Muddy Waters

Back in the Fire

Chapter 6

“Well, how was it?,” Lorraine asked as Rhyan came back through the curtain.

“It was… I don’t know. But I feel weird. I think that there is a lot of truth behind the reading because she talked about my past a lot, and it reminded me of my battle with addiction. But as far as what’s to come, it almost scared me. I don’t know how to take it all. I think I need time to process it all. Get yours done and let’s see how that goes,” Rhyan said, stepping to the side to allow room for Lorraine to go back.

“Okay,” Lorraine agreed before stepping back behind the curtain. She walked into the candle lit room and took in all of her surroundings. She thought about how beautiful it was to have a dark room lit up with only candles. The mood that it set was unreal. She loved it. She felt at home.

“Hello, miss. What should I call you?,” the woman asked as Lorraine entered the room.

“My name is Lorraine,” she responded, holding out her hand to greet her, still standing. Lorraine was raised with manners and taught to be respectful to everyone.

“Ah, Raine. A beautiful name to match the face, l’elu,” she said, smiling, exposing her paper white teeth. “You can call me Despoina,” she added. Lorraine had no clue what l’elu meant, she had never heard that before.

“Thank you, Madame Despoina,” she responded.

“Soeur de lune, please call me Despoina,” she insisted. She motioned for Lorraine to sit down and stared at her for a moment.

“Is it French you’re speaking?,” Lorraine asked, noticing the flow of some of the words she was using.

“Yes, l’elu. It is,” she responded with a sly smile. “What kind of reading would you like today,” she asked.

“Let's go with a career-based reading. I'd like to know if my writing career will go in the direction I hope for it to,” she said, as her job was the most important aspect of her life. She worked so hard to get where she was, it only made sense to want clarification that the efforts would pay off in the future.

“We will do a career reading for you, soeur de lune,” Despoina responded. She cut the deck of cards and held up half of them. “Choose three and lay them down on the table in the order you pull them,” she said.

Lorraine did as the woman said and chose three cards from the deck after skimming over them slowly with her hand. She liked to believe that she could feel something from them, but didn't think there was any feeling radiating from them at all. Until she reached a card toward the end of the deck. It almost felt warm. The energy it was putting out was undeniable. She chose the card and laid it down. She skimmed back over them and found another that felt warm and chose it. Lorraine thought it was all in her head until she skimmed back through them and found that, yet another card was warm, but she wasn't touching it. She just had her hand hovering over it. Nonetheless, she chose the card and laid it down on the table.

Madame Despoina turned over the cards, exposing the front of them. The first one was “The Hermit”, but it was upside down, the second was “The Hanged Man”, and the third was “The Magician”.

“Soeur de lune,” she said, “Your reading is a message of more than your career. Are you ready to hear what the cards have to say?,” she asked. Lorraine nodded her head yes. “What I mean to ask is, are you ready to listen?,” she rephrased.

“Yes, Despoina. I'm listening,” Lorraine responded, looking up at her.

“The cards say you have lived a lonely, unfulfilled life. You were lost in many ways. You found purpose in your career. You found a way to make yourself feel worthy through your work. But you still had a longing for something more. You have always known that there is more to life than this. But now you have a decision to make, maybe not something that has shown its face yet. But it will soon. You will have to sacrifice great things to become who you are meant to be. You will learn that with the power of the elements, you will find your full potential. You will find great meaning behind the words “as above so below”. You will discover that the mind and the world are but reflections of one another. Remember that you are powerful. You must create your inner world, and the outer will follow. There will be a time to take action. Do not hesitate,” she said as she scooped up the cards and began shuffling them again.

“ I have to sacrifice great things? Like my job,” Lorraine questioned. The words confused her. She couldn't make sense of them. She tried to understand what the cards were trying to tell her. Were they truthful? Or was it all part of some parlor trick?

“Your questions will soon be answered, l'elu. You will be back to see me,” she said, putting the cards off to the side.

“I will come back for another reading?,” Lorraine asked. How would she possibly know if Lorraine would choose to return?

“We will cross paths again, Raine. Until next time,” she said as she waved her hand toward the curtain, motioning her out.

“Thank you, Despoina,” Lorraine said, standing up and scooting her chair back. She turned and walked through the curtain and went back out to the shop.