The Prophecy

It is another rainy morning in the city of Port Angeles, Washington. I hate Mondays; no, actually I hate every day. It's always the same, boring pattern. I wake up, stumble out of bed, and get into the shower. I instantly feel better as the burning water relaxes my sore muscles. When the hot water runs out, I groan and get dressed for another cold day.

I walked across the hall of my too-small apartment to make myself breakfast. As I was pouring my usual bowl of cereal, I spilled it across the front of my beige suit. I then angrily muttered all the way to my closet to change. On my way out the front door, I grabbed my purse and car keys, and then rushed to the elevators.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw the metal doors closing. Since I was already running late, I ran down the six flights of stairs. On the very last step, I tripped and broke the thin heel of my favorite pair of red high heels, nearly twisting my ankle in the process. I quickly sifted through my options for a moment, seriously considering just going to work. The only reasonable option I came up with was to take the elevator back to my room and change into less dangerous shoes.

By the time I finally got into my car, I was already twenty-eight minutes late for work, which just happens to be about ten minutes away. Being a journalist would be just about perfect if the building was in walking-distance of my apartment. As I arrived to work, I carefully jogged up to my fourth-floor office. I could tell my boss, Mrs. Hale, – as usual, looking flawlessly stunning, yet professional – was about to yell at me for being so late (and you thought only children were given lectures). She gave me one glance and left with a look of pity on her face; I hadn't realized I looked that bad.

I sat at my desk all morning, trying to think of an interesting topic to write about; I had nothing. I decided to take an early lunch break; hoping a different environment would give me much-needed inspiration. I walked three blocks through the misty air – that helped ease my stress – to my favorite café.

I was instantly seated due to the early hour, so I was able to sit at my favorite table by a large window, overlooking the busy street. As I was waiting for my order to be taken, I watched the men and women walking by, all of which were walking briskly to their destinations.

I ordered a Caesar salad, tomato soup, and a coke. I took my time eating lunch, and left in a calm mood. On my way back, I ran into a young woman (literally), and, of course, she spilt her iced coffee over the front of my cream, cotton blouse. The woman hardly looked like a woman, but like a girl. The only thing that gave her age away was her very sophisticated and tasteful sense of fashion. She was around 4' 10'', about half a foot shorter than I am. Her pale skin had a faint glow to it, while her eyes were the color of topaz. Her face was surrounded by a halo of short, spiky black hair. Her beauty momentarily dazzled me.

"I am so, so sorry!" the tiny woman said in a high-pitched, almost musical voice.

"That's all right," I said, "It's not your fault. I just attract accidents, like a magnet."

She laughed a bell-like sound – probably at the truth in my words. "Hello, my name is Alice," she said to my in her beautiful voice.

"Bella," I told her with a smile.

"I really am sorry, Bella. Can I make it up to you by telling you your future? My shop's right down the road."

"What a strange thing to say," I thought, "Well, she looks friendly enough, and she certainly looks different enough to be psychic."

"That would be great," Why even bother going back to work? "As long as it's not an inconvenience to you," I added hastily, not wanting to sound rude.

She led me to a little shop on the corner of the street we were on. The room was dark, lit only by candles. In the center of the room was a round table with two chairs on either side. In the center of the table was a glass bowl filled with a clear liquid. She motioned for me to sit down. When we were both seated, she had me lay my hands out on the table, palms up. Alice sprinkled the liquid on my palms. It was cold and I assumed it was water. Alice studied my palms for a long moment, finally telling me of my future. As I stared into her eyes she said, "You have extremely bad luck; however, that will soon come to an end. Very soon, you will meet your true soul mate. The two of you will gradually fall in love. And soon, all of your bad luck will vanish."

I thanked Alice for the fortune and left. On my way back to the apartment, I pondered over what Alice had said. When I got home I laid in my bed and thought of the fortune's meaning.

Eventually, I decide it is impossible to know things before they happen. It was silly of me to believe this in the first place. It was also crazy of me to think I was even capable of having good luck. Although, I have an odd feeling about the soul mate thing.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door…