The Infinite Handkerchief Rope

“And for that we will begin with…”a flourish of his hand and “this humble handkerchief!” as it bursts from a closed fist.

“You will be the one doing the trick, so please examine it closely, and let our public see.”

He hands it to her and moves towards the backstage. Cassandra makes a show of examining the cream cloth and extending it fully to a surprising size (almost 80x80 cm), turning it around to show both sides. Drake brings a tall cabinet and a small rack on wheels but leaves both a bit to the back of the stage after unlatching the cabinet’s door.

“Noticed anything peculiar about the handkerchief?”

“Well… it seemed smaller when I first took it, but nothing else.”

“Think you can hide it in your hand?”

“I don’t think it can be fold to fit inside my hand, or even yours…”

“That’s why I’m the magician my dear. But let’s give it a try anyway.”

Without touching the handkerchief or even coming too close he guides her through the steps of a convoluted folding technique that turns the square into a thin band.

“It still seems too long to hide in my hand…”

“Mmh, perhaps you are right. Let’s try folding it in half. Now put it inside your left sleeve, the ends just sticking out.”

You notice amused murmurs from some patrons, while others seem to be losing interest in the show. You wonder were this is going as she complies crossing her hands and closing the open coat, its wide sleeves leaving ample space for the cloth bundle. The points are still clearly visible and look about to fall out; you think this would make a poor try at sleight of hand even for an amateur.

“Perfect. Can you reach one corner? No, use the same hand.”

“Good, now throw me the handkerchief by grabbing that corner, like this.” Drake says as he demonstrates the hand gesture and backs a step.

Appearing slightly bemused, Cassandra complies.

Her eyes widen as the expected cream cloth is followed another purple one tied to it, and still hanging from her sleeve. Drake catches the first, keeping the handkerchief rope almost taut between them.

“You were quite right, it seems to get bigger than when it was in your hands. Let’s see how much, shall we?” He motions her to walk back as he does the same.

From the sleeve the rope keeps coming, simple pieces of cloth of different lengths tied to one another. The purple is followed by a white one, another purple, a long brown one, a light rose, two short lavenders and finally another cream one that seems tied to the edge of the sleeve.

The rope length has Drake to the edge of the stage, but the girl is still quite close to the center, appearing too surprised to comply properly with his instructions. Still they both keep the rope from dragging by keeping one hand elevated, but Drake is again doing most of the job. She looks to the rope with a slightly open mouth, her pale legs shifting slightly as if unsure of where to stand. Initially you entertained the idea that she was the magician assistant and the “random volunteering” was just for show, but if her shock isn’t genuine she is certainly an excellent actress. Better than her conversation pointed to, at least… The audience answer Drake slight bow with a polite, but not too impressed applause.

“But how..? Where are all these coming from?!”

“Why, you provided them of course. Didn’t they come out of your sleeve?”

“But I only put there the one you gave me, and I didn’t bring any other handkerchief with me!”

“Are you sure of that? Don’t they look familiar to you at all?”

“…”

She looks puzzled at the cloth rope, and a frown grows on her face. Now that he mentions it you are also getting some feeling of déjà-vu from the rope…

As she opens her mouth to answer, Drake gives a pull-shake to the rope and suddenly each cloth seems to unfold. The chain is no longer made of tied handkerchiefs, but of a jacket, blouse, skirt, pantyhose, slip, a matching set of bra and panties, with only the first and last links keeping their form.

The applause is now much more enthusiastic, while Cassandra jaw hits the floor.

After your initial surprise your attention shifts to her as her free hand reaches for the front of the coat, apparently unbelieving of what she may find. The motion is assuredly sharper than she wants, as her coat opens top to bottom and exposes most of her body. One breast is fully shown, bigger than your initial estimate, followed by a taunt stomach, a small patch of pubes and a lean long leg. Confirmation of her nakedness under the coat renews the applause with several whistles and laughs mixed in. The racquet breaks her stupefaction and she closes the coat, clutching the front one handed while blushing fiercely, looking down to avoid eye contact with the public.