favoritebean_writes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
favoritebean_writes) wrote2018-11-01 01:48 am
favoritebean_writes) wrote2018-11-01 01:48 am
Fortune at the Maple County Faire
It happened at the Maple County Faire, a chance meeting. Calliope, with her best friend Myrna, and her little sister, Cassandra, stopped in front of a peculiar tent. Maple County was not a well-populated county, and certainly, no fortune tellers dared to offer their services in such a Christian region. And yet, one purple and gold spangled tent stood in front of the trio of young ladies.
“Oh, it will make Aunt Marnie so angry if we go, so let’s pay this one a visit,” said Calliope.
“I like Aunt Marnie, and if she gets angry, she’ll feed us liver and brussels sprouts for dinner for the next fortnight! I don’t want to go,” Cassandra tucked her chin and crossed her arms. “You can’t make me go!”
“No one is making you do anything, Sandra. You can stay out here if you like,” Myrna said. “I want to go, I’ve heard tale that fortune tellers can advise on how to win at love.”
“Well, Jesus doesn’t believe in fortune tellers, so neither do I,” sniffed Cassandra.
“One visit won’t do us any harm. I am certain it’s a sham of a business, but I can’t help for being curious,” Calliope smiled. “Besides, it’s fun to make believe that someone could see our futures.”
“Fine!” Cassandra uncrossed her arms and stomped to the entrance of the tent. “Let’s get this over with. I hope you enjoy liver for the next week. You get my sprouts.”
Together, the three lifted the flap to the tent. They were greeted with strange smells, and candlelight.
“Good afternoon,” a voice soothed from the left corner.
Calliope, Myrna and Cassandra jumped at the voice.
“Didn’t mean to startle you, dears,” the voice soothed. “You enter my pavilion with curiosity, and perhaps a little disdain for the art of divination. I can assure you, however, that the God you worship every Sunday gifts us with the ability see your future in the heavens. We simply ask for a small donation.”
Myrna glanced down at her purse. She had three dollars, some of which was dedicated to a quilt vendor in the main part of the Faire.
“I sense your doubt. Your donations are not to be of coin, of course. I have no use for dollar certificates or the like.” The voice drew nearer, and with it, a small young woman emerged from the corner of the tent. She wore a white dress that had faded some.
“It’s the jilted bride from Dickens!” Cassandra said abruptly. “Miss Hav-“
“Stop your nonsense, Sandra!” Calliope admonished. Turning to the young woman, Calliope bowed her head. “Please forgive my sister. She was raised by wolves, apparently.”
The young woman smiled. “I am no bride, I am only fourteen. This is my old communion dress; I wear it when I work at faires. My name is Lauren, and my mother makes me wear this. It’s a family business, really. Working at the mills, I am certain you would not understand.”
“How did you know we worked in the-“ Myrna asked.
“I don’t,” said Cassandra, “I am still a student.”
“You are fortunate then, you are near eleven? Most your age have gone to work by now.”
Cassandra’s mouth fell open. “I am eleven exactly,” she said.
Lauren smiled. She stepped behind a table and sat on a red cushion.
“Your readings require a small donation, just as I said. Will you give it freely?”
Cassandra, Calliope and Myrna nodded.
“Very good. Please be seated.”
When the trio had seated themselves, a rush of air blew from behind Lauren, who waved her hands toward the roof of the tent. All but one candle extinguished its flame.
“Cool parlor trick!” Myrna mused.
“I ask for your complete silence as I attempt to gaze upon the stars,” Lauren said in a stern voice, “Seeking counsel from the Heavens above requires absolute concentration.”
The air grew still, and heavy with the scent of incense. Lavender and rose mingled with sage, which was bunched together and burning on a brass plate. Lauren took the bunch and raised it with her right hand. She created arcs from left to right, then she circled a ball which sat on a little blue cushion. The ball was clear and unblemished.
Calliope had never gazed upon a crystal ball before, and perhaps her imagination ran wild from the motion pictures she had watched at the movie house, but she always imagined that a crystal ball would be hollow like a snow globe, filled with cloudy swirling smoke. She did not expect a solid glass finial of sorts. But the fortune teller named Lauren had replaced her bundle of burning sage, rose and lavender, and she stared intently into the bauble.
Lauren’s eyes magnified in a way that made her face look like a fish in the crystal ball. She pursed her lips repeatedly, which made her look like something from an aquarium. Myrna stifled a giggle, to which Calliope elbowed Myrna in reply.
After another minute of silence, Lauren closed her eyes. “Ahh, I see now.”
The three young ladies held their breaths.
“The harvest season goes well, and your work is industrious until the day of darkness. After that day, we are all doomed.”
“What?” gasped Calliope.
“I came here for a love fortune, what do you mean we are doomed?” shouted Myrna. She stood.
