“I don’t know … ”
“I know! I’ll read them for you. Then you can see if you like them and you can buy some of your own. Come!” The girl skipped to the counter and pulled out a velvet bag.
“You sure your mommy won’t mind?”
The girl beamed. “Mommy says I’m the best. She won’t mind at all.”
“Try before you buy,” said Erin.
“Exactly!” The girl’s musical laugh echoed in the otherwise empty shop. “Now, when I read the cards for someone, they have to focus on what it is they want. You do know what you want, right?”
“I’m not sure, actually.”
The girl tsk-tsked. “The first step in getting what you want is knowing what you want. I thought everybody knew that.” She eyed Erin skeptically.
“I guess—I thought I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t.”
“You really do need help, don’t you?”
Erin chuckled. “I guess I do.”
“Close your eyes, then.”
“What?”
“Close them!” The girl fluttered her hands at Erin.
Erin obeyed.
“Picture yourself standing in a forest. Grass underneath your feet. Trees soaring into the air around you. The sun breaking through the leaves to warm you. Can you see it?”
Erin nodded.
“Now look into the distance. See the hills on the horizon?”
“Yes. I see them.”
“There’s a road before you. It runs from where you stand all the way to the hills. Can you see the road?”
A sliver of anxiety slid through Erin. “I don’t know where it goes.”
“Don’t be afraid,” said the girl. “Just look down the road. Follow it with your eyes as far as you can see.”
Erin breathed deeply and placed her hands on the edge of the counter for balance. In her mind’s eye, she looked down the road, farther and farther.
“What do you see where the road disappears over the hill?”
“I see—” All of a sudden, she saw the silhouette of wings rising over the hill, as if something were coming over the hill from the other side to meet her. “I see someone.”
“Do you know this person?”
“I do.”
“Okay, then. You can open your eyes now.”
Erin looked at the strange girl.
“That’s the goal you’re headed toward right now. Reach that, and the next time you visualize the road, you might see something different.”
