Second Milestone

I am finally working on the second milestone (major goal) in my life. I posted about achieving my first milestone in a previous post. I created my own system of fortune-telling.

Anyways, I’ve acquired enough programming knowledge to create my own (indie) video game. It’s going to be a role-playing game. I don’t have the software I need at home. I plan on spending some extra time at the university library to create my game. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the weather improves.

This may sound like a strange goal for a woman in her mid-forties. Oh well, just do whatever makes you happy…

Rubeus the Red

Rubeus the red

Cared not what anyone said

A king who wanted

His subjects dead

Corruption bred

A chalice overturned

His subjects bled

A whirlwind of hate

Confusion about his role

Addicted to success

If money is involved

He won’t break bread

Country in shambles

Privileged and spoon-fed

*This poem is based on the Geomantic figure of Rubeus.

Moon Superstitions

Is your future full of gloom?

Suck on a moonstone during a full moon

Attachment

“What am I going to do?” Tanya sobbed. “If I don’t come up with the rent money in three weeks, I’m going to be evicted!”

She got an idea as she overheard a random conversation on the bus. “I’ll pretend to be psychic.”

“Hi, there,” Ray said, “I need to know what’s going to happen with my love life.”

Tanya gazed deep into the crystal ball. “Oh, this is bad!”

“What, why?”

“The bartender at your local tavern will be in a state of despair, because she found out that she is barren. She sliced her husband into pieces, and buried his remains in the garden. She visits the cemetery, and leaves an offering of her own blood on the graves of her infant ancestors in hopes of becoming fertile. She is obsessed with you, and she’s going to shackle you in the basement.”

“Shit!” Ray replied, “I’m supposed to go to the tavern with my buddies tonight. Maybe I should cancel.”

“Just be careful.”

As Ray ordered his drink, he noticed that the bartender winked at him. He grabbed her, and threw her down the basement steps. Then he chained her to the wall. He was beaten to death by a group of bikers.

“I need some advice on where my career is going,” Donna said.

Tanya spread out the tarot cards, and picked up the first one. “You will be in a minor car accident, and shatter your finger.”

She lifted up the second card. “You have Steven’s child growing inside of you.”

Then she revealed the last card. “Steven has a secret. He is married.”

Donna burst into tears. “That pig! I really fucked up getting knocked up by my literary agent!”

Donna got hit by a bus as she crossed the street.

“I need to know how long my health is going to last,” Edward said.

Tanya pretended to read his palm. “Well, I’ll try to put this to you gently. Your girlfriend is conceited, and she has powerful psychic abilities. She is quite mischievous, and she has a whole blog devoted to your future sexual problems. People find this to be quite hilarious.”

Edward beat his girlfriend to a pulp, and was shot by the police.

Tanya attended a seance hoping to make her phony abilities look more convincing. The seance was led by a gypsy with a dead eye, and half of her face was missing. As the spirits were summoned, they heard raps on the wall, and the table began to levitate.

“Malachi!” the dead-eyed gypsy shouted, “Malachi!” She scratched her yellow talon-like nails across the table. Her body shook in violent fits. She vomited up a vile mixture of blood, and pus. She pointed at Tanya, and screamed out, “Malachi!” Then she passed out.

Tanya gave away everything she owned. “I must make penance,” she said over, and over as she prepared to live out the rest of her days as a homeless prostitute.

Cheerful Despite Hardships

My fiancée, and I barely got enough food to get through the next couple weeks, yet we are remaining cheerful. We are rationing our food.

I’ve created a second fortune-telling method based on Chinese astrology, superstitions, and urban legends. I can’t wait to try it out.

Many people are suffering right now due to the pandemic. My advice is to stay focused on your goals and remember things will get better. Pain is only temporary…

Life’s Path

I apologize for getting metaphysical, but I think that I’ve found my life’s path. Things seem to be coming together for me. I’ve been pondering my stepfather’s last words to me: “You will spend your life studying metaphysics.”

I can’t help thinking about the synchronicities or coincidences throughout my life. I’ve been fascinated with the occult since I was a child. I studied philosophy as a teenager. My ninth-grade teacher became my mentor. She bought me books about Buddhism, and Hinduism. I stayed over her house sometimes. She took my date, and I to the homecoming dance in a limo. She went to my karate tournaments. She was so cool! She took me under her wing, because I had an abusive mother who abandoned me. She bought me a dragon kimono, and a jade dragon from her trips to China, and Japan.

In my late twenties, or early thirties I learned about the Russian mystic, Madame Blavatsky. My teacher’s last name was spelled very similar to “Blavatsky.”

In my mid-thirties, I developed a passion for fortune-telling.

Many years ago, I found the “Hermit” tarot card on the ground while I was walking down the street. This happened before I became interested in tarot cards. I kept this card, and researched the meaning. The “Hermit” card sounds very similar to me.

Several years ago, I began to study Cartomancy. I found a playing card on the ground while I was on my way to the bus stop. It was an eight of clubs. I picked up the card, and researched it. The interpretation offered many parallels to the experiences of the previous day.

Coincidence or nonsense?

Where am I going with this? Is this just gibberish? I know this post is very different than my usual material: coping with Post-Traumatic Stress, writing prompts, poetry, and flash fiction. I’d like to think that there is some semblance of order in the universe.

In a nutshell, the “Hermit” card represents someone who is a loner. This individual spends their life in quiet contemplation of the universe through research, and meditation. Hermits tend to shy away from consumer culture, and find peace through minimalism.

