Page 76 of With a Little Luck

“Young man, your aura is very divided,” she says, by way of greeting. It’s the sort of statement one of my NPCs would say when the adventurers stumble onto a surprise caravan on the road, and normally I would laugh to hear it spoken with such gravity. Except the woman looks legitimately concerned, and I bite my tongue.

“Thanks?” I say. “But I don’t really want a …” I glance at the sandwich board beside her, listing palm readings, tarot readings, chakra balancing, and an assortment of crystals for sale. “Anything,” I finish.

She smiles, apparently unbothered. “We don’t always want what we need,” she says, “which is why I’m going to give you some advice.”

“Um …” My eyes go to the sandwich board again, and the prices that seem a little astronomical.

“Free of charge,” she says, as if … you know, she can read my mind.Weird.She reaches out and scratches the cat’s neck. It immediately starts purring, leaning into her pets. “Cosmo likes you, and he’s worried.”195

I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I can’t help my eyebrow twitching up with skepticism. Thecatis worried about me? “That’s … nice,” I say, starting to think about how I can extricate myself from this conversation as quickly as possible. “But Cosmo doesn’t need to worry. I’m good. Great, actually. I’m probably the luckiest guy you’ll meet all day.”

I don’t mean for it to sound sarcastic, but it comes out that way, and I wince.

The woman gives me another soft, close-lipped smile. “Are you familiar with the Taoist parable of the Farmer and his Horse?”

Oh boy.

“No?” I say, giving a quick glance around.Maya? Come rescue me?

“Don’t worry,” the woman says, a teasing glint in her eye. “I promise to make this quick.” She straightens in her chair, and I curse the upbringing that taught me how unforgivably rude it is to walk away when someone is talking to you. “There was once a farmer who owned a beautiful horse,” she begins. Yikes. Should I sit down for this? “Whenever his neighbors passed, they would say, ‘You are so lucky to have such a fine horse!’ To which the farmer would shrug and reply merely,Perhaps. Then one day, the farmer forgot to latch his gate, and the horse ran off. ‘What terrible luck,’ said his neighbors, to which the farmer replied,Perhaps. A few days later, the horse returned, along with a half dozen wild horses it had befriended. Again the neighbors cried, ‘Now you are rich! You are so lucky!’ But the farmer said only,Perhaps.”

I frown, sensing a pattern. But more than that, wondering why she’s telling me this.

“A week passed, and while the farmer’s son was breaking in one of the wild horses, he fell off and broke his leg. ‘Ah! What horrible luck,’ exclaimed the neighbors, but yet again the farmer only shrugged and said,Perhaps. The very next day, soldiers passed through their small village, demanding that all able-bodied young men come to fight in the war, but the farmer’s son, with his broken leg, was spared. ‘You are so lucky!’ the neighbors said, but once again, the farmer merely replied,Perhaps.”196

The woman finishes and starts to pet her cat again.

“Wow. That was great,” I say, once it seems clear that she’s finished.

“You understand?”

I stare at her. “Yeah. Totally.”

She stares back at me.

“Not really,” I admit.

Her smile warms. The cat purrs louder and flops onto its side. “You will.”

The truth is, Idoget the concept behind the parable—that not everything is as it seems, and how we respond to a situation is more important than the situation itself, or … something like that. But I’m not sure why she’s tellingme. I wonder if she can really see something in my aura. If she can tell that I’ve been touched by uncanny good fortune. If she can see that I’m in possession of magic.

No lost horses or broken legs here.

“There you are!” Maya grabs my arm. “Look, I found this.” She holds up her hand to show a sterling silver ring that depicts a small dragon wrapped around a green egg-shaped stone.

“Cool,” I say. “I like it.”

Maya glances at the woman, then around at the booth. “Oh, I love tarot readings! But … we have to meet Ari and EZ.”

The woman inclines her head to us, her smile never fading. “Enjoy the festival.”

I wave awkwardly as Maya and I turn away. Even though a part of me is relieved to escape the woman’s knowing gaze and eerie cat, there are questions burbling up in my thoughts that I wouldn’t mind asking her. Why was this good luck given to me? What does it all mean? Is Ari going to win the contest? Is my good luck going to last for the rest of my life? Is Maya “the One,” or am I just fooling myself, about everything?

Something tells me she wouldn’t have given me any straight answers, even if I did have the guts to ask. But maybe I don’t need psychic guidance. Maybe all the answers are right in front of me, and have been right in197front of me all along, and I just need to stop doubting myself and doubting the magic and just trust, for once, that everything really is going to work out how it’s meant to.

“Jude? What’s wrong?”

I pause and look at Maya. She’s holding my hand, and I hadn’t even noticed. Now, noticing, I feel the warmth of her palm. The softness of her skin.

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