The theme is angels in the World of Darkness as a variant. It's part of an ongoing chronicle at my web site (see profile) using a shared character. If you would like to contribute to this chronicle, please stop by. Otherwise, any helpful hints and critques are most appreciated. - Cheers, Sol.
Prelude
"She's skinny."
Myung, the baby's mother, nodded obsequiously. She did not want to offend the fortune teller so she took the abuse, chaffing all the while. She gazed at her daughter, who was admittedly skinny. Myung had tried everything, and the baby did not lack for appetite. But to look at her, one would think Myung a terrible mother, starving her child. Myung so wished she had had a normal child, like the others, fat and fussy. This baby was not fussy. And she never cried. Myung wanted to pick her up, comfort her, head off the inevitable tears that would never come. So she waited, sometimes holding off affection for just a bit, hoping that the baby would eventually cry, like a normal baby.
The fortune teller was scowling, also unpleased by what he saw. Myung had so hoped the fortune would be favorable. It would help out things at home. The baby should have been a boy. Myung sat uncomfortably, still, as if stone-hearted. She held back the moisture in her eyes by blinking, a lot. Her heart went out not to her daughter, lying helpless on the floor, but to herself, for her shame in having given birth to yet another girl, and one with such problems. The fortune teller had not commented on the scars on the baby's hands and could not see the ones on her back, sparing Myung another round of explanations. Fortunately, the doctors promised that she would grow up normally, like all other children. If only she would cry.
"You say she was born in the morning, just after midnight?"
"Yes, Myung nodded, blinking. Yes, she was. Is that good?"
"Bad," the fortune teller told her after consulting his charts. "Was she born with her eyes open or shut?"
In Myung's time, when she was a girl, babies should never be born with open eyes. Having open eyes really did not matter. Where she grew up, it was best not to be too different.
"Open," she confessed. "That's bad, I know."
"No, it's good."
Myung thought about how much money she had with her. How much would it take to buy a good fortune? She imagined the possibilities, wondering if it were all a scam of sorts. None of her friends confessed that their child had been given a bad fortune, that they had paid for the intercession of ancestors and spirits. But Myung thought about it; since no one talked, no one would know that everyone had been given bad fortunes. Myung decided she should have been a fortune teller. It was not going well. She wondered how much it would cost.
A street vendor hawking ice cream distracted her. It was hot, muggy. She could hear his voice coming through the open window, kept open in hopeful anticipation of a breeze from the river. A movement from the bird cage suspended from the ceiling by the window distracted her. She watched a yellow bird the fortune teller kept for a pet dancing every which way in its cage. Myung felt sorry for the bird but then thought that everyone had their cages. Some were just not as obvious.
A gurgle from the baby and Myung's glance drifted back to her daughter. So-hie was watching the bird too. The fortune teller was busy with his books, not paying either of them any attention. Suddenly, for no reason, the cage fell the floor, spilling seed and gravel. The bright yellow fluttering of the bird was a rushing noise at Myung's ear. She ducked. She looked up to the open window and then around the room. The bird had chosen instead to perch on So-hie. It hopped about on her knee, chirping happily. Even the fortune teller took note, not even bothering to try and recapture his pet.
"I'm so sorry," Myung apologized, at once feeling stupid and angry. She had not done anything to cause the cage to fall. But seeing the bird and her daughter, she felt connected to the event somehow. A chirping from the window distracted Myung. She looked. Another bird, no two, plus two more just arriving... That was strange. These were wild birds, drab birds, the sort of birds that were better heard and not seen.
The fortune teller closed his book, opening his mouth wide instead. An assembly of birds came and danced about So-hie. The baby tried to turn but her motor skills had not fully developed yet. Mostly she strained her head to look. The birds had formed a ring around Myung's baby. Alarmed, Myung went to shoo them away but the fortune teller raised his hand. He looked at the baby, and took off his round glasses, cleaning them with a cloth he kept in his pocket. He glanced again as if to verify to himself that he was seeing what he was seeing. Muttering, the fortune teller went to another bookcase, a black lacquered formal piece, with thick glass obscuring the books inside. He unlocked it with a key he had around his neck. Sticking his body inside the cavernous space to rummage around, he pulled out an old scroll. Myung glanced at it. The characters were Chinese; her Chinese was not good. He mumbled as he read it, and glanced at So-hie.
Myung craned her neck. There was a drawing. Something with wings, like a bird, black wings, and fierce demon eyes. Why would the man be looking at something like that? Myung scowled, suspicious. She imagined a scenario where a stinky old man with nothing better to do trained a bunch of birds in order to create some mysterious event. No doubt a bad omen.
"Mrs Kyung, this is very bad."
Myung was not surprised. She did not say anything, waiting for the declared exorbitant sum to be announced, a cure against demon birds.
"You must go."
"What?" Myung had to admit, the man was practised. He really did look alarmed.
"You must go. Wait!"
Ah, there it was. Myung remained patient. She would wait, curious to hear just how high this ridiculous sum would be.
The fortune teller rummaged in his locked case and brought out a jar. Inside the jar, he found a small charm. He handed it to Myung.
"For your daughter. When she turns seven, see that she wears it. Never let her take it off, not for bed, not for bath. She should wear it forever, for her protection, and yours. And if you lose it, you will be cursed. Now, get out."
"I don't want this. I'm not going to pay for it."
"Of course you are not. And it is not for you. It is for her."
The fortune teller clapped his hands and pointed at So-hie. He shooed the birds away, not even caring that his yellow pet bird escaped out the window with the others. More proof, Myung thought, that he had trained the lot of them.
"I am not going to pay you for this," Myung insisted, holding out the charm to the man. It was heavy, and looked to be of gold. Probably just gilded lead, she thought. And those dull red stones were just cheap glass. What kind of cheap junk was he trying to sell her?
"Of course you are not. You could never afford a charm like that. It is for your daughter, not for you. Now, take her and get out of here. Never come back."
The man was beginning to be insulting. Myung opened her purse, just as eager to be gone as he was for her to be gone. She would stop for ice cream, she decided. She deserved it after this. She took out extra. She did not want a scene and frankly, retelling this ridiculous tale to her friends was worth a little extra.
The fortune teller pushed the money and her hand back. He pointed at the baby, shrinking from it at the same time. "Will you leave now, or do I have to call the police?"
Incredulous, Myung grabbed the baby and was led to the door. It slammed shut behind her. Very strange, she thought. And very rude too. She wondered how a quack like that ever got any business. She still had the charm in her hand. She put it in her pocket.
"Come on, So-hie. Mommy will buy us some ice cream."
It was hot as Myung walked outside into the street. She carried So-hie in her arms. So-hie looked above her mother's shoulder, gazing at the blue sky just barely peeking through the crowded buildings lining the narrow street. High above them, several birds watched them go. So-hie waved at them and they danced on the sills and flew in somersaults, making her laugh.
story by Solanio