199 Dame Doom

I entered.

Dame Doom awaited. But I was wise to her. While she had distressed so many who have visited her--my friends and loved ones--I knew her weakness. I came prepared.

And for vengeance.

I entered a dimly lit chamber encircled by black curtains. A faint smell of almonds was in the air, commonly associated with almonds...and strychnine.

Dame Doom smiled, her eyes fixated on mine.

"I knew you were coming," she spoke, her accent hard to place; something Eastern European.

"How, Dame Doom, did you know?"

"Because I'm a seer. A psychic."

"And I'm a skeptic."

"I saw that coming," she added. "But you, skeptic," she warned, "should be very frightened."

"Of what?"

"What's to come," she whispered for emphasis. "But I see coming," she teased, "what you won't." I put my hand in my pocket to check for the payment that would be due her at the end of my reading.

With both palms flat on the black tablecloth of the the floating table, she began to weep. "Oh, the horror!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"What horror?"

"First," her eyes rolling to the back of her head, "there'll be serious gastric disturbances and sudden intestinal chaos. You ate lunch at Des Pepsia's Cafe, did you not?"

"I feel fine."

"Give it time," she clarified, consulting her watch.

"How long?"

"Some time..." she said. "And then you will experience a panic of monkeys."

"A panic of monkeys?"

Her eyes rolled forward. "You know, like a flock of birds or a murder of crows...a panic of monkeys."

"I guess," I mumbled. Again I felt for Dame Doom's payment in my pocket.

"And that's when you'll realize that your spleen has got to go."

"Shouldn't I keep my spleen?"

"Fool! Your spleen sequesters life forces, and your mind's eye sees mortal danger. And monkeys. Those horrid, fucking monkeys!"

Fun Fact:

The marmoset monkey is the smallest monkey in the world.

It easily fit in my pocket where I kept it--and forthwith hurled at Dame Doom.

She certainly didn't seen that coming.

I heard she suffered a stroke that day--too little payback for what she'd done to others. Twelve years later, my spleen exploded.

I didn't see that coming!

_________

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

For Wednesday, July 17, Day 199 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Title-accompaniment photo was AI-generated but the ruptured spleen was simply caricatured.

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THE SISYPHEAN CHALLENGE GRINDS ON, 366 WORDS AT A TIME:

There are currently three surviving Vocal writers still participating in the insane 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, challenge originator

• Rachel Deeming

• Gerard DiLeo (some other guy)

Read them. Support them. Consult your psychic before choosing your cafe.