A fictional piece
By Disa Wylde
The wind howled outside and Virginia could hear the hollow sound of the wooden wind chimes as they careened into each other just outside the living room window. Devic walked out of the bedroom rubbing his eyes. “What are you still doing up at this hour?” He asked. “Come to bed, Gin.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” she said, without even glancing up from the computer screen.
“Are you on that stupid computer again?” he growled.
Virginia looked up at him and sighed. She was so tired of trying to make up excuses as to what she was doing on the computer, but she knew if she told him the truth, he would never approve. “I’m doing research for another story,” she said, “I’ll be there in a minute.”
He walked past her and headed towards the kitchen. He fumbled in the cabinets for a glass and then she heard the water running in the sink. He shook some aspirin out of the bottle. “Come to bed, Gin, please?” He said as he bent down to kiss her and walked back towards the bedroom.
She closed the laptop and stared at the light from the flickering candle on the table beside her. She watched as images danced in the flames. She knew she had to tell him.
His reaction could make or break their relationship, but she had to be true to herself no matter what the consequences.
She picked up the candleholder and took it with her. She opened the bedroom door to find him lying in bed watching television. She switched it off and put the candle on the nightstand. “We need to talk,” she said.
“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.” He sat up and leaned against the pillows.
“Well, that depends on you, and how you react to what I need to tell you.”
“What is it, Gin? You know you can tell me anything.”
She looked into his eyes comforted by the warmth that emanated from them. She wanted desperately to believe him. She took a deep breath, “Dev, I’m a tarot reader!” she blurted out.
“A what?” he asked as a smirk spread across his face. He began to laugh. “Are you kidding me? You don’t really believe in that tarot crap do you?”
Virginia’s eyes filled with tears. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you,” she whispered. She got off of the bed, stuffed a pillow under her arm, and walked towards the door to the living room dragging a blanket behind her.
“Wait! Gin!” he got up and reached for her arm, but she kept walking. She curled up on the sofa in the living room with the blanket and pillow. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Devic was right behind her. He sat down on the sofa, “Gin, Gin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just don’t believe all that nonsense.” He wiped the tears off her face and pushed back her curly black hair.
She searched his eyes longing to find the familiar spark of love in them. The gold flecks radiated in warmth from the center of his hazel colored eyes and she sensed there was still love there. “Well, maybe you don’t believe in it, but I do. It’s important to me. I was afraid if I told you, you wouldn’t love me anymore,” she cried.
“Gin, there is nothing you could tell me about yourself to make me stop loving you.”
The next day, Devic went to work. Virginia had a client scheduled for 2:00. He may still love her, but he obviously didn’t respect what she did. She spent the morning online gathering love, support and encouragement from her friends on the tarot forum. It seemed she wasn’t the only one with these issues. Others came to her aid recounting their experiences with friends, family, and lovers who did not accept them due to their passion for tarot. They poured out their souls as they shared heartbreaking stories of losing those they loved due to their silly preconceived notions of what they thought the tarot is. At least Devic didn’t freak out and start accusing her of the participating in the ‘black arts’ or the dangers of demonic possession. His reaction could have been a lot worse, she concluded. After a cup of hot tea and honey and the help of her online community, she felt ready to meet her client.
Sally was a kind lady Virginia had met with only a few times before. She came initially for a reading a couple of years ago and was a bit skeptical. When she called back to make a second appointment, Virginia was a bit surprised. Sally was the type of person who only came when there was a crisis in her life, so Virginia wanted to be prepared. She put on a fresh kettle of water to boil. The doorbell rang at precisely 2:00. Virginia went to the door to find Sally standing before her wringing her hands and looking over her shoulder. Her face was pallid and gaunt. The teakettle whistled.
“Hello, Sally won’t you come in?” Virginia asked as she motioned with her arm towards the dining room. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
Sally took her place at the table, “Yes, thank you.” Virginia poured their tea and passed the honey to Sally. Sally stirred her tea and then picked up the cards and began shuffling. She always said she preferred to shuffle them herself so she could feel a part of the process, but Virginia suspected this was also her way of making sure there was nothing funny going on with the cards. Sally was still a bit skeptical. She would never come right out and ask a question about what was on her mind, but instead relied entirely on her belief that if Virginia was a good tarot reader, she’d know what was on her mind without her having to say it.
She finished shuffling and fanned the cards out on the table. She picked nine at random and passed them one at a time to Virginia to lay out as she saw fit. Virginia told Sally that she felt she was worried about her sister’s health and that she’d been up for nights on end racked with despair. She told her that although she felt her sister would be okay, it was necessary that Sally get her to a doctor so that the illness could be dealt with early. In addition, it was necessary for Sally to take care of herself and to take action rather than causing herself undue stress by worrying. She told her not to worry about her sister’s husband reacting negatively because he would not see her as interfering but would actually be grateful that she had intervened and taken the initiative to convince his wife to go to the doctor.
After the reading, Sally was in tears. She finished another cup of tea and headed toward the door with a fist full of tissues. Virginia walked her to the door and as she opened it to see Sally out, Sally suddenly turned to her with tears in her eyes and hugged her. She held on tightly to Virginia and said, “I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have found you, Virginia. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you. You have truly given me words of wisdom and comforted me time and time again. I always leave feeling empowered and better able to cope with the obstacles in my life. You are truly a treasure and I cannot thank you enough.”
Stunned at the transformation that had come over Sally, Virginia could barely get the words out, “I’m so glad that I’ve helped you in some way, Sally. Thank you for your kind words.”
“I’ll see you again,” Sally called as she walked off down the corridor of the apartment building. Virginia couldn’t help but watch her go in amazement.
As she began to close the door, Devic appeared from around the corner. “What are you doing home at this time of day, Dev?”
“I forgot a report that I need for work and I came home to get it,” he said.
“How long were you standing there?” She asked.
“Long enough to see the value in what a tarot reader can do for others.”
The End