He deals in commodities of the abstract sort

from "Banking on a Myth"

Card Tricks

“Pick a card, any card!”

The Astounding Karloff grinned widely as he fanned the deck. Michael stared back, mouth gaping slightly, as he stretched out his hand toward the middle of the fan.

“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” Karloff asked, giving the child a knowing look.

Michael hesitated, then let his hand drift to the right, never taking his eyes from Karloff’s, looking for a sign that he was making the right choice.

“Good!” Karloff exclaimed, once Michael had settled on the third-to-last card from the conjurer thumb. “Now, don’t show me—your parents are getting divorced?"


A in a bizarre twist of something, Elizabeth and I wrote about different lines. You can still read her story, though.

Also, I have blogger's guilt. I can make excuses like, "I was out of town" and "I was apartment-hunting, and those bastards are good at hiding," and I really was busy all last week, had only night at home...so, yes, I guess I will make those excuses.