It was on his third birthday that one Joshua Nonus came to the realization that he had been reborn, that is unless he was coming down with early onset dementia.
Joshua did not think he had dementia, after all the instincts, memories and knowledge that had been trickling, no…awakening in him were far too coherent and well organized to be the workings of a demented mind. At least he hoped so.
It all came to a head, the memory awakening that is, at midnight on the day of his third birth year. A sharp pain in his head accompanied by a minor nose bleed and he sat up in his big boy bed and he knew! Joshua now knew loads of stuff, from what he had learned to get a degree in biology in his past life to all the little things one picks up from leading a life in a world where information was fairly easy to access. The point being, now that he now knew he knew stuff, Joshua came to a conclusion and made a decision.
Now Albert and Juliette Nonus knew they had a precocious child and they were quite proud of this fact. So when not more than three weeks after his third birthday Joshua stood atop the kitchen table in their small suburban home and announced in no uncertain terms that he was going to become the greatest magician that ever lived, his high sweet voice trembling with suppressed excitement. Albert and Juliette looked at their son with quiet pride and did not take him at all seriously and it was a tad difficult to do so when he stood on the table, fists on his waist, chest puffed up and wearing only his underwear.
Juliette had quickly come to realize that Joshua had no respect for table manners in the mornings, and only in the mornings. So in order not to have to deal with extra laundry in the mornings it was just better to let the morning beast have its due and allow Joshua have his breakfast in his underwear and clean him up after. She would never admit this to anyone, especially her husband but she cherished the after breakfast clean ups. It was bonding time, allowing her to fuss over Joshua without him squirming and also discretely check on his health seeing as she was still technically a new mother and was still in that nervous state of constant worry that new mothers tend fall into. Not that mothers of two or more children do not worry but they generally have a better handle of things.
Albert being positively tickled by his little tyke's announcement and wanting to live up to the promise he made to himself growing up as an orphan who had never been adopted, he decided the doting father route was the way to go. A children's beginner magic set was procured and Albert asked around his work place, a small accounting firm called Harmonia Accounting, whether any of his work buddies new any magic tricks to entertain little children.
Robert Downing, he of the perfectly coiffed blond hair, straight aquiline nose and chiseled jaw was a surprising repository of many such tricks. It was over the course of several lunch breaks that Albert was able to wheedle out of Robert who had been staying with Martha, his younger sister, that he had had to find a way to distract his little niece and nephew. Now the twins, luthor and Miriam, were two overly energetic and mischievous hellions, and this is to be expected with children just coming out of the terrible twos and heading into the know it all six's. Robert Downing became real good at magic tricks real fast.
And so it came to pass that Albert Nonus on his path to be ultimate doting father did all he could to encourage his son's desire to become the world's premier magician.
Joshua was mildly surprised when his father handed him a Beginner's Magic set a week after his dining table proclamation and he was further gratified when his father went ahead and helped him learn the tricks elaborated in the set and even those not found in the magic set.
Now Joshua knew his parents thought he was talking about a stage magician when he made his desires known but ever since his memories had properly settled in he come to an epiphany. He had been reborn and that pointed to evidence that the world, whether the current or former, was not as mundane as he had thought. Joshua was going to be a magician of a more esoteric bent.
Having read and speculated much on the fantasy, sci-fi and mixtures of two he, Joshua, had some tentative ideas on how to begin his journey into mysticism but the most important activity, as far as he was concerned, was mastering a form of meditation that would allow him to perceive beyond the veil normality that he was sure clouded the esoteric from the mundane.