A Month of 4160 Tuesdays: Day 25: Shazam

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With aching arms extended, she stared into the glare, wobbling slightly on a loose heel. As far as she was concerned they should have packed it in months ago, as soon as he arrived on the scene all swagger and smile. They could never compete with his spectacle, his outlandish outfits, his mane of blond hair, his teeth. Whilst he was cutting through hen parties with chain saws they were pulling a rabbit from a hat, a rabbit that was as arthritic as their act. 

The holiday crowd wanted bigger, wanted better, wanted brash. He was Leo the Wild Man of Magic, and they were tame and lame, with rickety props and cheesy moves. 

Too late to quit now though with any vestige of dignity, that disappeared ages ago along with the audiences, this whole fiasco was as mortifying as the ladder in her fishnets. She tugged the threadbare tulle skirt of her corset down over the hole on her thigh and wobbled some more.

Leo was on the rise and they were on the way out, with nowhere to go. 

Not that they were any threat, but in a machismo bid for ultimate supremacy Leo had issued the challenge; on stage together they would perform their signature tricks. Leo was to conjure a lion out of thin air and they were to perform their once famous disappearing act, albeit with a twist. Her husband, the Great Talashaa, had suggested Leo be the subject. So there, thanks to ego, was Leo in the box, his leather suit sparkling; and there was she, closing the door on him. 

In a great flourish, the Great Talashaa did something he had never done before, he sprayed the air around the box with perfume. It was the bottle she had seen him receive in the post the previous day. The sumptuously spicy, amber aroma served to take her mind of the embarrassment she felt, and she hummed quietly to herself as she spun the box around on its squeaking castors. Arriving back facing down-stage she kicked a switch. Nothing. She kicked the switch again. There was a drum roll. The Great Talashaa opened the door and unsurprisingly Leo was not there. When once she would have heard gasps, now she heard only a few sniggers. She closed the door and spun the box again. Her gasp was audible when the door swung open and revealed just a crumpled pile of silver leather. She felt behind the false back of the box, it was empty.

‘Shazam!’ exclaimed the Great Talashaa, slipping the bottle carefully into his pocket.



Fragrance Notes

Top: Basil, Tangerine, Juniperberry

Middle: Atlas Cedarwood, Pink Peppercorn, Cardamon, Frankincense

Base: Amber, Patchouli, Cocoa Absolute

Find 4160 Tuesdays' Shazam on the Roullier White website here.

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