Chapter 1: The Fortune Teller

There he is again. The man with the shaggy brown hair that sticks out like a bale of hay, the white skin colour, the faded jeans and wrinkled white shirt, and the black blindfold he never takes off.

I was sitting at the park with my friends after out last University lesson, drinking a hot chocolate and barely hearing my friends’ chatter. I watched him take the hand of a new customer – no, client – and tie a blindfold similar to his own around their eyes. He would then put his hand on the covered eyes and speak soon after.

He worked completely for free, which prompted me to go and ask him to reveal my future, but I was never one to believe in fortune telling.

“I need to try that guy out!” Jamie, my best friend said, tapping her hands on the wooden bench. I looked at her as she did the same. “You should too.”

I snorted and rose. “Only to prove him wrong.”

“Oh come on, Lilly!” I glared at Jamie for making me do it. Sighing, I walked forward.

“Hallo?” he asked, hearing us draw nearer.

“Hey. My friends would like to try…” I gestured to Jamie who had disappeared. They had set me up!

“I mean, I wanted to try…”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I was sure he could see the confusion in my face when he said, “You do not believe me, do you?”

“No.”

“Well then, I shall prove you wrong.” It’s funny, but weren’t those my intentions? I sat in front of him on the tree stump. He rose to his knees and…time seemed to stop. His hand moved slowly to me and covered my eyes. His hand smelt of honey and lemon. Lights flashed as I screwed my eyes shut. Slowly, words formed in my mind.

“Lillian Dales. Twenty-two years old. University student studying Medicine. Home town, Malibu.” It was like he had read the words in my head.

I sucked in a breath of air and waited.

“Is it true?”

“Yes.”

He removed his hand and I opened my eyes. “How did you do that?”

“Any eye can tell a story, you know.”

--

“Are you OK, Lilly?” my roommate Todd asked, spearing his fish fillet.

“Yeah…” I became aware of the fact that I had been staring at the bottle of wine for a long time.

“Did that fortune teller tell you anything?”

“No.”

I had to find him…he needed to show me how far into a story he could go…

--

He arrived at the park five minutes after I did. He was settling down when I approached.

“Come for more, Lillian?”

“How did you know it was me?”

“Each person has a different step and pace, you see.”

“I want you to see if you can find out more about me.”