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The client shuffled the pack of Tarot cards very thoroughly and handed it to the fortune teller, who spread the deck face down all over the table. She mixed the cards all around and invited the client to help her. Now she explained that she had a special sight. She could see through the cards – she knew whether each one was from the Major or the Minor Arcana, even though they were face down and all mixed up. To prove her statement, the fortune teller asked the client to merely point to one of the face-down cards on the table and she would name it along with his fate.

“Just one?” he asked.

“I only need one to know everything about you,” she answered, confidently with a smile that no bullet could pierce.

The client did not smile in return, but promptly pointed to the card at the very centre of the table. “That one,” he said.

The fortune teller looked at the card he was pointing at and stopped smiling. Needless to say, the client immediately asked her what his card was – what was his fate? She answered in a low voice, “Death.”

“Are you sure,” he asked, “that you have not made a mistake?”

“I’m always correct,” she replied in a huff, “I never make mistakes. In fact, I’d stake my reputation and life on it.”

“So be it. I shall take your word on that,” said the client before reaching for his card and flipping it over. The grim jester’s face looked up at the fortune teller, mocking her: It was not Death, but The Fool instead.

“This is not possible! What happened?”

“You may tell fortunes, wise woman, but I am a gifted player of cards in my own right. My fate is in my own hands, as is yours now. I shall come collect in three days, good lady. Fare well till then.”

He left the tent before she could stop him, and of course, when she looked outside, there was no one in sight. She muttered to herself that it was a card trick. Replacing Death with The Fool. Never would she do readings with card sharks again. However, checking the rest of the cards proved he wasn’t joking. The Fool still held court at the centre of the table, but flipping over all other cards herself, she saw the same skeleton grin.

Death.

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~ * ~

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Current Mood: Low-key.
Current Music:

• D’Angelo – Devil’s Pie
• Erykah Badu – 4 Leaf Clover
• Cree Summer – Deliciously Down

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Credits: Tarot cards from the Tarot in de Herstelde Orde. Design by Kenny Mah.