It was one of those moments that in normal circumstance the God’s
themselves are the only witness. A simple event of relative
unimportance, minor to most as they continue with the busy bustle
of their lives; but as a singular event it could have changed the
worlds of those involved and this is its tale…
She sat within the small cubicle - her narrow hands crowded over the
crystals, feeling their energy until she picked…hmmm…yes…that
one - held it against her skin and felt a warm air tickle against the
nape of her neck.
“Mmmm”, she could not help but say to herself as she tied it with a
leather knot, placing it gently about her neck.
For maybe a minute she meditated. Maybe a minute, perhaps an hour
- for time seemed to petrify as she wandered purposefully through the
ether of her sub-conscious.
She checked her breathing…
“te-ta-tuum”…(breathe)…” te-ta-tuum”…
…repeating her mantra over and over, before slipping to a sublime
state of relaxation and white light.
The morning was a bustle of confusion. Late alarms and cold
showers seemingly conspiring from the start. She sat naked before
the drier, waiting for her knickers “It’s not meant to be” she said in
contemplation, consulting Tony Peter’s astrology page in the
Tribune…
“An eventful possibly life shifting day of introductions, reunions and
revelations is promised by the juncture of Mercury and Venus” she
read aloud, shaking her head. Lately she had begun to doubt Tony, he
made promises that she failed to fulfil.
The bus conspired against her too - late and overcrowded - and the
traffic seemingly affirmed her dictum.
“te-ta-tuum…te-ta-tuum”,
She repeated to herself as the bus crawled teasingly forward until she
knew that she was going to be late.
It was a Tuesday morning. On Tuesday’s she was expected to open
the shop and that meant an early alarm so she could arrive by eight-
thirty.
“Nine o’clock” she said to herself, looking at her watch…“bloody
nine o’clock”…
“te-ta-tuum…te-ta-tuum”
Her first client would arrive at ten.
She’d hardly have time to prepare the till or set the incense. Also, she
liked time to meditate before a reading…
“te-ta-tuum”
…so that she was focused and receptive to the spiritual plane.
She ran, boisterous and sweating, from the bus, grasping desperately
for keys as she reached the door…
“te-ta-tuum”…”te-ta-tuum”,
Her breath, thin and reaching - fumbling, searching for keys…
probing past the purse, a handkerchief, scarf, mascara, a canister of
rouge and finally a tube of lipstick until she felt the reassuring
“clink” of cold steel.
She thrust the key toward the lock, which froze with iced resentment.
“te-ta-tuum”
She turned it again
“te-ta-tuum…TEE-TAA-TUUUM”
and again
“TEEE-TAAA-TUUUUM!”
before pulling it from the lock to discover that she had inserted the
wrong key.
“TEE-TAAA-TUUUM!!”
She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, then
“TEE-TA- TUUUM!!!”
juggling, examining them closely before finding the right one that
turned slowly…”Clunk”…allowing the shutter to be raised.
She entered quickly. Shutting the door and pressing her back against
its cold hard surface she stood silent like a statue. Inhaling the
lingering scents of incense and of oils, breathing deeply…
“Tee-ta-tuum…Tee-ta-tuum”
She allowed the room to soulfully surround her and infuse her…
“te-ta-tuum”
…inhaling its ambience first through her nose, her ears, her ears and
lastly through her skin. Letting it filter through to her blood, which
pumped toward calmness - establishing composure.
She opened her eyes and walked slowly about the room, lingering
moment to moment through its sections. She greeted each one
reverently - running her hands silently over the crystals, like a mother
stroking her child’s forehead…
“te-ta-tuum…I welcome you”
- curtsying, before the idolic statues of the Buddah and Shiva,
caressing their form for luck and blessing…
“te-ta-tuum…I welcome you”
- passing the music section, she selected a cd and placed it carefully
into the player then, almost dancing, she lit the incense whose smoky
clouds of light always made her laugh.
“te-ta-tuum…I welcome you” she said with a smile.
She opened the register with boundless glee, locked the front door
and retired to the reading room.
“te-ta-tuum…I welcome me”
She danced lightly into the small room - lighting sticks of camphor
and sage wood before walking diagonally across the room, waving
the incense sticks as though trailing a kite, leaving a steady stream
of smoke, like a sky writer’s hieroglyph, in her wake.
She pulled a table to the centre of the room, covered it with a velvet
cloth then placed the incense in holders at each end. Next she took a
large wooden box from a corner, took a key from a chain about her
neck and opened it, removing four rectangular objects which she
placed gently on the table.
She began a slow melodic chant, closing her eyes, untying the crystal
from about her neck - swinging it like a pendulum above the objects.
It moved slowly. Arcing a figure eight circumference about the table
before rocking gently over one of the objects. Anxiously she grabbed
the it, unwrapping the object from the kid skin sheath.
“The Celtic Deck!” she said with excitement, holding it closely to
her chest.
She looked at her watch
“9:55!”.
The front doorbell rang (as though on cue). She closed her eyes,
concentrating on the task at hand, walking slowly through the shop
before opening the door with a wide smile.
“Mrs Rushdie … so good to see you my dear”
“Hello”…said a male voice, from a distance above her head.
She slowly looked up, into the smiling, slightly nervous eyes of a tall
thin man aged in his twenties.
“About the tarot readings…I mean…I’d like a reading… please”
“Of course you would dear but…”
The telephone rang from inside the shop. She ushered him inside,
pointing toward a chair, before collecting the telephone.

