L has given me permission to post a short story he wrote this afternoon (last minute, it is due tomorrow!) for his writing class. Something about a game and spinning something and they landed on phrases/words/sentences that they needed to use to write the story. He got "Magician who loses his magic", "ocean" and "middle of afternoon".

He just revised it and I preferred the first one. It had more exciting words and phrases like "fury" and "to no avail". But he wanted it this way and HE is the writer, not me. I will type it out exactly as he has printed it out for his class, making no corrections (if there need to be any) or anything. So here you go, in his words:



The Magician on the Island

There once was a magician who was renowned far and wide, for his skill at magic. He was very rich. He was also very selfish and conceited.

One day he was told his next show would take place on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The magician was not very happy about this because he hated water, but he consented to go.

The next day the magician sailed to the island on his private yacht (he was that rich,) and they docked at 2:00.

The spectators were very eager for the show to begin. Everyone had a pamphlet that listed the things the magician would do. In order they were; causing a volunteer from the audience to float; setting the water on fire; shaking the island in half, then putting it back together; and for the grand climax, and his exit, causing his yacht, assistants and himself to disappear. The entire audience was anxious for the feats to be performed.

When the time came for the show to begin, the magician stepped onto the stage with a flourish of his black cape. He chose a member from the audience and, raising his arms for effect, tried to use his magic. But the volunteer didn't float!

The audience was in an uproar within seconds. This had never happened before. The magician's magic had never been known to desert him. He tried again and again, but with no success. The audience quickly became angry. They said the show was a sham. They were demanding to get their money back. The magician and his co-workers hurriedly gave everyone full refunds and departed in his yacht.

After a few weeks, someone leaked word to the press about the magician's "sham". He suffered massive losses at court and was eventually declared a fraud. Alone and without money, the magician wandered from one homeless shelter to the next, staying as long as he could. And so he lived to the end of his days.