Book of Fates ✔

The whole world is a theatre

The day she was waiting for came soon. Too soon. It always happens when you anticipate something, trembling with excitement and a pinch of fear in your stomach.

Making her way downtown, Anya struggled to summarize the first chapter of her existence. Let's see. She graduated from high school this summer, and today was the day of her final performance in the theatre studio, where she'd practically grown up. Goodbye, the past. Goodbye, childhood.

What would the future bring? A college? Some new friends? A brand new life.

A gust of the evening's fresh air touched Anya's skin, playing with the pleats of her chiffon skirt. Glimmering street lights flickered above her head.

Anya quickened her pace, and her thoughts also began spinning faster.

Till now, Anya didn't see anything in her life that she could be proud of, anything that she'd be recalling nostalgically years later. Maybe, her mood was the one to blame? At times, you're just tired of everything, you don't understand what you really do want. Is it the life that becomes boring? Or the person who's bored with the life?

When you finish an important job-graduating from high school is an important job-you should be happy. You're finally free. All the time in the world is yours. All the doors are open.

Choose whatever you like.

No. In reality, it's different. When you have everything-you have nothing. You're scared of making the wrong decision. You just run in circles, with no way out. Anya needed someone to help her, to show her the right path. But there was no one to ask for help.

Deciding to take the shortcut, Anya turned into the park.

Here, among the trees, she unintentionally slowed down. The first, yet dim stars were in the sky, shimmering. Can you imagine that somewhere someone is looking up at those same stars, just like you do? In a neighboring street or on the other side of Earth-doesn't matter. Even on another planet, why not? You are not alone. This idea spread warmth over Anya's body, as a rainbow spreads its colors across the sky.

A strange sensation of awe kindled in Anya's chest for a fraction of a second and then instantly faded away. The feeling of déjà vu took its place. For some reason, she remembered one customer she saw in the bookshop a few days ago. He was looking for...

"...The book of fates," Anya murmured to herself. Out of curiosity, she searched the Internet afterward, but all she could find was a bunch of fortune-telling websites. No books.

"I'm sure he said the first thing he could think of," Sophia groaned that day, watching the guy leave. "Oh, why do these people even bother coming to the shop?"

"They all come for the same purpose-to kill some time," Anya said with a shrug and trotted toward the 'staff only' room, trying to remove an irritating badge from her t-shirt.

Sophia creased her forehead, puzzled. "And where are you going?"

"I told you I have the dress rehearsal today."

"Right, I totally forgot... Can I ask you something?" Sophia made a dismissive gesture and went on without waiting for an answer. "How do find time for all this? I mean the school, the studio, this work... I barely manage to wake up in the morning as I know I'll see all these nauseating customers in here."

"I can time travel," Anya joked and then sighed, glancing at her watch. She wished she could. She was late again. She'd come up on the stage right by the time the director would be barking at the latecomer. Ugh... "So, will I see you there, Soph?'

"Where?"

"At my play. I invited you, remember?"

"Sure. I mean you did, but..." the red-haired colleague twitched the mouth, an unconvincing apology. "Next time, okay?"