Milestone

So far, this has turned into the second worst Christmas of my life. My grandfather is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. Luckily, he is responding well to the medication. There probably won’t be any Christmas dinner this year due to my fiancée’s illness. O. K., I’m not much of a cook, but I’m getting better.

This isn’t meant to be a negative post. You all got your own problems: the COVID crap, money struggles, holiday stress, etc.

Despite the hardships this holiday has to bring, I find myself at peace. I have accomplished one of my lifelong goals: creating my own system of divination. It’s a blend of numerology, cartomancy, and geomancy. I can’t wait to try it out.

We all need to be living one day at a time, and quit worrying about tomorrow. Take some time for yourself to work on your goals. I’ve spent a lifetime searching for some kind of meaning to life. My grandfather once told me that life is what you make of it. He’s right. Do what makes you happy. Don’t let society define success for you…

Write Away the Pain #175

• Crystals
• Crystal healing
• Chakras
• Fortune-telling
• Isolation is more than being alone

The Clocktower Prison

I was escorted to a building that resembled a gigantic, gothic-looking clocktower.

The cops led me to an elevator. We got off on a floor that resembled a dungeon-like labyrinth of sub-basements.

My heart sunk as I was strapped into a machine that resembled a cat scan.

“This is mandatory,” the guard said. “I must strip you of all your powers during your confinement.”

I was thrown into a metal cell with clocks on every wall.

My cellmate was watching the clock intently.

“That’s going to make the time go by slower, you know.”

The scrawny, young man who wore his hair in a ponytail, turned toward me. “Trust me, I’m not doing this for fun. I’m Jasonn.”

I sat down on a metal bed covered by a thin layer of cardboard. “I’m Rick. So, what are you in here for?”

“Murder. It’s not like I did it on purpose. I got pissed off at my wife, and I accidently turned her into a huge pile of fungus. Well, I couldn’t change her back in time, and she died. What about you?”

“Misuse of magic,” I replied, “I couldn’t stand the professor who taught divination, so I put a curse on him. He went insane, and murdered a bunch of students.”

The alarm went off. I jumped. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got to watch the clock again. The alarm goes off several times an hour to remind us.”

“That’s psychological torture.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How the hell are you supposed to sleep on this?” I grumbled as I stretched out on the bed.

“And the time is one o’clock in the morning!” a voice blared through a loudspeaker.

“Not again!” Jasonn shouted as he covered his face with his pillow. “Good luck getting any sleep around here. The guards announce the time every hour to torment us!”

I groaned as the guard nudged me awake. “It’s time to go to work.”

I was taken to an enormous room full of prisoners who were fixing watches.

I was pleased to see the cafeteria worker scoop pasta onto my plate. “At least I’ve got normal food.”

“Hey,” my cellmate said, “I know the food’s pretty decent here, but you’ve only got seven minutes to eat.”

I shoveled down my food. On the bottom of my plastic plate was a picture of a clock. I began to laugh hysterically. “It’s all about clocks, and watches here!”

Jasonn put his hand on my shoulder. “I know buddy. I almost cracked up a few times.”

“What the hell, man!” I shouted as I tried to move the metal lid that went over the toilet. It wouldn’t budge. I noticed that there was a slot for some kind of coin.

“Didn’t you get in line for your tokens?” my cellmate inquired. “You only get six tokens a day to use the bathroom. Here, take one of mine.” He tossed me a wooden nickel.

“I can’t take it! I can’t take it anymore!” I shouted as I was forced to look at the clock.

I noticed that I still had energy pulsating though my fingers. The idiotic guard had rushed me out of the machine too soon. I still had a small fraction of my powers left. I stopped time, and rescued everyone from the sadistic torture of the Clocktower Prison.

The Hidden Sin in Coffee

Isabelle sat in the back of Gwendolyn’s Tea Room sipping on a cup of coffee. She nibbled on her pastry while she fidgeted with her new deck of tarot cards.

She was approached by a tall, scrawny woman who was covered in wrinkles. She had a cigarette hanging from her mouth. “Hello, I’m Cookie. Could you please read my fortune?”

“I’m not used to this new tarot deck,” Isabelle thought to herself, “but I did used to do fortunes by reading tea leaves. I should be able to get similar results with coffee. Sure, just buy me a cup of coffee.”

A few minutes later, Cookie returned with a fresh cup of coffee. “Well?”

Isabelle examined the cup of coffee. “Let’s see,” she mumbled as a large bubble appeared on top of the coffee. “That means you’re going to be rich.”

“Yay!”

“But a word of caution…”

Cookie grabbed her purse, and ran out the door before she could hear the warning.

She gambled her whole 401 K that she earned from the racetrack. A couple months later, she was shot to death for not paying her bookie.

“Your coffee is on the house. We’ve got a special brew for you today!”

“How nice,” Isabelle replied. She examined the coffee. This time it was served in a plastic cup instead of a ceramic mug. The words “mystery flavor” were scrawled on the side of the cup. She lifted the lid. What a treat, ” she grinned. “Iced coffee!”

She couldn’t tell what color the liquid was, because it was drenched in whipped cream, and sprinkles. After a couple sips, she became incredibly anxious, and jittery. She soon developed tremors.

She was put into the state psychiatric hospital, because she insisted that she lives in a world of shadow people separate from our own. No matter how much medication they give her, she never did sleep again!