Cassandra tugged at Myrna’s arm. “Sit down, Myrn! Please!”
“This is worse than I thought,” Lauren said. She stood, and ran out of the back of the tent.
“Ma! Ma!” they could hear Lauren calling in the distance. There was a commotion, followed by a flapping of the tent left open. Another woman entered, followed by Lauren, who closed the flaps behind her.
“Ma, I don’t know why it told me that,” Lauren protested.
“Hush girl, you don’t want to scare the customers. We need to keep food on the table!”
Without so much a glance toward the three young ladies seated, the older woman gazed into the crystal ball. After a brief pause, she mumbled what sounded like, “I see…”
“What do you see, Madame?” Calliope asked softly.
“I do apologize,” the woman began. “Sometimes, the veil between the worlds of what could be and what is cross. My daughter saw two pictures. It seems that in another realm, the United States of America is on the precipice of a great financial recession. One that will last beyond a decade. It ends only when many countries enter a great war. But that is not our world. Sometimes, we catch a glimpse. Ghosts from the other realms.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Cassandra stood, angry. “Jesus doesn’t believe in other worlds, and neither should you! I’m leaving!” She stomped out of the tent.
Calliope gave an exasperated sigh. “Should I follow her?”
The woman shook her head. “If you do, I cannot refund your donation. Your reading will not take long.”
Myrna smiled, “Let Sandra go kick rocks on her own. She’ll be fine! I want to hear about this other world! The idea of another you and me sounds absolutely fascinating!”
“I am afraid that world has disappeared from my view. It was grim, very grey. Mass migrations to California, this place becomes desolate for many years. Migrants from here gain the nickname “Okie,” and it ain’t pretty. California becomes the Camino Real of disappointment to many. You don’t marry, you starve. The boy you fancy? He heads east to work in the coal mines. Dies from black lung. It is treacherous. All before the great war. You do not want to see!
“The second sight shows many possibilities and times. This- where you sit- is the best of all times. Alas, you do not marry the boy you fancy. He fancies another, and nothing you do will deter that. Love is funny that way.”
“Aww, that isn’t fair! Do I find love then?”
“When you are ready, and when you least expect it. Do not go looking for it, lest it will find you naught but heartache!”
“What about Calliope? What is her future like?”
“Young lady, is your future what you wish to know?” The woman turned toward Calliope. Her eyes azure eyes seemed to pierce Calliope’s.
“I actually had not given this much thought. I guess I want to see my future? I just wanted to see the inside of the tent, and what a fortune teller did beyond the flaps at a faire. I wanted to gaze into a crystal ball, they look spooky in motion pictures, but this one does not.”
“You seem undecided on whether your current life is what you wish for. If you stay the course, you will work several years at the mill before deciding whether to marry or remain a spinster. Yet you remain listless in this course of life. You worship God dutifully, but dispassionately. You seem to desire something else.”
“How did you know?” Calliope asked. “I am content with life, but not terribly excited about it. I don’t know if I want to marry, nor do I care. I mean, I have my dowry chest, but doesn’t every girl my age? Is the ‘me’ glimpsed in the other realm this indecisive?”
“Ahh, no,” the woman said with a smile.
“Ma!” Lauren protested. “Do you truly wish to tell her?”
“It won’t hurt, it is not our realm, child.”
“Tell me what?”
“In the ghost realm, you perish at the hands of polio three months from now, which there is no cure.”
“No cure? But we’ve had a vaccine since 1923!” Calliope protested. “I was vaccinated six years ago in Bray City.”
“In this realm, yes. But in the realms of ghosts, perhaps a vaccine does not yet exist. I do not know. I was only given a glimpse.”
“Ma, I thought we weren’t allowed to tell about other realms,” Lauren interrupted.
“Fascinating,” Calliope said. “I feel as though I should do something with my life. I’m wasting it in the mill.”
“It is not for me to say, but I do believe that you will not regret the decision you plan to make,” was all that the woman said.
Calliope stood.
“Thank you! This is the answer I’ve been searching for!” She left the tent.
Myrna looked to the woman and then her daughter, then back to the woman.
“Our payment? Donation?” Myrna asked softly.
“Already taken,” the woman said, “You may go.”
“I didn’t give you anything?” Myrna furrowed her brow. “Really, I still have three dollars in my purse.”
The woman and her daughter merely smiled. “You have fed us our dinner.”
“I do beg your pardon?” Myrna said, backing slowly out of the tent.
As the flap descended, the woman turned to survey her daughter.
“You have done well, my child. The emotions from these young ladies have quenched my appetite for a solid week. It’s amazing how fear and curiosity of the unknown can quench the psychic stomach.”
“Why did you frighten them with talk about the ghosts from other realms though, Ma? I thought we weren't supposed to divine the truth like that.”
“Why?” the woman gently massaged her bulging belly. “Because Baby’s gotta eat too.”
