Predictions Of The Present
The bumper sticker is courtesy of MotherCHOWGoddess's review of Chapter 7, as is Isis' line about choice. The book is courtesy of her review of Chapter 8; altered phrasing inspired by lilmatchgirl007, her review of Chapter 1.
"I see that I have become part of this…game…the others are playing," Isis stated.
"You had a vision?" Shadi asked.
Isis smirked. "No, I got a package today." She gestured to a box on her desk.
He raised an eyebrow.
"And I had a vision about receiving the package," she admitted sheepishly.
Shadi snorted. "So, what's in it?" he asked eagerly.
He looks so like a little boy when he gets excited like this, Isis thought. And the fact that his hair is covered up by the turban only adds to the effect. Aloud, she said, "I don't know, let me open it."
Only moments later, two items sat in the middle of a pile of brown butcher paper and packing tape: a book, and a bumper sticker.
"Destiny for Dummies?" Shadi asked incredulously. The book was overly large, three inches thick, and bright yellow. Emblazoned on the cover in black lettering, it proclaimed that it could teach even the most idiotic of people how to predict the future. There was a sticker placed between the first two words with the word 'is' scrawled across it.
"Destiny is for Dummies," Isis corrected grimly.
But that wasn't the worst part. Oh, no.
The bumper sticker read: 'Destiny – Your Plans For My Future'.
"I gather the others are a bit tired of your predictions?" Shadi asked dryly.
Isis twitched. "Hmph!" she huffed. "It's not my plans – it's the way things were meant to be."
"I know," Shadi reassured her. "But in this case, at least, they are only blaming the messenger, instead of shooting you."
"Good point," Isis conceded. "But still, it's not as if I actually have any control over what I see; I don't create the visions, they just are."
Shadi nodded sagely. "I think most of the children want to believe that they are in control of their destinies; not the other way around."
"Well, I haven't seen anything lately," Isis told him. "So as far as the Tauk is concerned…they are in control of their own destinies."
"For now," Shadi qualified.
"For now," Isis agreed.
"Maybe you should tell them that," Shadi suggested.
Isis nodded. "I could do that, couldn't I? Tell them that – for the moment, at least – choice, not chance, determines their destinies."
"If only it was that way all the time – then they couldn't complain," Shadi said. "But I suppose it would make it hard to predict the future," he mused.
Isis smiled and shook her head. "Ah, my love, the best way to predict the future is to create it."
Giving her a sizzling glance, he said, "Well…how about I create an excuse for you to leave work early, and we can go back to your place?"
Slanting him a coy look out of the corner of her eye, she said, "Why bother? No one else stays at the Museum this late. We're the only ones here…and the couch folds out."
He smiled. Gotta love a woman who not only thinks ahead, but actually knows what's ahead.