Page 10 of Monster's Mistake

A soft rattle comes from my hair as Frank finally makes an appearance, though he doesn’t seem as bothered about Meic’s closeness as usual. Maybe his feelings about Meic are more tied to my own than I thought, and now I’m being a bit calmer around him, so is Frank.

Or maybe he just hasn’t had enough sleep.

“How does closing my eyes help?” I ask.

“It helps you get rid of some of the distractions,” he responds.

“And introduces a lot more,” I mutter.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I respond faster than I should. “So now what?”

“Open your eyes and focus on the tea leaves in front of you.”

I do as he suggests and look down into the cup, seeing a load of shapes take form that almost make sense, but not quite.

“I don’t know what any of it means.”

“Draw it,” he suggests, pulling a piece of paper and a pen towards me.

“Really?”

He nods. “Sometimes it’ll make more sense if you try to process it that way. And even if it doesn’t, it’ll make it easier to see what it means. Especially when we’re supposed to be looking for multiple meanings.”

“Which seems extra hard when I’m yet to work out one.”

“Just try, Nati,” he says softly.

He finally steps back, and I surprise myself by realising I miss him being so close.

I sigh and grab the pen, starting to draw out the shapes I can see in the cup. I still don’t know what any of them mean, but I think I can sense that there are different sections to what I’m seeing.

Meic turns his attention back to his cup, though he doesn’t seem to be having the same issues as I am.

I pull my textbook closer and look at the instructions, trying to make sense of what I’ve drawn but coming up with nothing.

“Meic?” I ask hesitantly.

He looks up, his dark eyes piercing into me in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. There’s an intensity I’m not used to, and it seems to have a lot more depth than he normally exhibits.

“Nati,” he responds.

“Please help me.”

He nods. “What have you got so far?”

“Well, if I’m reading the textbook right, this part here is talking about my career.” I point to the part at the top of my drawing.

He nods.

“I guess that means my time here at Blackthorn?”

“Probably,” he responds. “I don’t think it’s meant to always be literal.”

“Which is why all the instructions are so vague.”

He chuckles. “Probably. What does it say?”

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