Epilogue
Carriers of the Deck
Major & Minor
Epilogue
Emaleigh and her family were out today for Emaleigh’s 5th birthday, they were out at a farmers market that was being held at the edge of town.
The family of 4 looked on the mini rows of stands. Emaleigh’s eyes light up at everything around. “Look Mama! What’s that?” Emaleigh asks, pointing towards a pop-up tent tat is purple with beaded curtains at the door. It has a sign at front with the words ‘The Traveling Mystic’.
“That’s a Mystic readers tent, Ema, a mystic is like someone who tells someone future.” Emaleigh’s mother, Jayne, replies to her question. Emaleigh’s eyes light up even more at the information.
“How do they that!?!” Emaleigh excitedly questions.
“Who cares?” Her older brother, Dean, grumbles.
“Oh hush, Dean, she’s just being a kid,” Jayne scowls him warmly before turning back to Emaleigh. “And I’m not sure about that myself, my cupcake, how about us girls go see?”
Emaleigh nods her head eagerly at the idea but looks at Dean and her Dad, Jake. “But what about Daddy and Dean?” She sweetly worried.
“Don’t worry, cupcake, they can have boy time while we’re there,” Jayne reassures.
Emaleigh nods again. “Okay!′ She exclaims.
And off Jayne and Emaleigh went to the mystic tent, they stepped in - the sound of the beads giving away their presence. They are welcome by a small table with a matching purple to the tent prayer blanket thrown onto it, the table has a crystal ball on it wrapped under another smaller purple prayer blanket. The air smelt as incense.
From the back somewhere a woman’s voice calls out. “Hold on moment, be right there!”
Jayne smiles softly at the voice, she called back. “That’s alright, take your time,”
After a few minutes the curtain blocking the back of the tent moved slightly before a woman - on the older sides of things - comes through the purple curtain. “Apologise for the wait, was having lunch,” the lady starts “Anyways, I’m Auntie Char, the traveling mystic around here, nice to meet the both of you,” Auntie Char continues.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, I’m Jayne and this is my daughter, Emaleigh, she saw your tent and got a little curious,” Jayne politely explains.
Auntie Char’s eyes smiled warmly, “Aw, that’s so sweet of yo-” her words trail off when her eyes fall on Emaleigh, she stared at Emaleigh up and down in a that made her hide behind her mum. Auntie Char noticed Emaleigh’s discomfort and blink out of it. “Sorry, dear, but that was super sweet of you to be curious about what I do, would you two like a reading to be done?” she continued.
Jayne and Emaleigh looked at each other before Jayne says “Why not? Might as well while we’re here,”
Auntie Char nods and points at the table that welcomed them, “Please come forward,” she says pulling the prayer blanket over the crystal ball off and turning on the ball.
Jayne gently guides Emaleigh forward and they take a seat across from Auntie Char. “So what would you like to be done? A future reading? A tarot card reading? A palm reading? Really anything you think I do I probably do, just what you want to be done, I’ll do it,” Auntie Char says.
Jayne thinks for a moment before saying “Maybe just a simple future reading for me, then a tarot card one for her,”
Auntie Char nodded with a warm smile. “Alright, let’s do it, we’ll start with you, Jayne,” she says.
Jayne nodded with a matching smile. Auntie Char held out her hands above the crystal ball, Jayne’s meets in the middle with. Auntie Char closed her eyes while she holds Jayne’s hands gently.
Emaleigh stayed close as she watched the few minutes that Auntie Char was reading the energy of her mum’s future.
After a couple of minutes Auntie Char finally spoke again, “Okay, so found some energy, I read that you’re going to do something you’ve always wanted to in a few years, but I also read that you’re going to go through something that will change you and the world around you,” she says before opening her eyes and letting go of Jayne’s hands.
“Ooh,” Jayne starts, “I wonder what they mean,”
Auntie Char gives a warm smile as she reaches for her tarot cards and starts shuffling them saying, “Unfortunately, I cannot tell what will trigger the events nor can I give a exact date, it’s just something you have to find out on your own when the time comes,”
Jayne chuckled softly with a head shake as she replies with, “It’s okay, I’m a scientist, I like finding out stuff on my own,”
Auntie Char nods with a polite smile before turning towards Emaleigh as she finishes shuffling the tarot cards in her hands. “Okay, Emaleigh, let’s get started with your tarot card reading,” she starts as she spreads the cards across the table, “Pick three cards, sweetheart,” Emaleigh looks at the cards on the table, then at her mum, at Auntie Char, and then back at the cards. She stared at the cards for a whole minute before Jayne gently elbows her to pick the three already.
