The Warlock And I

As a teenager my hobby was magic. Chattanooga, the city where I grew up, had only one magic shop and I soon became friends with one of its demonstrators. There was another fellow who worked there - a dark, brooding character who not only was a sleight of hand artist (and a good one), but a warlock as well. At least that was his claim. He was a male witch.

After awhile my friend had the opportunity to purchase the magic shop. He was a young man but his parents believed in him enough to mortgage their home in order to raise the funds to make the purchase. Briefly I worked for him in his shop part-time.

Mr. Warlock, I will call him, had a creepy persona. He also was a man of few words, but I always found a connection with the underdogs in life. Unfortunately his personality didn't lend itself well to his job and he soon was dismissed. Which is how I got hired.

One day when I stopped by the magic shop I found the regulars and the other employees in a huddle. They were discussing Mr. Warlock. Seems he had placed a curse on the shop in retaliation for his dismissal. This was taken quite seriously.

To make a long story very short, several months after taking ownership of the shop my friend was forced to go out of business - because of lack of sales ... or because of the curse. Believe me, many took the latter very seriously indeed.

The successful magician must be a good actor in order to put his magic over. Anybody can be taught to perform tricks. It is the ability to act the part that causes one to stand out.

Mr. Warlock was quite mysterious. There is no doubt about it, he made a convincing warlock. There was something uncanny, even uncomfortable about being in his presence. People took the curse thing seriously.

I didn't, but timing is everything, and Mr. Warlock's timing couldn't have been better. The magic shop my friend bought was an established shop. My friend didn't change the way the shop operated in any way. Yet still the curse at least apparently came to pass. Coincidence?