The Fortune Teller’s Son

Chapter 1: MADAME ROSA

The fortune teller’s shop stood between a laundromat and a hardware store, squeezed into a narrow space that most people passed without noticing. Its front window was crowded with faded velvet curtains, strings of glass beads, and a hand-painted sign that read:

MADAME ROSA — ANSWERS ABOUT LOVE, LIFE, AND THE FUTURE

Claire did not believe in fortune-telling.

She believed in rent payments, alarm clocks, and checking the weather before leaving home. She believed that most problems could be solved with patience, common sense, and a strong cup of coffee.

Crystal balls and mysterious spirits did not belong anywhere on that list.

Yet on one rainy Saturday afternoon, she found herself standing outside Madame Rosa’s shop with her friend Natalie.

“We’re already here,” Natalie said, holding an umbrella that was doing very little to protect either of them. “And it’s only ten dollars.”

“That sign says fifteen.”

“We’ll negotiate.”

“You plan to bargain with someone who claims she can see the future?”