Emaleigh’s hand reaches out, almost in slow-mo as she picks three cards from different ares of the spread out deck. Once all three were picked Auntie Char packed up the rest and put the three in the middle in front of them all, like there were so special.
Auntie Char turns over the first card revealing a card with a young adventurous looking person dressed in vibrant, patterned clothing. The figure is on a cliff edge, looking skyward, he carries a small knapsack on a staff with a white rose in his hand. A white dog is nearby. The card has the words The Fool on the bottom of the card. As Auntie Char turns over the card it flips out of her hand and lands sideways instead.
“Huh,” Jayne says , ”What does that mean?”
“Not so sure, myself, The Fool card could many things - upright its usually to do with new beginnings, adventure, taking risks, innocence and freedom whereas reverse usually is all about carelessness, negligence, foolishness, and apathy,” Auntie Char explains.
Jayne nods, intrigued.
“But I’m not sure what the card flipping to b e sideways, it is something I understand,” Auntie Char added with a look that says she knows more than she is saying.
Emaleigh squints her eyes at her words, sensing more than she is saying but doesn’t say anything as she watches Auntie Char turn the second card over, revealing that it has a central figure that is naked, and is floating inside a large laurel wreath, she holds two batons. the figure is surrounded by four other figures - a man, a lion, an ox and a eagle. The card has the words The World on the bottom of the card. When Auntie Char turns the card over, it again flips to be on its side, Auntie Char lets out a soft, “Huh,” before looking at Emaleigh, “It seems that the cards aren’t too sure what they are reading on you either,” she says.
Emaleigh lets out a soft unsure giggle as she watches Auntie Char look back down at the cards and turns over the third and last card revealing the picture that features a large, central, cosmic wheel adorned with alchemical symbols for the four elements , Hebrew letters for God, and the letters T-A-R-O-T. The wheel is surrounded by four winged figures around the corners, said figures are the same as the one from The World card, lion, ox, man, and eagle, though this card also has a descending snake, a ascending Anubis, and a seated sphinx on top of the wheel. Like that other cards this card has letters at the bottom, for this one it says Wheel of Fortune. And again when Auntie Char goes to turn it over it flips onto its side again.
“What I’m reading here is that, probably in the future, young Emaleigh here will jump into a - or multiple, new beginnings and/or experiences but also she may rush into them blindly and ignore consequences, that’s what The Fool is telling me, The World card is telling me; that she will have big goals that would be in of reach, that things will become full circle, but that something is holding you back, and then as for the Wheel of Fortune it is telling me that: good things are gonna come to you and that things will turn in your favor, but to watch for excess or relying too much on luck, that’s what the three cards are telling me, which is a lengthy reading for someone so young, so I say you should look out,” Auntie Char explains.
Jayne and Emaleigh were silent for a moment before Jayne let out a chuckle. “Whoa, that’s quite intense for a 5 year old,” she says.
Auntie Char nods as she puts the three cards back into the deck. “It is, but these cards have never lied,” she says.
Emaleigh blinked as she watches Auntie Char pack up the table, not fully understanding what she just said. Auntie Char noticed this and gives her a soft warm smile. “It’s okay, dear, you’ll understand it,” she says her hand reaching out softly to rest on Emaleigh’s. The touch zaps Emaleigh slightly, causing her to gasps softly. Auntie Char feels it too and pulls her hand back, the emotion in her face freezes for a moment before she lets out another soft smile. “Sorry, dear,” she says looking into Emaleigh for a moment before she then turns back to Jayne saying, “That would be $20 today, children under 10 are free today,”
Jayne gives a smile and pays.
Jayne and Emaleigh wave and say there goodbyes to Auntie Char before finally leaving the tent. “Well that was a find little experience, wasn’t it dear?” Jayne says, holding onto Emaleigh’s hand. Emaleigh looked up at her mother and nodded. Jayne smiles warmly to Emaleigh before she looks up from her and looks around. “Now we have to find your father and brother,” she says, gently pulling Emaleigh away from the tent for good. Emaleigh looks behind them, Auntie Char is in front of the tent, watching them leave. Though she is 5. Emaleigh feels like something else has started today…
Carriers of the Deck
Major & Minor
Epilogue
