My parent’s basement is full of random things, (many a box is my stuff I have yet to move to my house, sorry….).  From a model ship made out of beer cans, to old knives hanging on the wall, to the god awful baby pictures with the creepy teddy bear.

While going down stairs with my younger cousin Grace, we passed a box of my stuff that has sat there for years, and right on top was a simple box magic trick.

It was a 2 inch by 2 inch plastic box, with a lid.  Inside was a cube with different pictures and colors on each side.  The trick as it goes, is someone, unbeknownst to the Magician picks a colored side of the cube.  Then they cover the box with the lid and hand it back to the magician.  As the magician shakes the box, sensing what color the audience picked, they must pass the box three times behind the back for the magic to work.  After the magical third pass, the magician will name the color the audience picked.

Remembering the trick, and of course the “Magic” behind it, I performed the act for Grace, and for my sister…. a college educated, higher education working twenty something year old.  As I performed the trick again and again, neither could figure it out.  I predicted the blue bird, the black hat and even the red teddy bear.

As neither could figure it out, Grace grabs the box and tries to see the trick.

So, I broke the promise that all fake magicians make and told Grace the secret behind the trick.  She makes a new magicians promise to never share the secret of the box, and we go back upstairs and we put on the trick for the rest of the family.

And they were dumb founded as well.

No one could figure out the secret of the box, that a 7 year old learned twenty minutes before and flawlessly executed.

As she performed the trick with each family member picking a new color each time, I stopped….

And looked around….

Grace had a twinkle in her eye and a smirk, running around as she fooled all the adults in the room with her slight of hand.

My uncle, carefully examining the box, trying to find the secret, as a jack of all trades, cannot figure out the mechanics of the magical box and fails to believe it is just three pieces of plastic.

My father who tries to perform the trick without knowing the secret, and fails miserably, thinking he had it all figured out.

No phones out, no technology, in a time where we have talking bottles of wine and voice commanded Amazon robots, what captivated this room was a 7 year old and a $5 magic trick.

And I could not help but smile.

Don’t forget to take a step back, appreciate what’s in front of you, and that nothing ever beats a good magic trick.