My 21st Birthday
Story
My friend Sarah loved putting me in uncomfortable situations. And on my 21st birthday, she arranged for me to go to a psychic to get a reading. I was nervous because my religious mother always warned me about psychics, saying, “Don’t open yourself up to demonic teachings and sorcery.” So I never went, but Sarah was persistent and stubborn, and I thought, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
We walked inside the small building tucked between a bookstore and a coffee shop. There was a dimly lit waiting room which smelled of incense and candle wax, and there we sat, waiting for “Giovanna,” the psychic.
Then I heard her call to me from the back room,
“Stephanie, I am ready for you now.”
Her voice was raspy and matured, more calming than Sarah’s bubbly tone. I walked through the tasselled doorway and sat across from Giovanna.
She smiled and asked what I’d like to know.
“Umm, will I have a good birthday?”
“An amateurish question to say the least. Don’t you want to dig deeper – know more? You can ask me anything, who you’ll marry, your children-”
“When will I die?”
The words slipped from my lips before I knew they’d been said.
Giovanna’s eyes rolled back in her head.
“7,665 days from the day you were born.”
“How will I die?”
Her eyes rolled back again.
“I can’t tell you that,” she looked flustered. “You need to leave… NOW.”
I was startled and frightened by her reaction. She didn’t even ask for payment so I walked out and started doing the math. 7,665 days is 21 years.
When I stepped outside, I saw that Sarah was in the coffee shop waiting for me. She’d ordered me a coffee already so I sat down and told her what happened. She turned pale and said she needed to use the restroom. Everything felt wrong, and I knew something was off about Sarah but I didn’t know why. And she had never bought me coffee before. I didn’t even know how she knew I liked cortados. None of it was adding up so I decided to get some air, and that’s when I saw Sarah standing outside of Giovanna’s like she was still waiting for me to come out.
That’s when I realized I never left the building.
Thank you for reading.
This is my response to the Pier 21 Prompt: Birthday.