“Oh, it will make Aunt Marnie so angry if we go, so let’s pay this one a visit,” said Calliope.
“I like Aunt Marnie, and if she gets angry, she’ll feed us liver and brussels sprouts for dinner for the next fortnight! I don’t want to go,” Cassandra tucked her chin and crossed her arms. “You can’t make me go!”
“No one is making you do anything, Sandra. You can stay out here if you like,” Myrna said. “I want to go, I’ve heard tale that fortune tellers can advise on how to win at love.”
“Well, Jesus doesn’t believe in fortune tellers, so neither do I,” sniffed Cassandra.
“One visit won’t do us any harm. I am certain it’s a sham of a business, but I can’t help for being curious,” Calliope smiled. “Besides, it’s fun to make believe that someone could see our futures.”
“Fine!” Cassandra uncrossed her arms and stomped to the entrance of the tent. “Let’s get this over with. I hope you enjoy liver for the next week. You get my sprouts.”
Together, the three lifted the flap to the tent. They were greeted with strange smells, and candlelight.
“Good afternoon,” a voice soothed from the left corner.
Calliope, Myrna and Cassandra jumped at the voice.
“Didn’t mean to startle you, dears,” the voice soothed. “You enter my pavilion with curiosity, and perhaps a little disdain for the art of divination. I can assure you, however, that the God you worship every Sunday gifts us with the ability see your future in the heavens. We simply ask for a small donation.”
Myrna glanced down at her purse. She had three dollars, some of which was dedicated to a quilt vendor in the main part of the Faire.
“I sense your doubt. Your donations are not to be of coin, of course. I have no use for dollar certificates or the like.” The voice drew nearer, and with it, a small young woman emerged from the corner of the tent. She wore a white dress that had faded some.
“It’s the jilted bride from Dickens!” Cassandra said abruptly. “Miss Hav-“
“Stop your nonsense, Sandra!” Calliope admonished. Turning to the young woman, Calliope bowed her head. “Please forgive my sister. She was raised by wolves, apparently.”
The young woman smiled. “I am no bride, I am only fourteen. This is my old communion dress; I wear it when I work at faires. My name is Lauren, and my mother makes me wear this. It’s a family business, really. Working at the mills, I am certain you would not understand.”
“How did you know we worked in the-“ Myrna asked.
“I don’t,” said Cassandra, “I am still a student.”
“You are fortunate then, you are near eleven? Most your age have gone to work by now.”
Cassandra’s mouth fell open. “I am eleven exactly,” she said.
Lauren smiled. She stepped behind a table and sat on a red cushion.
“Your readings require a small donation, just as I said. Will you give it freely?”
Cassandra, Calliope and Myrna nodded.
“Very good. Please be seated.”
When the trio had seated themselves, a rush of air blew from behind Lauren, who waved her hands toward the roof of the tent. All but one candle extinguished its flame.
“Cool parlor trick!” Myrna mused.
“I ask for your complete silence as I attempt to gaze upon the stars,” Lauren said in a stern voice, “Seeking counsel from the Heavens above requires absolute concentration.”
The air grew still, and heavy with the scent of incense. Lavender and rose mingled with sage, which was bunched together and burning on a brass plate. Lauren took the bunch and raised it with her right hand. She created arcs from left to right, then she circled a ball which sat on a little blue cushion. The ball was clear and unblemished.
Calliope had never gazed upon a crystal ball before, and perhaps her imagination ran wild from the motion pictures she had watched at the movie house, but she always imagined that a crystal ball would be hollow like a snow globe, filled with cloudy swirling smoke. She did not expect a solid glass finial of sorts. But the fortune teller named Lauren had replaced her bundle of burning sage, rose and lavender, and she stared intently into the bauble.
Lauren’s eyes magnified in a way that made her face look like a fish in the crystal ball. She pursed her lips repeatedly, which made her look like something from an aquarium. Myrna stifled a giggle, to which Calliope elbowed Myrna in reply.
After another minute of silence, Lauren closed her eyes. “Ahh, I see now.”
The three young ladies held their breaths.
“The harvest season goes well, and your work is industrious until the day of darkness. After that day, we are all doomed.”
“What?” gasped Calliope.
“I came here for a love fortune, what do you mean we are doomed?” shouted Myrna. She stood.
Cassandra tugged at Myrna’s arm. “Sit down, Myrn! Please!”
“This is worse than I thought,” Lauren said. She stood, and ran out of the back of the tent.
“Ma! Ma!” they could hear Lauren calling in the distance. There was a commotion, followed by a flapping of the tent left open. Another woman entered, followed by Lauren, who closed the flaps behind her.
“Ma, I don’t know why it told me that,” Lauren protested.
“Hush girl, you don’t want to scare the customers. We need to keep food on the table!”
