The woman had tattoos that ran down from the corners of her eyes to across her cheekbones. A hairband with a row of small sharp claws was pulled up to the middle of her head which made her hairs to all stand up. She also had a unique clothing which had very long sleeves that drooped from her hands. Her hands had to hold things behind the sleeves.
Sally's eyes lingered around the cards and pushed 5 cards towards the woman. The latter turned over the cards. She scrutinized them - bear, sparrow, snake, bull and crab drawn on the cards each. Silence had taken for a while before she parted her lips to speak,
''You get burn''
''You mean i will be burnt down?'' exclaimed Sally.
The fortune teller nodded slowly.
''I will be caught in fire?'' Sally implored for more details but heard incoherent reply from the fortune teller with bizarre cadence that she wondered whether the latter was really speaking English.
''Notice small things. If failed then suspicious no hesitate,'' this was the words Sally was able to catch from her utterance.
One of her friends, Eileen, recommended Sally to see the fortune teller before leaving for the one-week holiday in a tropical country. On her way home from the fortune teller, Sally still mulled over the words 'get burn' , 'notice small things. If failed then suspicious no hesitate'. She explained herself that she could be burnt in a fire hence she had to beware of any fire hazards, especially inconspicuous ones. It was like life-or death matter.
Few days later, Sally and her 4 friends arrived in the country and accommodated themselves at a hotel.
While her friends were rambunctious about their holiday, she was alarmed and resolute to hedge against her quirk of fate.
After unpacking at their rooms, her friends started smoking at the veranda. It was unbearable for Sally not to join them but having only to watch them as a smoker. She deliberately did not bring her cigarettes as she was afraid that the kindling of them might cause a fire.
When her friends were done, she went to the ashtray and shot water onto the squashed cigarette butts with the sprayer she had brought with her. Their befuddled eyes pinned on her as they were watching her absurd and unusual behavior. They fired a bunch of curious questions and she answered,
''To prevent any fires'' before leaving the veranda.
Spontaneous laughters were heard behind her back.
''To prevent any fires'' before leaving the veranda.
Spontaneous laughters were heard behind her back.
Soon after, Eileen came to see her. To her disturbance, Eileen still seemed to be giggling. She asked Sally, ''What did the fortune teller say?''
Sally told her the puzzling words.
''Sometimes, she tends to say things in riddles. Let me unriddle them. Mmmmmm......''Eileen mused. Sally looked at her attentively.
''When you are to be burnt down....you need heat...Ah!She meant that if you feel a little unwell you have to rest immediately without hesitation!'cuz you may get heat stroke!''Eileen concluded and Sally knew she should not trust her statement. She went on checking if there was any electrical sockets being overloaded which could lead to fire hazards.
The next day, they went to a forest for two-days camping. They set two tents and ventured around the forest. At lunchtime, they made a fire and cooked noodles and some fish they had caught at the stream. After cooking, Sally quickly put out the fire completely with a fire extinguisher that had flown across the oceans with her but failed not to induce her friends' laughters. She sprayed water on cigarette butts they had thrown like the day before.
At night, they made a campfire but was pulverized by the extinguisher as soon as Sally's excitement palled. The friends lit up insect repellent coils but the coils were shot by the water sprayer again in Sally's hand. Their friends were never annoyed but chuckled at her and went to sleep.
On the fourth day, they travelled to a valley for rafting. It was the most relaxing and indulging activity for Sally as she did not have to worry about being burnt in water.
On the way to the hotel after the rafting, Sally felt a headache. She thought she had caught cold in water or did not feel good because she had not been smoking. She borrowed Eileen's cigarette and smoked to alleviate the pain.
The next day, Sally woke up to find herself in stifling heat. She believed that she had a flu and smoked more cigarettes to ease herself. By the time they reached a temple for tourism, she could feel searing pain in her every muscles. Her friends asked her if she was alright and she told them she was fine but she ended up in a ward in a hospital.
Lying on the bed, she could feel her whole body was burning. Scratching mosquito bites, Sally laughed at herself as she was getting hints of the fortune teller's words.
