The Fortune-Teller

The end of the year is rapidly approaching again. After all the lead up to Christmas, with the presents to buy, the cards to write and send and the food to prepare, the day will finally arrive tomorrow. Twenty four hours later, it will all be over and done for another twelve months and a collective sigh of relief will be heard across the country.

Then a week later the New Year will arrive and thousands, if not millions of people, will make resolutions. This year, mine should be to write more often, because as frequently happens, too many other things get in the way and/or I'm too easily distracted.

With this idea in mind, here is a short story to read as you are snuggled up in the evening!

Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year to everyone!

The Fortune-Teller

The hall clock ticked incessantly, marking the passing of the final hours and minutes of the year. Alicia snuggled up on the old sofa by the fire, staring at the flames from time to time. As they rose and fell and then died away, they reminded her of the highs and lows that she had experienced over the preceding twelve months. The lows stood out predominantly in her mind and howled at her conscience in the same way that the wind screeched outside. She had drawn the heavy curtains across the windows, to obliterate the shadows that danced eerily across the room. Alicia had succeeded in cocooning herself from the elements, but had been unable to hide from the thoughts that crept back to the surface of her mind.

Perhaps reading her diary on a night like tonight had been a mistake, but it was one she never managed to avoid. It had become an annual ritual and she lacked the strength of mind to break it this year. She wanted to reach for the bottle of whisky that stood on the table by her side, but had second thoughts. Becoming drunk would not help. She lowered her eyes once more to her diary and resumed her reading.

Most entries recorded nothing of any real consequence: notes about the weather, bargains she had found whilst she was out shopping and the odd incident at work. Then she turned the page to the beginning of May and discovered the day she had gone on a trip to the seaside with Angie, who was one of her colleagues at work. She had only penned a few lines, but could remember the details of the day quite clearly.

The coach had picked them up at nine and by eleven they were walking along the pier eating candyfloss. Two hours later they had lunched on the obligatory fish and chips and were wondering how to spend the remaining time before the coach departed.

“How about that?” suggested Angie, pointing at a booth that advertised fortune-telling.

“Not for me, thanks,” replied Alicia. “I don’t believe in that sort of thing.”

Then she saw the look of disappointment on Angie’s face.

“Don’t let me stop you, though,” she added.

“Oh, come on. It’ll be a laugh!”

Angie had grabbed her arm, so Alicia found herself literally being dragged towards the booth. She knew it was not worth protesting. Once Angie decided something, there was no way to change her mind.

They passed under the sign that read “Alex – Fortune Teller” and into a dimly lit room. It was decorated in reds and purples, with swirls of gold. A hurricane lamp sat on the table, with a candle flickering inside. Alicia had expected to find a middle-aged to elderly woman sitting on the opposite side of the cramped space and was surprised to find a blond, blue-eyed man in his mid-twenties.

“Good afternoon, ladies. Please take a seat,” he said, motioning to the two folding chairs on either side of the doorway.

They did as instructed.

“Would you both like a reading?” he enquired.

“No, just me,” replied Angie, thrusting her hand across the table. “I was hoping you would read my palm.”

“Of course.”

Alex held her hand and gently moved it from side to side, peering at it closely.

“This shows you will have a long life,” he began, tracing a line across her palm. “And this marks a successful and happy relationship. There will be some minor problems, but in due course you will have a family of your own – two or three children – I can’t be sure.”

Alicia listened carefully, wondering if Alex would stop talking in such general terms and say something specific. A name or a place would be nice, or even a date. She was disappointed when Alex came to the end of his reading without giving any real details.

Angie seemed happy however: at least until she opened her purse.

“Do you accept cards?” she asked. “I’ve just realised I spent the last of my cash in the chippie.”

“Sorry, I don’t,” Alex replied.

“Alicia, you couldn’t lend me a tenner until ...”

She was interrupted by Alicia drawing the money from her own pocket. “Yes, I know. Until you can get to a cash point. Of course I will.”

As she handed the note over, her fingers brushed Alex’s hand, sending a shiver down her arm. He grasped her hand before she had a chance to withdraw it and turned it over.

“I know you don’t believe in fortune telling, so I’ll do this reading for free, just to prove you wrong.”

He looked up and met Alicia’s eyes, holding her stare for a few seconds. Then his gaze dropped to her hand once more.

“By the end of the year you too will have a partner and he will make you change your outlook in many ways. You will be promoted at work in October, but that could mean the end of a long friendship, unless you learn to be flexible.”

Alicia tried to pull her hand away, but Alex held it fast.

“And you will break your ankle in November.”

