I Have Seen The Future (J'ai Vu Le Futur)
Jim Hawkins' ship, the RLS Legacy, had sailed from London, England to Paris, France. Long John Silver let Jim captain the skiff up the river Seine through Paris. Finally they docked the skiff and Jim hoisted his backpack and hopped out of the small boat. Paris was even bigger than London had been, not comparable to the small seaside town of Montressor where he was from.
There seemed to be some kind of festival going on. Silver and Jim walked through the streets of Paris, Silver on his crutch, Jim at his side. In the courtyard before Notre Dame cathedral were set up many tents for a fair or a fĂȘte. The cathedral itself was so large and tall that Jim found it nearly unapproachable, especially being from the backwater English countryside as he was. Jim shivered looking ahead at the church, though as a sailor he was superstitious. Maybe that was the reason he was shivering. Perhaps he saw his future - a wedding with some lass. The church was that old and mysterious.
"Go on, lad," Silver said to him. "They be having some festival today. Take some silver, here. And go on and have some fun. Don't stray too far or I won't know what became of ye. Now off with ya, lad."
Jim happily accepted his earnings as ship's cabin boy, being a fair and equal share like the rest of the crew. Then he made his way into the celebration.
There was one thing he was looking for which he quickly found - a fortuneteller's tent. Inside the opened flap of the red tent, Jim caught sight of a beautiful girl sitting by her crystal ball. The maiden was wearing a corseted dress of different colors, purple, violet, cerulean, and gold, her bare ankles showing, and balanced on a stool at a small table on which sat the crystal ball. As she stood to the entrance of the tent for a moment, the sun caught in her hair and he thought she was blonde, but as she disappeared into the darkness again her hair turned raven-black, and it was lifted up to her shoulders.
Jim thought for a moment if he was brave enough to enter the tent. The fortuneteller re-appeared at the flap of the tent and beckoned to him with her finger. Jim approached and entered the tent, following her into its dark, cool, and inviting recesses. He sat at the other stool opposite her across the table with the crystal ball.
"Bienvenue!" she said to him. Jim barely understood from his French lessons in his school days, but he knew the word was, Welcome. "Je suis La Esmeralda. Et tu, qu'est-que ton nom?" I am Esmeralda. And you, what is your name?
When he made no response the fortuneteller said, "Parle Francais? Anglais?" Again Jim understood, Do you speak French? English?
"Je comprends," he said. I understand. "Anglais."
"English," the fortuneteller said, switching languages. "A sailor. Welcome to Paris! I am La Esmeralda. I would ask you how you are today, but I can tell by looking at you."
"Not very well then," he said lowly. "I'm Jim Hawkins, from England."
"Stop! Tell me no more than your name," she said. "I will tell you the rest. You get three questions, any three questions. Think about them in your head first. Are you ready?"
"Yes," Jim answered after a moment.
"What is your first question?"
"What will I be when I'm older?" he asked, a slight twisted smile on his lips.
Esmeralda raised her braceleted hands over the crystal ball and gazed into its shimmery depths. The light reflected off the crystal ball and refracted in a myriad of rainbow colors. She seemed lost in a trance.
"J'ai vu le futur," Esmeralda said in a sing-song voice. "I have seen the future," she translated. "You will be a sailor," she went on. "You've tricked me! You are a ship's cabin boy already! You will continue to be in the future, staying ship's cabin boy, never getting any older. In the future though you will turn pirate."
Jim was looking at her oddly. She looked up from the crystal ball to meet his eyes. Her eyes were startling emerald green. "What is your second question?"
"How much of the world will I see?"
"Incroyable!" she exclaimed, looking into the crystal. "You will sail around the entire world, seeing it all. You will see many different countries and all their wonders. Then you will return home in triumph, having seen it all."
"It all sounds nice," Jim said. "Maybe a little lonely though."
"What is your third and final question?" Esmeralda asked. "Be careful; it's your last one."
"I want to know about love," Jim beseeched her plaintively, spreading his arms out on the table cloth.
"What is your question specifically?" she asked with a friendly smile.
"Can you tell me, when I'll fall in love?"
Esmeralda stared deeply into the crystal orb, sparkling in a ray of sunlight.
"It seems you already have fallen in love, with someone," the girl said. "The two of you will be wed here, at Notre Dame Cathedral, and soon too. Then you'll take a honeymoon voyage around the world, together. I'm sorry-" she broke off. "That's all the more I can tell you."
"Why?" Jim asked gently. "Is it bad?"
"No, you've all good things in your future. It's just that . . . It's odd. The future is clouded to me."
"Your own future is clouded to you," Jim suggested.
"Yes, but, I was looking into your future," Esmeralda said confusedly.
"Perhaps the two are entwined," Jim said, taking her hand across the table.
Esmeralda blushed as they held hands.
"Those are the end of my three questions, but I've learned everything I wanted to know, except about you," Jim said. "Will you spend the rest of the festival with me?"
"Yes, I'd love to!" Esmeralda agreed happily.
She put a "closed" sign on the front of her tent, closing the flap behind them, and then hand-in-hand they attended the rest of the fĂȘte together. Jim thought for once the future was looking bright.
THE END
