July 2019 blog entry, "Utopian Magic"

Hi all, hope you are well and coping with the heat.

This month I want to remind you of a short story I published in 2015 and haven't given it the promotion that it deserves. It is a short book but an endearing story with a bit of excitement and escapism. It is about a father and son and their adventures. It is called, "Utopian Magic".

It is set in the 1800's, poor times, hungry times, very hard times.
Armed with a beautiful Shire horse called Dexter that pulled their amazing caravan and their dog Jack, Elliot and his son Nathan scratched a living roaming the countryside performing Magic shows.

Here is a short extract:

The Red glow of our camp fire’s embers shone onto my father’s face giving him an almost eerie look. I wondered what it was he was thinking about, but I had a good idea.
 
“Are you ok Dad?” I asked.
 
“Yes I’m fine son; I was just remembering your Mother.”
 
We had lost my Mother almost five years ago near my fifteenth birthday, but it was hard to come to terms with. She had suffered for too long. Maybe if we had conformed to the accepted system and been your average citizen, we could have got her more help, but we were Travelers’. We have been called some other names such as Pikies, Vagabonds, Vagrants even Romani’s, but we were simply Travelers’. No permanent address, not registered on any system, just us and the good Earth as it was meant to be. We didn’t feel that we were owed anything but at the same time we didn’t owe anything.
 
My father leaned over with the pot of coffee and offered to top me up, which I accepted.
 
“Shame to waste it,” said my father.
 
“Yeah but mind you, it’s a bit stewed by now Dad.”
 
Jack ran over and sat at my feet. Jack was our dog and part of the family. Mother had named him Jack because he was a Jack Russell and for no other reason, we didn’t have the heart to change it, and besides it suited him. He was a great dog and a very good hunter. He could out run a Rabbit much to its demise.
 
The other member of the family was ‘Dexter’. Dexter was the biggest and strongest Shire horse you would ever meet. He was Jet Black, so Black that he looked a deep Blue color in a certain light. He had a snow White chest and ankles. I was pretty tall but to mount Dexter, I had to take a run and jump at him. He pulled our caravan with ease and wherever we wanted to go.
 
Our caravan was our home but it was also our means of survival. It was large and it was colorful. On either side, painted in bold colors were the words ‘The Wizard of Wonder’ that is my father. My father is a Magician and a master at his art. This is how we earned our living as we roamed the country.
 
We would find a Town or Village and set up camp on its outskirts, perhaps a field. One side of the caravan was constructed such that you could lower the side and it would transform into a stage. This is where my father would perform his miracles with myself as his assistant. It used to be my mother’s role. She also used to read the Tarot cards and Palms, and this ability she handed down to me. My father would often joke about adding an ‘S’ on the word Wizard.
 
My father watched me as I made a small ball appear then disappear, change color then multiply.
 
“Keep practicing Nathan, you will earn that ‘S’ yet.”
 
“Thanks Dad, but I’m going to turn in now.”
 
I made sure Dexter was well tethered and had water. Jack was asleep under the caravan now. Dad threw some dirt onto the embers.
 
“I think I’ll join you son, we move on tomorrow.”
 
We had performed for three nights here on the edge of Timberly, and pickings were not very good. We had twenty audience members on our first night but it had diminished to five on our third night. We put it down to Timberly being a small village. We didn’t charge an entrance fee as such, but I passed my hat around at the end of a performance. Over the three nights we took £1.12pence, three buttons and a chewed bit of gum. It was hard but we were ok, we wouldn’t starve.
 

I hope you liked what you have read. If you did, you can buy it for the price of a Frappe. It is available in Paperback and Kindle formats here on my website. Just click on the 'BUY' button, and you will be directed to the purchase page on Amazon.

​That's it for another month, enjoy the weather and peace to you all. xxx