatrically. "Phew! I thought I was gonna stufficate."

"You mean, suffocate."

"Yeah, that."

Johnny heard the words. He could feel her arm brush against his as she moved past him, could smell her sickly shampoo in the air, and was even able to follow the depressions she made in the carpet as she walked, but when he turned around she was nowhere to be seen.

"What are you looking at?" Emily said, as her brother stared down into the empty box.

"Huh?" He smiled nervously and felt about inside the chest. "Uh, nothing. Let's go eat."

"Cool. Then after you can disappear me for real!"

Emily opened the bedroom door and walked out into the hallway. He listened carefully as she bounded downstairs into the kitchen where their mum was washing the dishes. He could just about make out the muted conversation between them, followed by the sudden silence of realization. His mum screamed, and there was the crash of a plate as she dropped one on the tiles.

"Yeah, sure," The Amazing Jonathan said, "I'll, uh, disappear you after."

With that he left Emily's bedroom and followed his sister downstairs. He had a lot of explaining to do.

The End

Brian is twenty-nine and lives in Scotland. His twenty-plus publications range from humor (Buzzwords, Fools Motley) to horror (Nocturne, Thirteen) and everything in between (Events Quarterly, Stephen D. Rogers, T-Zero).

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