He looked up again, but instead of replying, Alicia yanked her hand away.

“Are you coming?” she asked, standing and turning to Angie. She stepped outside without waiting for a reply and was relieved when Angie followed her out.

“What’s wrong?” Angie asked.

“I don’t know why you believe that rubbish. What he said to you was so vague as to be meaningless. Come on, we’ve got time for a coffee before the coach arrives and you need to find a cash point.”

Alicia stopped reminiscing and turned back to her diary. She turned over another page, then another, until she found a more interesting entry.

“Flowers arrived.” It was a simple note, but with hindsight it was much more important than she had first thought. She remembered it had been a bouquet of pink roses, without a note.

A week later there was another visit from the florist. This time it was an extravagant spray of white lilies and white delphiniums, with a small card. “Will ring you on Sunday,” it said.

Alicia asked the delivery man who had sent it, but all he could reply was that it had been a telephoned order. He only drove the van, but someone in the shop might be able to give her more details. She considered her options and decided to ring her friends to enquire if they had sent her flowers. None had.

“Has anything else happened?” Angie asked. “You don’t think you’ve got a stalker do you?”

Alicia racked her brain, but nothing occurred to her. There had been no other strange events and no-one she knew had behaved oddly.

On the following Sunday night, the phone had rung, but had stopped before she had a chance to answer it. She tried ringing 1471, but the calling number was not available. She replaced the receiver and waited for the phone to ring again, but with no luck. May be it was just a wrong number and the caller had realised the mistake and hung up.

Alicia looked at the clock and calculated she would have to read more quickly to reach the end of the diary before the clock struck twelve. She began flicking through the pages, knowing which entries she was seeking. At several points she had written “dinner” or “going out”, followed by the name of a restaurant or a place. When she reached October she slowed down. The entry for 15th October read:

“Called into the office today. Told I’d been promoted. Extra £5,000 a year. More holidays and more responsibility. Not sure how I feel.”

She read those words with mixed emotions. The extra money and time off were certainly welcome and she acknowledged the promotion was recognition of the work she had put in. On the other hand, it had caused friction with Angie. She had become Angie’s boss, instead of being her colleague and it had led to a few squabbles, especially on the handful of occasions when Angie had tried to take advantage of their friendship. Hopefully a demarcation line had now been set and would be respected. They were friends out of work again, but Alicia was Angie’s boss as soon as they entered the office.

The next two pages were crammed with appointments: business ones, the dentist, the hairdresser and several just marked with an “A”.

As a complete contrast, the first week of November was empty and the second week was written in a shaky hand.

“One week since the crash. Came home today,” appeared in the space for Monday.

As if on cue, a spasm of pain shocked up her left leg. Alicia looked at her foot, which was resting on a cushion on the top of the coffee table. It was the most comfortable position she could find. Her ankle had been broken when her car had skidded off the road after hitting an icy patch and then struck a tree. The bone had been pinned and thankfully Alicia was now regaining full movement, although she was sometimes in agony.

The last week of November included the only entry that had been written in red. “A MOVED IN!!!” was printed in capital letters, followed by three exclamation marks. Alicia smiled as she re-read it.

Suddenly she heard a bang and crash coming from the kitchen. She frowned and listened closely, wondering what was wrong. Then there was a tinkling of glass, followed by footfalls echoing along the corridor. They closed in on her and then a glass was thrust towards Alicia.

“What ...” she began, but was interrupted.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“You’re always doing that,” she replied, taking the glass of champagne that was being offered.

“Let’s hope it stays that way. Here’s to us.”

They clinked glasses and then Alicia sipped the cooled wine. “I shouldn’t be doing this,” she commented. “I’m still taking those pain-killers.”

“I doubt whether one glass will hurt. Besides it is New Year’s Eve and we should be celebrating. After all, everything I predicted has come true, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, Alex, I know it has, but there are still so many things you haven’t explained. Especially, how you found me. I never even told you my name, when Angie and I walked into your booth and I certainly didn’t tell you where I lived.”

“Can’t you just accept a little magic in your life?”

“I don’t believe in that either. My brain needs logic, not hocus-pocus.”

“OK, let’s just say I knew.”

He said it so calmly and so matter-of-factly that it exasperated Alicia.

“What do you mean, you just knew? Aren’t you going to explain it to me properly?”

“One day. Maybe. For now, happy New Year.”

Alex stroked her face with his fingers and she felt the same shiver that had coursed through her on the first occasion they had touched.

“Will it be a happy New Year?” she wondered.

Mill Road in Arundel on a frosty December morning.