Without so much a glance toward the three young ladies seated, the older woman gazed into the crystal ball. After a brief pause, she mumbled what sounded like, “I see…”
“What do you see, Madame?” Calliope asked softly.
“I do apologize,” the woman began. “Sometimes, the veil between the worlds of what could be and what is cross. My daughter saw two pictures. It seems that in another realm, the United States of America is on the precipice of a great financial recession. One that will last beyond a decade. It ends only when many countries enter a great war. But that is not our world. Sometimes, we catch a glimpse. Ghosts from the other realms.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Cassandra stood, angry. “Jesus doesn’t believe in other worlds, and neither should you! I’m leaving!” She stomped out of the tent.
Calliope gave an exasperated sigh. “Should I follow her?”
The woman shook her head. “If you do, I cannot refund your donation. Your reading will not take long.”
Myrna smiled, “Let Sandra go kick rocks on her own. She’ll be fine! I want to hear about this other world! The idea of another you and me sounds absolutely fascinating!”
“I am afraid that world has disappeared from my view. It was grim, very grey. Mass migrations to California, this place becomes desolate for many years. Migrants from here gain the nickname “Okie,” and it ain’t pretty. California becomes the Camino Real of disappointment to many. You don’t marry, you starve. The boy you fancy? He heads east to work in the coal mines. Dies from black lung. It is treacherous. All before the great war. You do not want to see!
“The second sight shows many possibilities and times. This- where you sit- is the best of all times. Alas, you do not marry the boy you fancy. He fancies another, and nothing you do will deter that. Love is funny that way.”
“Aww, that isn’t fair! Do I find love then?”
“When you are ready, and when you least expect it. Do not go looking for it, lest it will find you naught but heartache!”
“What about Calliope? What is her future like?”
“Young lady, is your future what you wish to know?” The woman turned toward Calliope. Her eyes azure eyes seemed to pierce Calliope’s.
“I actually had not given this much thought. I guess I want to see my future? I just wanted to see the inside of the tent, and what a fortune teller did beyond the flaps at a faire. I wanted to gaze into a crystal ball, they look spooky in motion pictures, but this one does not.”
“You seem undecided on whether your current life is what you wish for. If you stay the course, you will work several years at the mill before deciding whether to marry or remain a spinster. Yet you remain listless in this course of life. You worship God dutifully, but dispassionately. You seem to desire something else.”
“How did you know?” Calliope asked. “I am content with life, but not terribly excited about it. I don’t know if I want to marry, nor do I care. I mean, I have my dowry chest, but doesn’t every girl my age? Is the ‘me’ glimpsed in the other realm this indecisive?”
“Ahh, no,” the woman said with a smile.
“Ma!” Lauren protested. “Do you truly wish to tell her?”
“It won’t hurt, it is not our realm, child.”
“Tell me what?”
“In the ghost realm, you perish at the hands of polio three months from now, which there is no cure.”
“No cure? But we’ve had a vaccine since 1923!” Calliope protested. “I was vaccinated six years ago in Bray City.”
“In this realm, yes. But in the realms of ghosts, perhaps a vaccine does not yet exist. I do not know. I was only given a glimpse.”
“Ma, I thought we weren’t allowed to tell about other realms,” Lauren interrupted.
“Fascinating,” Calliope said. “I feel as though I should do something with my life. I’m wasting it in the mill.”
“It is not for me to say, but I do believe that you will not regret the decision you plan to make,” was all that the woman said.
Calliope stood.
“Thank you! This is the answer I’ve been searching for!” She left the tent.
Myrna looked to the woman and then her daughter, then back to the woman.
“Our payment? Donation?” Myrna asked softly.
“Already taken,” the woman said, “You may go.”
“I didn’t give you anything?” Myrna furrowed her brow. “Really, I still have three dollars in my purse.”
The woman and her daughter merely smiled. “You have fed us our dinner.”
“I do beg your pardon?” Myrna said, backing slowly out of the tent.
As the flap descended, the woman turned to survey her daughter.
“You have done well, my child. The emotions from these young ladies have quenched my appetite for a solid week. It’s amazing how fear and curiosity of the unknown can quench the psychic stomach.”
“Why did you frighten them with talk about the ghosts from other realms though, Ma? I thought we weren't supposed to divine the truth like that.”
“Why?” the woman gently massaged her bulging belly. “Because Baby’s gotta eat too.”
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I can well imagine how unbelievably horrific the Depression followed by the dust bowl migration would seem if you had no idea such a thing were even possible. An alternate realm for some, a true future for others. :O
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And yes-- I save things and reuse what I can until it is truly dead. Which is probably a good thing, TBH!
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Well done!
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She might also have been like me when she was younger.
Thank you for your feedback!
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I have always been intrigued by the alternate realm and the plane beyond death.
You have captured period data and the settings so well.
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