Mr Adams didn’t have much time for fairgrounds.
Nevertheless, he always went along with his wife to keep her company. The show swung around every year, making some kind of circuit right around the country. She liked to go along for the spectacle of it all, while her husband found it all rather noisy and pointless. Despite this, they had a few shots at the rifle range, had a go on one of the gentler rides, and now stood in front of Madam Griswold’s tent.
“OK. Go on” he said wearily. “I’m sure you want to know what your future holds for you.”
“No. You know I never throw my money away on this sort of thing.”
He was reading the sign. “Look at this. She doesn’t tell the future, she tells the now! What the hell does that mean?”
She read the sign. “Well, I suppose I’m interested, even if I don’t know what it means.”
“Go on. You’ll never stop wondering if you don’t go in.” He sighed. “I’ll wait right here for you.”
As she entered, a little old woman sitting behind a tiny round table looked up with a toothless smile. In a voice hardly above a whisper she said “Please sit my dear.” She looked very frail and not at all well. Her customer sat with a sense that this going to be rather ridiculous and a complete waste of money. But then she thought, he did talk me into it.
“I don’t tell you about your future. You read the sign?
“Yes.”
“Good I can only tell you about your now. Where would you like to start?”
“I… I have no idea.”
“Well then, well concentrate on your home. Is that alright?”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“Alright then.” The old woman closed her eyes. “Oh! Yes, it’s a nice home dear. You do keep it well.”
She felt her face flush and replied “Thank you. I do my best.”
“It’s a pity about the crack at the bottom of the bathroom mirror.” With this she opened her eyes to gauge her visitor’s reaction.
Mrs Adams gasped, “The… the bathroom… what do you mean.”
“No matter dear; it just seems a shame in such a well-kept bathroom. Everything neat and tidy. Matching towels. Everything in its place. You’ve just never got around to it I suppose.”
“I noticed that the box of tissues on your dresser is almost empty.”
Mrs Adams sat dumbfounded.
“The banjo your husband’s father gave him is beginning to rot around the hole.”
She looked bewildered “Banjo?”
“It’s in the loft.” She went on “If you do decide to move the couch in the living room, you’ll have to do something about the carpet stain. Shall we go somewhere else now?”
She didn’t wait for an answer.
“Your son’s flat. In Toronto is it? The missing teddy bear fell down behind the bed in the spare bedroom. Your uncle’s white utility vehicle has been resprayed, but the original colour, blue, is starting to show through; he may not have noticed yet. I should mention that there are two buttons missing from your husband’s spare, clean shirt; you know, the one he keeps at the office.”
The old woman stopped and passed a bony hand across her face. “Sorry dear, but I’m getting a bit tired. Is it alright if we stop now?”
Mrs Adams was still in a state of shock and could only nod. She staggered back out of the tent and fell into her husband’s arms. He saw she was close to fainting and sat her down on a nearby seat. A man came over from another stall and asked if everything was alright. Mr Adams asked if he could get a glass of water and he hurried back with it.
“I’m afraid my wife was in with Madam Griswold and had a bit of a turn.” The man puffed out his cheeks. “Not surprised. Silly old biddy. I’m not sure what she tells them in there but I’ve seen a fair few wander out like lost sheep. I’m going to get Alex to have a word with her.”
Mr Adams said “Alex?” The man replied saying “The manager, I’ll be back in a minute; you look after her, she doesn’t look too good to me.” He was back within minutes. They seemed to be arguing. Alex was saying “You look for yourself.” The man went into the tent and came out saying “I don’t understand! We’ve been here all the time and this lady went in and saw her not long ago. I saw her go in, while this gentleman, her husband, waited outside.”
Alex explained “We received a call from her daughter telling us of her passing away last week. I gave orders to remove the tent from the grounds.” He looked around saying “This was obviously ignored.”
Mrs Adams was still not speaking, only mumbling to herself. Her husband said “I think I should get her home. “Of course” said Alex “…and I apologise for any trouble this has caused.” Mr Adams moved his wife quickly to one side, smiling and nodding, as two workers began pulling down the tent. He took her away as fast as possible.
He really didn’t have much time for fairgrounds.