“The fortune teller” by Beatrice Brandini

The fortune teller was a young woman who predicted the future by reading cards under a tent, inside an amusement park. Her place was in a secluded, silent, almost magical corner.

But even when the amusement park took off and went off to look for new destinations and new customers, she always remained in the same spot.

“The fortune teller’s tent” by Beatrice Brandini

On a summer afternoon, her first client was an old woman who asked about the health of her family, then it was the turn of a young lover who had just been left by the girl, hoping to have a “potion” to win her back. The third reading was much more difficult. The client was a troubled girl who lived by her wits and didn’t love herself very much. By now her life was one-way, towards a very steep descent, probably with no return.

I don’t know why she pushed herself towards reading her destiny, she now had little to lose and hers seemed like a last grotesque chance. Perhaps she wanted to know from the fortune teller if her life could change, improve, knowing that the risk was instead the one that could definitely end in the worst way. The little girl who couldn’t sit still was pretty pretty, but definitely scruffy and dirty.

“The problem girl” by Beatrice Brandini

The fortune teller, immediately understanding the situation and thinking that perhaps only a desperate gesture could help her, considered a young boy to whom she had read the papers a few days earlier. She had a plan in mind, she wanted to bring the two young people together, so that one could help the other.

Her first move was to make a date for both of them at the same time, pretending to be wrong, so that the two could meet and see. That’s exactly what happened.

After that very brief common meeting, something clicked. First of all, both intrigued wanted to know why they were there, what was the problem that afflicted them. The fortune teller could not reveal the secrets of others, but while remaining vague, she mentioned something, after all it was her plan!

The boy had emotional problems related to his parents, who were very rich and not very present. Little inclined to loving and very rigid gestures. In short, that boy was  just like a dog.

During his sessions he tried to help the young man to become more courageous, not to be afraid of making mistakes, to be more authoritative in things that concerned his life, The boy was studying aerospace engineering, he was still two years before finishing, after finally he would looked for a job that would make him independent and maybe he would leave.

The fortune teller was really intelligent, she sensed a lot of human nature, in fact, every time the young man came out of his session, he was stronger and more positive. He also told him that he would meet a special girl, a little problematic and drifter, beautiful, totally alone (like him), who without guides would be destroyed, maybe he could save her.

“Hand and cards” by Beatrice Brandini

The young man still did not know who that girl was, but he often thought of that girl’s face he had only glimpsed once, and how he wanted to know her better.

Meanwhile, the little girl looked increasingly weak and vulnerable. During a reading of her cards, the fortune teller tried her last move, she told her that if she continued to lead that wild life she would die after a short time. That she had to find the strength to get out of that black forest she had entered, and that if she listened to her, her future would be wonderful, especially since she would find her love in her life.

All that talk, the advice, the loving words from her began to make her see things a little differently. She tried to be independent in a fairer way, so her first step was to find a job; she answered a thousand announcements and made a thousand phone calls, when finally someone contacted her to give her a job. She was a teacher who, having no time, asked her if she could help her elderly mother with her housework, even making her a little company. The little girl finally seemed to want to change course, that job gave her confidence, she stopped hurting herself, even her appearance began to change, becoming that of a beautiful young woman.

One day while the girl was taking the old woman for a walk, the lady had a slight illness, she was about to fall but the girl was quick and managed to grab her in time. She tried to lift her up but she was heavy, she was in trouble, lucky that at that moment, across the street, a boy passed by who saw the whole scene and ran to help her. The two looked at each other for a moment, it was not difficult to understand where and when they met, they both remembered that day from the fortune teller.

There was a few words but the two could not find the courage to leave a contact, an address to meet again, so the elderly lady intervened, asking the girl to get the phone number of that boy because she wanted to offer him a cup of tea at his house to thank him.

The rest was history …. They began dating, months passed and they were always together. He graduated and got a job right away in a German industry based in Italy. After six months (he had sent many resumes), an important offer arrived from an American company, they offered him a long contract, a house, in short, many advantages and privileges that it was really difficult to refuse. Clearly the boy was in seventh heaven, but he thought he had to involve his love for him too, who knows if she would have accepted to move and turn his life upside down for him and if American society would welcome his fiancée too. She was happy with that offer, leaving with him also meant ending her bad past for good.

When he thought that the Americans would say no, instead, intelligent and far-sighted, they were happy to take “the whole package”, they replied that if he was privately satisfied he would have done more in the work where everything seemed to be going in the right direction. They left together and never returned. They married and became American citizens, with an almost perfect life. He became an indispensable page for his company (NASA), working on important and sensitive programs.

“Marriage in the USA” by Beatrice Brandini

After a few years, the fortune teller received a letter from that boy she always remembered and who had remained in her heart. He thanked her for all the advice she had given and for letting her know that everything she had foreseen about his had come true. Now he was proud of his life. In the letter, in addition to a photo of the family, there was a gift and a card with this sentence: “A good fortune teller always guesses the future”. Those words contained all of his gratitude.

“The fortune teller 5 years later” by Beatrice Brandini

In the period in which he went to her he was alone, sad, the future seemed hazy to him, a great unknown, while now he was the master of his life, did a beautiful job and had a woman and a son who filled his life.

The fortune teller had been really good, she had glimpsed the possibility of making them known and tying them to each other. She told them myriads of lies, but each of them served to create their future. What she had convinced herself to do with her had come true, so maybe she really saw the future, or maybe it was great humanity and her great heart that decided for her.

Good life to everyone !

Beatrice