"Bread! Fresh bread! Came out of the oven one hour ago! Get it while you can!" 15 cents!"
Eli checked his pockets. He had 30 cents left. That familiar chant that the baker would shout every day still rang in his ears. He had already bought the fruit and the non-perishables so why not buy the bread who's scent was wafting over towards him just the same as the beggars between stands. Eli slowly wandered over to the baker's stand in the centre of the market. As he walked he took special care to examine each of the stands to observe if there was a more suitable way to spend his money. As soon as he had concluded there wasn't, he had arrived at the baker's stand. The baker showed him all different kinds of loaves while Eli stayed wary of pickpockets. He finally settled on a still warm whole wheat loaf after having a long debate between the different kinds. He payed the baker what he owed and went on his way. Eli knew he had to start heading home as it was nearing dinner time and he would need to get started. As he selected a route to get home that would be relatively safe he also kept an eye open for something else he could buy. Everyday his master sent him out with fifty cents and warned him never to return with any change. Eli always did what his master told him as he was very kind and had taken Eli in since his very young years. When he neared the end of the market place he spotted a brightly coloured tent that bared I sign in the back that read.
"Fortune Telling. One card for fifteen cents"
Eli thought to himself, this is perfect. He decided to enter the tent and investigate. As soon as Eli stepped through the split drapes that acted as the tent's doors, he saw an old man dressed in all black robes. In the man's hand he saw a deck of bright purple cards with different progressions of the moon in the middle of each card. The man noticed Eli admiring the cards so he decided to reel in his customer.
"Fifteen cents please and you'll know the secrets that lie in your future. One simple card is all I will show you and you'll be on you way. I assume you've got a master to get back to and dinner to prepare," the old man croaked.
"Yes, here you go," Eli replied handing the old man the money with an amazed expression at how the old man knew what he was going to do as soon as he got his fortune. The old man happily took Eli's money and examined it. In fact, he examined it quite thoroughly. Eli thought the old man was merely examining to see if it was counterfeit but in reality, this was how the old man was getting his fortune. After a good long minute, he dropped the money into a bag and quickly drew a card out of his pile. He handed it to Eli and said,
"Here. Read. Then keep"
Eli did as he was told but what he was reading made no sense. You will soon be reunited with someone you missed.
But Eli didn't miss anyone... he's never really known anyone except his master, Earl. Earl was extremely caring but couldn't afford to send him to a good school and Earl only ever settles for the best of the best. So school wasn't an option for Eli, therefore he had no friends. But he had Earl. So who else could he be missing? While Eli pondered on what the fortune teller had given him he was quickly shoved out of the tent because a small line was starting to form and Eli was holding it up. As he walked the long sidewalks back to his small house he thought and thought about his card. He had never known the feeling of missing anyone except Earl when he went away for a weekend. But Earl wasn't going away anytime soon so, who, he wondered was the person this card referred to?
Eli stopped outside his front door. A thought had come to him. What if this card is a fake? What if that teller was a fake and just picked a random card? I know what I'll do. I'll bring it back to him tomorrow and tell him that he chose wrong. I won't tell Earl though but I'll buy an extra dessert that we can enjoy with the money that the teller gives me back. I'll show that fraud.
Feeling pleased with his conclusion Eli stepped through the small and creaky oak door. To his surprise, instead of doing his normal habit of reading in his armchair, Earl was hanging upside down off the ceiling fan.
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Thanks for reading! What do you think happens next? Will Eli get his money back or will the teller have a different trick up his sleeve? Hopefully I'll get the next part out in two days! Hope you're enjoying! 👋🏻
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She is Real
Fiksyen Remaja"She is Real" is story that reels you in with a sense of family and and takes you through a journey with the main character, Eli, while he rediscovers what he knows to be his family.