“Hello…”
She nodded slowly – her brow furrowing further with each nod…
“Tomorrow it is then. Goodbye Mrs Rushdie”…

She placed the phone into the cradle, turning lightly to face the man
as he sat uncomfortably within the chair.
“So young man…a reading?"
“I…I mean my name is Daniel…I’ve never done anything like this
before…” he answered nervously. “I’m not sure that I even
believe…It’s just that I was passing when I saw your sign…”
“And you felt compelled?”
“Yes… well, not so much compelled as intrigued … I’m curious.
“Come through”
He watched her walk toward the back of the shop -following
submissively in her mystic wake, noting the peculiar sway of her
body as she moved and the strange little jump that occurred every
two steps - as though she was stepping over an invisible obstacle.
“Strange” he said to himself.
Into the small and smoky room, his eyes adjusted to the dim red
lights that accentuated the crimson velvet cloth that seemed to cover
every surface. A background sound of slow Gregorian chants leaked
from hidden speakers lending the room the ambience of a Gothic
Cathedral.
“It’s like a Tardus” he said silently as she closed the door and drew
the crimson curtain shut...
He felt his heart beat thump violently into his ribs. And a tear of
sweat, bleeding down his forehead. He twisted and turned within the
chair, trying to adopt an easy stance…so that he would not appear too
eager.
“Give me your hands”, she said.
He offered his hands across the table, which she took warmly into
her own.
“Are you going to read my palm?”
“No…you seem tense…I’d like you to breathe with me so that we
can settle your mind. I want you to close your eyes and to breathe.
In…one, two…Out one, two…That’s it! In… one, two… Out… one,
two…
His breathing slowed so that it matched hers. She could see the

