Keeper of the Light

"It's your path, you ultimately decide what you do with your life..." I said to the woman, trying to sound convincing. She bought it...they always do. "Thank you Shane...thank you so much" she said as she handed me $50. I gave her an hour long reading, palm reading, tarot cards, the whole nine yards. The way I see it is if she really cared about how her life was going she'd see a therapist, not a guy with a psychic shop on the corner of a street. Don't get me wrong I do believe in psychic abilities...I just know I don't have them. I took over this store after my dad handed it down to me. He was a real psychic, he said it ran in our family but I know I don't have abilities...which is why I wonder why he handed the store down to me. I'm not trying to scam people, I just want to keep the family business up and running. "I guess I'll close early tonight" I mumbled to myself while flipping the sign in the window.

I live in a loft apartment above the shop, so it's nice that I don't have to drive home or anything, and if it's a slow day I can close early and head upstairs to bed. My shop is set up on a corner of a rather busy street in Michigan, it's nice because everything is close by, shops, theaters, even the doctor I see is just across the train tracks. A lot of people stop in and either buy something from the shelves, ask for a reading, or just walk in and leave. It's a nice business and brings in good money. Everyone always wants to see their future or hear they're on the right path and that's exactly what I tell them.

I walked up the steps into my apartment above my shop, feeling exhausted, my head has been killing me all day. I'm no stranger to migraines, but that doesn't mean they get any easier to deal with. I walked into my living room and turned on the lamp and was met with this extremely bright light that flooded my eyes. If it wasn't for my reflex to grab the arm of the couch to balance myself, I would have fallen over. I groaned in pain while covering my eyes hoping to avoid any light. "What the hell was that?" I said to myself while searching for a way to turn off my light. Migraines make me more sensitive to light, so I guess that makes sense to happen. The migraines have been becoming more frequent, and I'm getting a little concerned. "I should book an appointment with Dr. Jane." I said to myself, I have been meaning to see the doctor anyway, just keep putting it off. I made myself dinner and went to bed shortly after.

Morning came too soon and I was opening up the shop, organizing new shipments of stuff, cleaning, looking at appointments I had for today. When I walked to my reading table the bright light from last night flooded my eyes once again. I fell to my knees with my hands over my eyes. I no longer had a migraine and had no lights on in the shop, this was getting very concerning. Is it something neurological? Am I going blind? "At least that reminded me to make an appointment with Dr. Jane." I said to myself while standing back up. I made a note to call the doctor and went on with my day.

Setting up shop never gets any easier, I always feel like such a fraud, I know I can't see other's futures or talk to the dead or anything like that! I took some deep breaths and calmed myself down while preparing to open up the shop. I flipped the sign in the door and got ready for my appointments. The day was going smooth until my 5th appointment, I was doing a simple tarot card reading and my head started to hurt once again, the bright light flooded my eyes, this time it wasn't just the light, my ears flooded with this loud screeching sound, I closed my eyes and covered my ears and didn't even know I was screaming until everything fell silent. The customer looked at me with a terrified, concerned look. I'm sure she thought it had something to do with her reading. I quickly gathered myself while saying "I'm terribly sorry ma'am, I just..." she put her hand up, telling me to stop explaining. "It's okay, I know psychics can be sensitive to certain things sometimes." I looked away, "yeah, something like that. Let's continue."

I finished her reading and closed up for the night. I made a point to close earlier today so I could get to the doctor before the day was out. I ran upstairs to my apartment and grabbed my jacket, wallet, keys and phone with my earbuds in my ears. I stepped outside making sure to lock my shop behind me. I walked across the street and through a neighborhood, then I was met with the train tracks I had to cross in order to get to my doctor. I began walking close to the tracks and walking beside them until it was time to cross them. I walked for about 4 minutes before I could see my doctors office across the tracks. I stepped onto the tracks and dropped my phone which then pulled the earbuds from my ears. I leaned down to pick up my belongings when I felt a sudden vibration under my feet. When I bent down to pick up my stuff, I put my ear to the train track. I was taken back by the screeching sound that came through the metal tracks, I quickly sat up, only to have the same bright lights I've been seeing fill my eyes once again. A man who doesn't believe he is psychic, who unknowingly predicts his own death...how ironic.