A Change of Fortune

Marianne sat at a card table near the entrance of the mall and watched as people passed. Some glanced at her, but most ignored her. She smiled and nodded at them as Charles, her mentor, sat nearby and watched. “I’ll make you proud,” she said.

A older woman, wearing a pantsuit carried shopping bags toward the entrance stopped at the table and they made small talk about the weather.

“Do you want me to tell your fortune,” Marianne asked.

“Sorry, hon, I don’t believe in all this hocus pocus,” the woman replied.

Marianne forced a smile and stammered, “Well, at least you’ll have a sunny day.”

The woman said, “I’m on the way to the hair boutique.”

She looked to Charles, who said “You’ve got to sell yourself.”

A man, her age, sat across the table the table from her, and handed her a twenty. She held up her crystal ball and smiled. “You will live a long, prosperous life."

The man shook his head and replied. “The doctor said that I have six months to live.”

She shook the crystal ball and noticed the words, Try Again.

“I’ll get it right next time,” she said.

Charles shook his head.

Piped in music played as she stood in front of the table and called out to those who passed. Just when she was thinking about calling it a day, a young woman with a young girl tugging at her arm approached.

Marianne pointed at the chair on the other side of the table. “Have a seat,” she said.

She shuffled a deck of tarot cards, and the woman drew a card and showed it to her.

Marianne smiled and said, “You have met the man of your dreams.”

The woman wiped a tear from her eyes. “He left me last night.”

Charles closed his suitcase, and Marianne’s hands shook as she reshuffled the deck. “Let’s try again,” she said, but the woman turned and walked away. “Please come back,” she pleaded, as the sound of thunder resonated through the mall. The skies outside were dark.

Marianne sat at the table stared as he walked to the door, when the older woman came back to her. The woman was drenched; her new hairdo drooped, and stands covered one her eyes. “Ruined,” she shouted. “You said that it was going to be a sunny day.”

With a sigh, Marianne responded. “You can never outguess the weather.”

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