colour return to his face and his pulse return to normal…
“That’s it” she said “Doesn’t that feel so much better?…Now keep
your eyes closed and breathe in - repeat with me “tee-taa-tuum…
breathe out – “tee-taa-tuum”…that’s it…Do you feel more
relaxed?…Keep going by yourself”
“Tee-ta-tuum…tee-ta-tuum…” he repeated over and over until she
lightly squeezed his hand as a signal to open his eyes…
She cut the deck in two then asked him to select a pile, shuffling it
expertly, explaining the history and the meaning of the tarot in a well
rehearsed speech.
She cut the pile again, and again, before laying the cards before him
in the form of a crucifix.
“is there anything special that you would like to ask the cards?”
“Nothing special” he answered “What do the cards wish to tell me?”.
“The cards do not lead you – you lead the cards” she said with a
serious face. “I am here to guide you and to interpret their message”.
He pointed toward the card at the centre of the cross.
“The Queen of Cups”, she said, “A good start – the past explains the
present, which leads into the future”.
“What is it you mean?”.
“The house signifies past experience…Your past is the first path that
we shall explore”.
He rolled his eyes…”I know my past…what can the cards tell me
that I don’t already know?”.
She rolled her eyes…
”Pick another”.
He pointed toward a card closest to him, at the long extremity to the
cross…
“Ahhh”…she said, turning it over.
“Wha?”…
“Your family”…
“My family?”
Is there anything that you would like to explore about your past with
your family?”
“My family?”
“Ask the cards…pick another”.
He pointed toward another extremity of the crucifix form.
“Ah…the Mother…And another…”
He pointed toward another card.
She turned it over.
“And another” she said, nodding gently.
Her brow furrowed as she laid the selected cards before her. She sat
in contemplation, composing her thoughts as he sat nervously silent
across the table.
“What is it?”, he asked
“I see many unresolved matters in your past. They seem to revolve
around your family, in particular a mother figure”.
“I don’t know what you are talking about”, he said gently.
“These issues are causing a blockage to the flow of your destiny.
Without resolution, you will never achieve your potential”
“What type of issues? I’ve always had a happy family life…And my
mother is an absolute angel”
Her brow furrowed further as she collected the remainder of the
cards, dealing them out one by one in four even rows so that there
was a even square or cards before her.
“Please select a row”.
He pointed to the one to the left.
“Another conflict card…and the Ace of Cups…a destiny card,
turned upside down. Again the cards are telling me of your repression
due to conflict…”
She could feel a great sadness, causing a voice from inside to scream.
“Your mother needs you Daniel…She is lonely and without
direction…she needs you badly Daniel”
“I don’t know what you are talking about…I saw my mother this
morning. She and Father just returned from the Carribean. I’ve never
seen her healthier or happier!”
She felt tears welling in her eyes as he looked toward him.
“Stop this”, he said, “You’re getting ridiculous!”
She wiped a tear from her eye, then blew her nose – stuffing the
tissue into a sleeve.
“Okay…we’ll try something else.”
She handed him the cards.
“Please shuffle and cut the deck into two halves”
He laid two even halves on the table before him.
“Please turn over the top card and place it to your right…and the
next…and the next…and the next…”
She stooped over the table, examining the cards before returning to
her chair. She closed her eyes tightly.
“I’m sorry Daniel…I can’t continue”.
“What is it?”
“It’s your mother Daniel”
“This is ridiculous…I’ve told you before there is nothing wrong with
my mother!”
He rose from the chair, aggravated by her words. His face became
red and veins throbbed at his temples.
“You’re ridiculous”, he screamed,…”A complete sham…”
He rose to his feet, placing his face just inches from hers, he shouted
angrily…
”And she’s not even my real mother!…I’m adopted!…but I guess
you knew that, being psychic and all!…”
She sat silent within the chair, cupping her hands over her eyes.
“Just go” she said quietly. “Please just go…”
He walked hurriedly out of the room, slamming the door as he left.
“Bloody charlatan!”, were the last words he shouted before heading
out the door.
Her head rose slowly. Tears streamed down her face causing a
mudslide of dark mascara over her cheeks. She sat in solitary silence
sobbing…before returning to the shop where she stood breathing
deeply
“tee-ta-tuum”
she repeated to herself as she stood among the crystals…
”tee-ta-tuum”…
walking lightly about the shop, waving sticks of incense and chanting
cleansing incantations throughout the each room.
“tee-ta-tuum”…”tee-ta-tuum”
She lit a cigarette, reflecting upon her day thus far. “I wonder
whether I could find her” she said, reflecting upon Daniel and his
Mother. She felt a concern for Daniel that she couldn’t quite
explain…that seemed to diminish with each sip of tea and each drag
on her cigarette…
“Reunions…Revelations…Bloody Tony Peters” she said reflectively
as she opened the Tribune…”Bloody Tony Peters…”, throwing it
neatly into the waste basket.

Above in heaven, Destiny and Fate looked down from above -
bemused at Fate’s the workings for the day…”Another one that you
win” said Destiny, handing over a sack of gold Doubloon’s to Fate
who pocketed them silently…“I was sure she’d recognise him as the
son she’d given up for adoption…25 years ago today!”

06/26/2003

Author's Note: A first draft that will no doubt change with time...most of the second half of the story was written in about 40 minutes so I'm thinking that it's going to need some tidying up...A big thank you to Alex Smyth for her invaluable encouragement and feedback throughout the creation of this tale :)

Posted on 06/26/2003
Copyright © 2024 Graeme Fielden