She went to the fair with no thought other than to have a reading with the fortune teller.
The young girl had planned it for weeks and felt the anticipation growing day by day. She would tell the famous woman about her plans for herself when she left school. As she entered the tent, she was taken aback by how old and disagreeable the old fortune teller looked. As she sat down across from her, the reports she’d received about how remarkably accurate she was with her fortune telling strengthened her resolve to stay. She dropped the money into a bowl the old woman pointed to and proceeded to tell the woman the sort of things she needed to know. She was quite specific about knowing how certain aspects of her life were going to unfold.
The old seer sniffed and began laying out columns of cards until the entire pack was laid out. This was followed by a complex sequence of choosing cards, turning them over, and then creating new rows of exposed cards ready to be read. After carefully considering the final layout of the cards, occasionally tapping them with a bony finger and nodding to herself, the old crone began to speak. “Your plans to go on after school and study interior design will be cut short when you lose your parents in a motor vehicle accident. From that point your life will change radically. As for meeting a young man and marrying, that won’t happen. You’ll have several affairs, none of them particularly happy ones, but you’ll never settle down with a regular partner.”
When the reading was finished the old woman looked up to find the girl sobbing uncontrollably into a handkerchief.
With a sneer, the hag said, “Well, you did ask…”