Luana Wu (9) | STAFF REPORTER
There was an old hag sitting in front of my father’s bookstore. She was, as far as I could tell, extremely stubborn. She claimed that she could tell the future just by tasting someone’s blood. My father wanted her gone, of course, but there was no use in persuading her. She made quite a bit of money by sitting outside the bookstore.
It didn’t help my father’s business. All his customers were interested in hearing their futures, even if knowing your future drove some people mad. There was a man a few months ago who committed suicide because the woman told him that he’d lose all his money and live on the streets for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, people still insisted on hearing their future. Whether or not the hag’s readings were correct, I never knew. My father thought it was impossible that she would be able to see someone’s future, but most thought that the hag was some magical being.
She charged an absurd price too. At first, she charged three dollars for a reading, then when people began hearing of her abilities, she charged ten dollars. She also said that in order for you to hear your entire future, you would have to come back multiple times. People did. Each time, she demanded more and more for each reading.
I paid no attention to her or the long line of people waiting to hear their future. I just focused on helping my father run the store, although nobody wanted to buy books anymore. One day when I was almost done closing the shop, the hag approached me. I was surprised. After all, it was late, probably close to midnight at that point, so I wasn’t expecting anybody to talk to me. She’d sent everyone away earlier than normal today, so I knew that something was up. I didn’t expect her to come to me.
“May I help you?” I asked her, while shutting the blinds.
She just looked at me curiously, saying, “You seem like a good girl. You help your father with the shop, you help open and close it everyday, and you’re obedient.”
“And?” I said. “Is there a point to your compliments?”
The woman smiled, revealing yellowed teeth. “Always. I was wondering… would you like to know what your future looks like?”
“No,” I replied instantly. “I-I don’t want to know.”
The hag sighed. “Really? Usually it’s the young ones who come begging for me to tell them. Though I suppose now that I’m stealing all your customers away, you should hate me. Isn’t that right?”
“I guess,” I told her. “If that’s all you’ve come to say, then please leave. It’s late; I need to get home.” I started to move past her, but she blocked the entryway. It seemed like letting me leave was not on her to-do list. “Please,” I said, “you’re becoming quite irritating. Can you just leave?”
Her only answer was to draw a dagger and grab my hand. There was a painful prick on my finger, then I saw nothing.
