• I was a normal teenager. Wow was I lucky. I had no idea. I wanted more interesting things in my life. I had no idea. Then one day I went to the local Renaissance fair. There was a fortune teller there. My mom says they’re all frauds and that I’m not allowed to encourage them. But somehow they’ve always fascinated me. During the fair I snuck away from my mom and went to the fortune teller’s tent. There was a woman in a red dress, like a witch with very bad taste would wear. She was sitting behind a table on which was a crystal ball, some tarot cards, a candle, and some bangles, beads and shiny things I couldn’t quite understand. They seemed to deflect my eyes off them so I couldn’t look at them for more than a second.
    “What kind of reading do you want, dear?” the fortune teller asked. From the huge banner behind her I could see that her name was apparently Madame Annelia.
    “Um,” I scanned my mind fast, not wanting to seem like I didn’t know anything about this. “Can you do crystal ball seeing for me please?”
    “Of course, dear. Have a seat.” She motioned my towards a large, red velvet armchair. “Now, just put your hands in mine.”
    She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. She had stopped blinking and her eyes looked clouded, like she was daydreaming. She gazed into the crystal ball.
    “A change. Something you’ve been… hoping for. But not in the way you expect it. And danger. Danger in a man. And a woman. An ally. Someone you do not know. Blackness. The blackness of insanity and the unknown. Closing closing…EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” She suddenly began screaming. I rushed to her chair and began shaking her.
    “Madame Annelia, are you okay?” She slowly stirred.
    “What? I’m sorry, dear. Did I faint? I have a heart condition, don’t worry about it. Would you like that fortune now?”
    “But you already told my fortune.” I said uncertainly.
    “Did I? Yes I guess I must have. Well dear that will be $5.”
    I handed her the money and pushed my way out through the satin sides of the tent back into the sun.
    Hmm, I wonder if she was really telling the future. What a creepy fortune. The blackness of insanity and the unknown… I wonder…
    At this point I would like to say it was a dark and stormy day and that I spent the rest of the day brooding. However, the day was unsatisfactorily sunny and warm and I didn’t really think about it again until I got to the book-binder’s building. They were a big thing, so they had their own semi-permanent building. I walked in and strolled around until I came to I shelf of novelty items like tiny notebooks and marbled paper lanterns. On the shelf was a book. But it was unlike anything I’d ever seen. That was because instead of being bound on one side so that you could open it like most books are, it was bound on both sides. It fascinated me. I walked up to the book seller and asked,
    “How much is this book?” I was hoping it wasn’t a lot because I only had $12 and some change left.
    “Honestly I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”
    “Will you take $10 for it?” I asked hopefully
    “Sure. You do know it can’t be opened right?”
    “That’s why I want it.” I handed him the money. “Thank you.”
    As I walked away I looked at the book, rubbing my fingers up and down one of the spines. I knew my brother would say it was a stupid thing to buy, but I didn’t care. It had called to me. Like the fortune teller’s tent. I can’t believe I didn’t see the connection at the time.