The Elevator Twelveth Floor (Patreon)

Cardonali the magical imp was doing what he always did, he caused  trouble to others for his own amusement.  Cardonali had the ability to  put any thought into a person's mind and manipulate them as he wanted  to.  He stood unobserved or at least unacknowledged in the back of an  elevator waiting to see who would get in.

"Sean, Michael that is how I want you to stand while you're on stage," their mother told them.

"Mom, we don't want to do this anymore."

"You don't?  After all our work?  What came over you."

"It's dishonest.  We're in a competition with children."

"You want to be discovered don't you."

"Not like this."

"Look, you will never make it as adult actors.  You don't have the talent.  But as little kids you have something the other children don't have.  You have training, poise, and maturity.  The other little kids  can't compete with that."

"I'm 24-years-old and Sean is 26 and we are competing in a competition with seven and eight-year-olds.."

"When you get those million-dollar contracts you won't care."

"It's not just that, I don't know how you did it, but you have me in second grade and Michael in the third."

"Fake birth certificates.  It says you are seven and eight-year-old just like your competition."

"It's awful pretending to be children all the time.  What use are millions when you can't spend it? I can't drink or drive a car!  I CAN'T GO OUT WITH WOMEN!"

"Look, if you get discovered you won't have to go to school anymore.  There will be tutors on set.  Put in a couple of hours, pretend to learn whatever they teach eight-year-olds, and you are done.  Just put in three years and make the big bucks, and then you can quit if you want to.  Right now you can play anyone from about five to ten-year-olds.  Do what I say and you will be stars."

"Be children for three years?"

"Yeah, that's it.  Get discovered tonight, there are agents in the audience.  First, we will do commercials, then TV then movies."

"I don't know if it's worth it.  I think it's fraud."

"I don't care what you think, just do it.  And don't think about screwing up, there is no going back now.  If you don't get discovered, tomorrow you will be back in grade school.  I'll sign you both up for boy and girl scouts.  You won't have any hope of being rich and famous.  You won't even be legally an adult for ten more years.  Think about that!"

"We'll tell them we are really adults."

"How will you explain that you have been going to grade school since the beginning of the school year?"

Sean and Michael felt trapped.  It was either mother's scheme of a decade of just being ordinary children.

The elevator got to the ground floor.  The doors opened and the trio headed towards the competition.

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