Lofted in a starlit laboratory, skewered by kaleidoscopic vectors of gloam-shaded light trails, a singular charlatan -- more performer than prodigy, frowns. She holds a letter, tapping it thrice; each motion of hers an act, a whimsy, the legerdemain of a liar with less & less to lose. The "Great Wizard" Charms, as much fraud as philosopher, laments the passing of the one and only friend who had seen through her truths, to deeper lies, and peered further still to the unwavering ability couched in the hearts of dreamers, deceivers alike. A sorrow floods the hollow of her manic heart, bids a hand to rise; thumb, forefinger, palm to the nose and face. Behind the pale veil of her grasp, where the greatest tricks take place: substitutions, vanishing acts, bisected aides in their ruby glamour, conjured hares... these colorful prestidigitations fell wayward. In their absence, a bilious sobbing overtook the truth-breaker. She mused her "ancient question", nothing more than a fortune-cookie postulation, the type of riddle you could find on a dollar-value card printed from the Zoltar machine in your ex's favorite dive bar, the worrisome provocation that kept up the ruminating or the honest-hearted -- despite its cheap lacking, its fool's gold ring.
"What is the difference between magic and miracle?"
And it ate at her, until night threw its starry hands up, abandoned its claims on her sleep. Only morning and the sanitized light of an unflinching sun, judgmental eye perched high in a grey dewy dawn, could lull her to undeserved rest. There, she dreamt of the wizard's impossible: of gullible audiences, of stunts pulled smoothly, and of happy endings. Somewhere in the Never-To, or the Always-Was, or the This-Times, she knew, as well as children know of faerie & filigree, Tomes would trip the light fantastic.
@Tael The honor of our meeting was all yours, friend, but the joy of it was all mine. I hope you find something fun to do now that Tomes' book is shut!