Story A Day In May - Story 10

No framework, just let it write it's self. Then went back and wrote the first paragraph.

Power of Ten

by J. Smith Kirkland

She thought twenty-two was going to be just another birthday. Not like that was a bad thing; her family and friends had always celebrated her birthday well. She has never been disappointed. But she has also never seen into the future.

Her name is Neon, but her friends call her Ten. Her parents were from that geek generation that wanted unique science names for their kids. Neon supposed they didn't learn anything from the hippy generation that named their kids things like Sunshine and Rainbow. She secretly stopped hating the name a while back when she got into Chemistry in college and learned Neon is a kinda cool element, but she is not going to let her parents know that.

“Hey, Ten. You ready to go?”

That's her friend Abe. They have been best friends since fifth grade. He is the one that started calling her Ten. Her parents loved that. Neon is ten on the periodic table. So she got why the name stuck with Abe, total nerd, and her parents, also total nerds. She was never sure how everyone else started using it, but she was good with it. Abe is also the one that bought her the triangle necklace she always wears. It was her fifteenth birthday present, when they were in tenth grade. He said it was the Jewish tree of life. It has ten Hebrew characters etched into it. He always has some new '10' fact to teach her. Abe is still a total nerd.

“I'm ready. Where are we going?”

“It's a surprise.”

“Well it had better not be a surprise that takes more than an hour; everyone is getting to the restaurant at seven.”

“Promise we will make it. Besides, I do not want to deal with the wrath of Allison if we're late.”

Most people, except Abe and Neon, thought the two would be high school sweethearts and get married one day. After all, they were pretty inseparable in middle school and high school. But junior year, Allison moved to town. The first time they saw her she was wearing a shirt with that famous painting of a diner, Nighthawks, but the people in the diner were Einstein, Curry, and Tesla. It was love at first site for Abe. And turned out Allison is also hilarious. She was always making Neon laugh, and that's why she quickly became Neon's second best friend. She was a bridesmaid at their wedding.

Abe slows the car and pulls up in front of a Psychic Reader's shop. He is all smiles.

“Seriously? This is your surprise?”

“Come on, we have never done this. It'll be fun.”

Neon fakes disappointment with an eye roll, and Abe laughs. He knows she loves it. She has a fascination for paranormal shows. They used to watch them together and dissect them with science. Though sometimes they would do commentary as pro and con for how accurately the filmmaker conveyed the reality of the story. Neon could debate either side extremely well. Abe is sure they will be able to have later fun discussing a reading.

“Good evening, My name is Clara. Please have a seat.”

Abe, characteristically without a filter between his brain and mouth, “Your name is Clara?”

She is unphased, “Yes, I think my mother, also a clairvoyant, had some warped sense of humor when naming me. You know how parents think they found the perfect name.”

Abe and Neon give each other a look. The Clara looks at Neon's necklace, “You know Kabbala?”

Neon looks down at the necklace uncertain of what Clara is referencing, then realizes it's the Hebrew triangle Abe gave her.

“No, he gave me this.”

Clara looks surprised as she looks at Abe, “You. I would have thought you to rational to believe in such things. You don't seem open like your friend.”

“Well, believe is a strong word. I respect it.”

Clara smiles, “Respect is a more important thing,” and she starts to place cards in the table.

“But we are here for your friend tonight. What is your name.”

“My friends call me Ten.”

“Not your given name, but one you chose.”

“Again, he gave it to me.”

Clara looks up from her cards and smiles at Neon, “But you chose to keep it.”

“I suppose so.”

Neon had never thought of it that way. Somehow that makes her feel strong. Not that she ever felt weak. She was raised to be confident. She was taught she could do anything she wanted. Though sometimes lately, she is not sure if she is doing what she wants, or just doing what happens. Thinking that she chose her name gives her the feeling of control, master of her own fate or something.

Clara has spread the cards face down into a Celtic cross. She turns over the card closest to herself.

“This is you. The Magician. You are very unique, very talented, successful at anything you attempt.”

She turns over another, “This is your past. The Chariot. You had a good childhood. The people that raised you taught you compassion and knowledge. They taught you that using heart and head will make you a powerful force. They encouraged your uniqueness.”

Clara continues on through a few more of the cards with vague but complimentary descriptions of Neon and her life. There are three cards left when she turns over the one she calls hopes and fears. That's the one that causes Neon to listen a little closer to the rest of the reading.

“The World would be a wonderful card to be in the outcome position. It is about completion, success. It would mean you are headed exactly where you want to be. But here, it tells me that what you fear is never reaching that point. You have to know who you are, to get to that point, and you're not sure at this point in your life if you have that knowledge.”

Neon wants to think that is random phrases easily interpreted to mean one's self. She wants to think she and Abe will be laughing about it later, instead of her explaining to him that is exactly how she feels. She listens carefully as Clara turns over the next card.

“Your goal or aspiration. Judgement. Judgment is the meeting of your past with your future. You are hoping all your decisions and actions to will take you where you ultimately want to go. But there is that fear that you don't even know where you want that to be. But the Judgment card also reminds you that your future is not set in stone, and that it's never too late to make the change you want, not just what is handed to you. Do you understand that?”

Neon nods quietly.

Clara continues, “Unfortunately, there is no big glowing neon sign pointing the way.”

On that statement, Abe and Neon look at each other, both knowing they are thinking the same thing about Clara saying the word neon, “Spooky.” But Neon is also thinking how dead on Clara is about how she feels right now. She is twenty-two today, graduating college in a few months. She never really had a plan like all of her friends. They knew what their major would be before they started. She switched hers a few times before ending up with something that would let her graduate on time. Chemistry. Not a bad choice. But maybe not a choice, maybe it was just what happened.

“This last card describes the outcome,” Clara says as she flips over the card, “The Wheel of Fortune is like an always spinning Ferris wheel. So sometimes you will be at the top, and sometimes you will be at the bottom. And always headed from one for the other.”

“That doesn't seem like an outcome as much as being stuck,” Neon chuckles to hide how frightening that sounds.

“This card is telling you that nothing is permanent. Whether it seems good or bad, enjoy what is now, learn from it. But you have always done that. Haven't you? Lived in the moment?”

“I suppose I have.”

“Not everyone has a map of what is coming in their life. No plan to get exactly what they want. And there is nothing wrong that. Not everyone needs it. The Wheel is arcane card ten in the deck. Seems appropriate. Ten is a powerful number. You chose your name wisely. You will choose your path going forward the same way.”

As the are leaving, Neon knows she is not going to start going to fortune tellers for all of her decisions, or contacting ghost with a spirit board, but she thinks that this was not a bad experience, and she wasn't going to be able to make fun of it completely when she and Abe reviewed it later. It made her think. It somehow made her feel better. Maybe Abe is the psychic. He always did know exactly what gift to get her.

“And Abram,” Clara says as they reach the door, “When you want to learn more about Kabbala, you have my number.”

Outside Clara asks Abe, “How did she know your name?”

“Spooky isn't it?”

He waits for a beat, “Seriously, I paid with a credit card. Come on. We have to get you to a birthday party.”

The Prompt

This is — stop me if you’ve heard me say this before — the 10th Anniversary of StoryADay May!

Today I challenge you to write a story that centers around the number 10.

It could be someone’s age, it could be a year, it could be the number of times something has happened (or has to happen).

Surprise me!

In other news, I hope to put together an anthology of stories later this year, celebrating StoryADay’s anniversary and it’s theme will be….10. So get your thinking caps on now!

Story A Day Framework

just wrote.