i-MagicNation

Having told myself I wouldn't look back after leaving the neighborhood of the domino houses, I literally looked back to make sure the Domino Dames weren't following me. They weren't, and I kept moving through the always sunny rolling hills of the Brightburbs. 

It wasn't long before I came to another neighborhood with houses mades of playing cards. The houses were quaint structures with wooden trim and giant playing cards as the roofs and walls. The homes were randomly scattered throughout the grassy hills with sparse trees.

Similar to the homes in the Lincoln Log Hills, these houses were little more than empty shells with no furnishings in their interiors. Since the sun never set in this place, they were at least ideal for escaping the endless sunlight. It seemed ironic, though, as these houses of cards were stable, with wooden timber frameworks, all in seemingly pristine order. 

The houses of cards reminded me of how my father had been into magic tricks as a hobby while he had been alive. As an extension of this hobby, he had sold decks of playing cards online. This had been part of his online ecommerce business, where he sold many types of magic tricks, called "i-MagicNation."

Remembering stories I had been told over the years, I had learned about my father's hobby. Since his youth, he had been into magic, having developed the hobby over his lifetime. Sometimes , he would perform magic trick shows as a form of entertainment.  In the 1990s, although he became an electrical engineer, he continued to tinker and tweak his hobby over the years, sometimes practicing a trick here and there with my siblings and me. He collected rare books about magic, and by the mid-2000s, he started his i-MagicNation business as a side-hustle. After he took me and my sisters on a vacation in Belize, he dreamed of performing magic on the beaches of Belize. Having never fully realizing his magic dreams, he died at the end of 2018. 

Pondering my past memories of my father, I pushed on. I came to the top of a hill, and there before me, was a round shop. It was a rustic old-fashioned structure, similar to an 19th century general store, built of the same timber framing as the card houses. On it's front was a yellow and blue logo that read "i-MagicNation," with the letters in blue, a yellow curve under it, and the "i" surrounded by a yellow ray. The logo was very close to how I had remembered it from a lifetime ago.

As I got closer to the shop, it was clearly a magic trick store, seemingly with people standing motionless on the outside, seemingly looking at the various products. 

I couldn't believe it. Here, in the endlessly sunny Brightburbs, my father's dream had manifested. Although my dad had been dead for years, his dream was alive here. 

~~~~~~~~

Trying not to be noticed by the "people," I was as discreet as I could be as I came up to the strange magic shop. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I kept my eyes downward. Literally none of the other shoppers moved, which felt off. 

It was completely silent and still, and none of the "customers" moved. They seemed to be minding their own business, browsing the shop in silence, staring at things. 

Then... I realized what was wrong. I was shocked to see that the "people" were wooden mannequins, dressed in outfits from the 1960s. My father had been born in 1960. Weird. 

As I walked into the store, I felt like the mannequins were watching me. Perhaps I was paranoid. I wandered deeper into the shop, and the walls were covered in a red shroud curtain, and the trim was painted yellow and blue. 

The shop turned out to be a labyrinth of strange rooms, each showcasing shelves of various types of magic tricks, mostly with a specific theme. For example, one room had books and other printed materials about mentalism, something my father had been into. In another room, there was a pile of playing cards that seemed to be endlessly multiplying. 

The further in I went, the more I realized that he shop's interior was far larger than that of it's exterior. It was a non-euclidean space, and it was obvious that the possibilities of magical imagination were endless here. 

Suddenly, I heard a loud wooden snap sound come from behind while I was focused on a golden deck of playing cards. I turned quickly, and there I saw a mannequin woman dressed in a turquoise dress staring at me, motionless. Had she been there before, a moment ago? I couldn't remember. I stood still, staring at her. No movement. 

I kept the mannequin in my peripheral vision, semi-focused on the gold card deck now in my hands. 

SNAP! CREAK! 

Mentally mad Maddy mannequin! My heart about stopped as I saw the mannequin move with seeming malice, having taken a step toward me! I dropped the gold card deck and bolted back toward the front of the store. 

I stopped cold when I got to the front of the shop. The exit was now blocked by mannequins, staring at me. They just stared, and I stood still. 

The longer I stood my ground, the more I realized that perhaps they were messing with my head. None of them moved, so I made my way toward them, slowly, so as show that I was not a threat. Perhaps they were just doing some mentalism magic, like a practical joke, and they were harmless. Or perhaps it was all just my... get ready for it... my i-MagicNation. 

I slipped through the motionless mannequins, without incident. Part of me didn't want to leave. This place was a manifestation of my father's dream, magical and mental at the same time. 

Marking the location on my Brightburbs map, I now knew where it was, and how to get to it. Some bright day, I knew I would see it again. 

As I walked on, I turned and looked back. The mannequins were now all facing me, and they were all positioned as if waving at me. Perhaps they were just playing a prank after all.

I moved on, smiling in the sunshine.