The Seance

It was another Hallowe'en and midnight was quickly approaching. In the darkness of the wax museum they sat. A table was prepared for them with table cloth and candles and they were all holding hands. It was the same trick every year to summon upon the ghost of Harry Houdini, and I was one of many who came to see whether or not he'd return. The fact of the matter was that I was a "plant"; I was in cohorts with our so-called "medium" which without my help the trick wouldn't work. We had prepared beforehand all the apparatus: a tambourine on a nearby wax figure would shake with the help of a fishing wire; the fans placed in a certain direction and triggered to make it seem there was a cool wind that blew "Esmeralda"'s hair. Every year we had done this and managed to keep all who came to see convinced that she was a true psychic.

People who enjoyed the harrowing escapes of Harry Houdini knows he had believed there was a way to pass from one state to the next and escape eternal death just as he had escaped all the chains, straight jackets, torture chambers of his fame. Well, he definitely would be impressed with the way we were going to make it seem like he'd actually did it. We were going to make this seance into the greatest show they'd ever seen!

The electric lights were dimmed, so that only the candles at the table would light all our 15 faces from the darkness. The wax figures around us seemed a little spookier and a little more like people in the distant darkness. The medium asked us all to close our eyes and concentrate on the open darkness - midnight was getting closer. I could hear the breath of the person I was holding hands with on my right and feel her hand become cold and clammy while the man on my left had tightened his grip unconsciously. On my far right I could hear Esmeralda chanting. She'd practice different chants every year claiming they were all actual magic spells concocted by Sorcerers of the 15th century. This chant sounded like pure rambling and I had to keep myself from laughing as I listened.

She was now calling out for the "Oracle to the Other Side" to reach Harry Houdini. Behind her chair was one of her props and when she called out for a sign that Houdini was getting closer she used her foot to trigger the wire. The rusty tambourine jingled louder and louder as she began her incantations and rambling again. The woman on my right gasped at the sound of the tambourine and was now breathing through her mouth. I was starting to feel restless myself and my hands felt strangely numb. I was being gripped too hard by both my partners. My eyes were still closed and I attempted to wriggle my fingers loose. The woman was panting harder on the right and my arms were getting uncomfortable and cold. I could smell the cologne of the man on my left. He felt strangely close as if he was purposely trying get my attention. I was waiting for the next signal from Esmeralda and could feel the man getting closer, as if he was trying to kiss me. I hardly knew who this man was but he was starting to make me angry and invading my personal space. His lips were now close to my left ear.

I stood up, breaking the circle, and shouted: "I want this man to go away now!"

As my eyes focused I looked to my left towards - an audience! To my right a strangely large tank of water and directly in front of me - Harry Houdini! He smiled and I could smell his cologne stronger now. It wasn't the man beside me at all trying to flirt with me - it was HIM!

"Hush dear," he said, "The performance is not a shouting match! Now, give us a kiss."

He leaned towards me and began to kiss me passionately. I felt something in my mouth and as his tongue entered I realized it was a key! This was his trick of escaping! It was no wonder when he was searched there usually wasn't any keys to be found. Like Esmeralda, Houdini had an accomplice. The key was now in his mouth and he smiled back at me.

Nearby the announcer called out: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Madam et Monsieur, we will now watch as the Great Houdini performs his famous "Water Torture Tank Escape"!"

I realized where I was. It was the stage of the old Princess Theatre of Montreal! I was part of his final escape which I had recalled from history books he never completed. He was going to die tonight! Dear Lord, this has to be a dream I'm caught in, I must let people at the wax museum where I was. Maybe I'm the one in the trance! Perhaps I can return there and let them know what I am seeing. I looked over to Houdini who had quickly ran to the edge of the stage to take a bow at the footlights. His face lit up from below gave him a strange ominously pale look. He wasn't well I could see it. I felt faint and disoriented as if I was recalling a memory and feeling the hands of the people from the seance holding onto me. Was I to return to the seance? There was sudden darkness.