Chapter 1
The traffic light changed. Jhane trotted across the street. She liked to keep to her schedule, but her neighbors and the traffic had slowed her down. Once she reached the curb, she slowed so she could walk more sedately into the park.
She shifted her mental state to that of a seer, a wise person older than she was. By becoming someone she wasn’t, she could step out of her usual shell to interact with the public.
To add to her persona change, she wore what she thought was a silly costume, but she thought it explained what she could do. Around her head, she wore a metallic headband with an analog clock positioned in the middle of her forehead.
The clock wasn’t real, but one she had made from scraps of paper, foil and toothpicks. She knew it looked heavy, but it wasn’t.
She always felt her thin white midriff top looked see-through, so she had created a papier-mâché clock to wear around her neck to cover her breasts. It afforded her a little modesty.
Around her bare midriff, she wore a metal belt that she had put together with metal bits and pieces she had found in a thrift store. It also contained a hidden pocket for hiding money and her ID.
Her short white skirt wasn’t as see-through as her top, but she still wore white shorts beneath it. She kept her legs bare. But she wore sandals that had good straps and support.
In fact, they were hiking sandals that dried quickly if gotten wet and provided good support if she had to go any faster than a walk.
Jhane approached her usual park bench. Few people ever stopped to sit, and she saw no one else sitting on a bench. However, a short way down she saw another performer riding a unicycle.
She knew he wouldn’t hang around long. While begging wasn’t allowed in the park, a person could perform and put out a donation jar.
Begging laws had a broad definition. She couldn’t call to a person or approach them. A person had to come to her and speak first.
Before she put out any of her things, Jhane pulled out her security spider. She kept it stashed behind the papier-mâché clock. A tap from her finger caused it to unfold its long legs with barely audible clicks.
“Voice shoulder.” She had trained it to only obey her voice.
It positioned itself, half standing on her shoulder, the other half on the back of the bench. It had two of its legs raised up in defense. They could produce a serious jolt if touched by human skin.
Jhane watched a man jog by with his robot dog. She preferred her spider because of its size. Although she had to admit, the size of the dog looked daunting enough.
Out of her bowl, she pulled out a small plastic sign she had painted herself. She placed it on the bench beside her. It could stand on its own and merely read, ‘I see the future.’
She put her clock-themed bowl next to her sign. It held a small placard that read: Donations.
She pulled some of her black hair forward to help accent the clock on her chest. A hair pulled at her earring, which she eased away.
She thought about the earrings, which she found a little heavy. But she thought a costume needed some gaudiness, and they worked for her. However, her ears thought differently.
“It’s only for two hours a day.”
The park felt almost deserted, as if she had missed the usual morning rush hour. However, she knew she had arrived between subway trains. She heard their rumble in the distance.
The earlier trains carried the service or maintenance people. They had little money to spare. Her target customers were office people who had more disposable income.
Over her head she picked out the noise of the elevated trains running on tracks that were just barely above the trees over her head.
She took a deep breath. The air wasn’t clean, as usual.
The subway station was to her right and across the park. Many people crossed the park toward the businesses behind her. She had placed herself in the middle where people had to walk by her.
Her eyes moved to three people approaching. One man came close enough to throw a bill into her bowl, but kept going. She saw a five-dollar bill, which she knew many performers would stick their noses up at because it was mere spare change. But even a five here and there added up.
The shrill sound of the subway train taking off told her the rush would soon be there. She could already see the dark mass of people intent on their way to work.
Moments later, they reached her.
A woman, striding ahead as if she led the way, tossed in a five-dollar bill. Behind her came the mass of people, but Jhane’s eyes focused on a particular man and woman.
To her, they stood out among the others. However, she couldn’t figure out why just yet.
She could not tell if they were a couple or work associates. They were engaged in conversation and looked comfortable with each other’s company. Their suits were exceptionally nice. The man’s looked tailored and more expensive than the woman’s.
That made her decide they were work associates instead of a couple. She found both of them very attractive people.
The woman suddenly cut in front of the man and aimed right for her.
“I have a meeting today. I’d like to know how well it will go.” The woman tossed in a fifty.
Before Jhane could even register the woman’s question and concentrate on the woman’s aura, another engulfed her. It startled her because it was the man’s. She hadn’t focused on him at all. This never happened. She usually had to focus in order to see someone’s aura.
She realized that was why they had caught her attention. Or rather, it was the man’s aura. And from that distance.
“I see.” Jhane felt perturbed and overwhelmed.
She knew some people had stronger auras than others, but the man’s felt exceptionally brilliant.
A feeling of uneasiness swept over her. Within his aura and future, she saw herself. This was impossible. She couldn’t see her own future. Things didn’t work that way for her.
She didn’t know him or why their paths would cross other than right here. Right now.
Jhane swallowed hard. He wasn’t the one who had paid. She had to focus on the woman.
But she couldn’t.
“There are many doors to the future.” Jhane knew she had to say something. “You can pick doors, but sometimes other people can interfere.”
“I knew that would happen.” The woman looked rather fierce as if discovering a terrible truth.
The man rolled his eyes. Jhane could tell he had no belief in her, which wasn’t surprising. Especially since she had spoken so generically.
“Sometimes you have to force the door. Or choose wisely.” Jhane hoped this satisfied the woman because she could think of nothing else to say.
“We have to go.” The man turned away.
Jhane felt sure her presence in his future would dissipate because he wanted nothing more to do with her.
But it didn’t. It didn’t change at all.
The woman laughed. She turned and followed the man.
Jhane expected to feel relief when they left. But she didn’t.
A force within her caused her to stand abruptly. She saw a vision of something she didn’t like and couldn’t let happen.
Inhibition swept over her. But a stronger force pushed her to move. She ran after the couple, knowing it was illegal.
“Sir. Sir.” She put a lot of force into her words.
The woman turned. The man ignored her, but stopped a few steps later.
“Sir, I’m sorry. I rarely do this because she paid. You didn’t.”
He looked at her as if she were going to shake him down for money. In fact, she thought he had a defiant look. A look that told her he dared her to. That almost stopped her from saying what she needed to say.
However, an image pushed her to speak.
“If you wait fifteen seconds, you’ll have a much better day.” The moment she said fifteen, she used her fingers to count out the time.
She saw his eyes move to her fingers, even though she kept her hand by her side.
“We’re in a hurry.” However, the man didn’t move.
“If you wait, you’ll be on time. If you don’t, you’ll be late.” Jhane continued to watch him watch her count out the time.
The woman laughed. “Isn’t that the opposite?”
“Or never get there at all.” Jhane tried not to sound doom and gloom, which might make them think she was doing an illegal shakedown.
The man shook his head. “Let’s go.” He half-turned away.
“You’ll have a good meeting.” Jhane turned to the woman. Even though she didn’t know if this was true. However, she knew it would cause the woman to pause for just a second or more. Every second counted.
The man looked dubious. However, he waited, which surprised her. And looked down again at her fingers. The woman seemed oblivious to the countdown, but she took a cue from the man to remain where she was.
Jhane’s fingers finished counting out the seconds.
A horrifying screech and a deafening crash reverberated around them. A single car from an overhead train had detached and fallen into the crosswalk full of people. It was where the two would have been if she hadn’t gotten them to wait.
Screams flooded the airway.
“You can walk down a block and cross with no issues.” Jhane kept her voice calm as if they were chatting about the weather.
She spun on her heels and returned to her bench, hoping they didn’t follow her. When she looked back, she saw them walking fast, heading away from her. She sighed with relief, but it was short-lived.
