The Cab

“Wanna see a magic trick?”

The cab driver glanced at his rearview mirror, eyes fixed on his passenger. “No.”

“I don’t mean right now, I know you’re driving,” the guy in the backseat said. “But at the next stoplight?”

The driver sighed. This guy was really just a kid. Couldn’t be more than twenty-three. He had that fresh, eager face that wouldn’t last long in the city. The driver didn’t want to kill his hopes already. “Fine.”

Luckily, the next light was one notorious for taking a long time.

The kid opened his hands, showing nothing was in them, then cupped them together and shook them slightly. When he opened his hands, a small velvet box sat in them.

The driver just gave a grunt. It was a neat trick, but that was obviously a ring box. He knew if he asked about that, he’d get a long story he didn’t want to hear.

But he heard it anyways. “I’m proposing to my girlfriend tonight,” the guy said. “We met at a magic show, so I spent a month learning how to do that trick for her. I flew out here to surprise her.”

The light turned green.

“Are you married?” the guy asked.

The driver didn’t reply.

“Well, if you are, then that’s good for you,” the kid said uncertainly. “And if you aren’t, I hope you find someone soon. Everyone needs someone.”

The driver pulled over to the curb. “This your stop?”

“Yeah, thanks,” the kid said, pulling out cash.

The driver closed his hand around the money without bothering to count it. “Hey kid,” he said. “Good luck.”

The kid gave a beaming, though nervous, smile.

The driver crept along the streets, waiting for someone to flag him down. He saw the kid in his rearview mirror, talking into an apartment intercom. He had a lovestruck grin on his face.

The driver hoped that girl would say yes.