Hello! This is my first short story. Very open to any thoughts and feedback.
This story is set in a modern-day metaphysical shop inspired by real-world events. We follow the main character, Sammy, as she goes about her day as a psychic-in-training at The Scarlet Rose.
*Please Note: This story contains a violent depiction and a whole lot of cursing.

The Scarlet Rose by Layla Mae

I’m not sure what woke me up.

The sweat dripping down my lower back, the dehydration, or the woman banging on the window above my head.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Jim?!?”

The man lying next to me rolled over and threw a pillow over his head.

I stood up too fast and gave myself the spins. I tried to look around the damp trailer hoping to find the pleated mini skirt and lace top I was wearing last night.

Or was that the night before?

I shuffled around the room, the trailer swayed with every step until I found the Guns N Roses crop top and jeaned short-shorts that I came here with.

As soon as I finished putting on my clothes the banging started up again.

“If you don’t get out here I’m gonna break this GODDAMN WINDOW!”

I found another pillow lying at the foot of the bed and I threw it at Jeff, oops, Jim.

“Hey man, I’m getting out of here. Unless you want to spend the afternoon replacing that window, it’s time to face the music.”

He made a guttural cough that only comes from a lifetime of cigarettes and liquor, turned over, and went back to sleep. I shoved his shoulder one more time, then made my way to the front door.

BANG BANG BANG.

“You’ve got 10 seconds before this window is gone!”

As the front door to the double-wide closed behind me I heard the glass smash. It was quickly followed by a, “What the FUCK!” from Jimmy.

Once I closed the door to my Tacoma the fighting was muffled enough for me to create a coherent thought. I looked over at the dash: 10:45 am. “Fuck.” I typed out Scarlett Rose on Google Maps. ETA was 20 minutes.

“Fuck.”

After the club closed and we counted our tips out, last thing I remember was getting drinks at Arcana with Tabi. We were messing around with a group of guys who were… having a bachelor party…

Always the homewrecker and never the bride.

I took a moment to assess the state of my face in the rearview mirror. I was wiping eyeliner out of my waterline when BANG BANG BANG on the driver's side window.

A woman with streaked mascara and red lipstick looked at me with a face full of vengeance.

“You think you’re going to ruin my life and WALK AWAY!? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”

I grabbed the gear shift and threw it in reverse. I could hear the tires kick up dust, rock, and clay.

I looked back and saw the woman doubled over coughing from the dust. A large chunk of clay was caked on her blonde extensions.

I turned left onto Yucca Trail and kept my foot on the gas till I was pushing 55.

I felt my heart starting to slow down once I made it onto the 540. Was this my first getaway of shame? Of course not.

But I still don’t understand how I’m the bad guy in these situations. These girls always look at me like I was the one who broke a promise. Like I was the one who committed to a life full of love, babies, and marital bliss. I’m not saying I’m in the right. But I’ll never understand how I’m the one who’s done them wrong.

I pulled into the employee spot for The Scarlet Rose at 11:15 am.

I had to stop and get something to eat first, plus I needed to throw on some deodorant. I still smelled like a trailer park and vodka, but now I smelled like Lavender too.

I slid my key into the backdoor, turned on the lights, and started checking the shelves to make sure the crystals weren’t out of place. If it wasn’t for the way that labradorite always glinted with green and blue in the light, I wouldn’t have noticed it lying next to the black obsidian. The bookshelves were dusty. I could get that later.

There’s something about a bunch of dusty books on witchcraft, metaphysical realms, and reiki that made you feel like you were uncovering an ancient wisdom lost to time. I’m sure whoever decided to finally buy one of these tombs would appreciate the dust.

I grabbed the little chain that hung from the neon sign and pulled.

Red and blue surged through the tubes and it started to hum with electricity.

I unlocked the front door and peeked my head out to see if any disgruntled customers were waiting. They weren’t.

I don’t even know why we opened at 10:30. It wasn’t like this crowd was inclined to get out of bed before noon anyway.

I propped the door open with a laughing Buddha statue. It felt colder outside than inside right now. I needed the fresh air to wake me up, but the sunshine was not helping my headache.

I went behind the counter, sat on the stool, and put my head in my hands. My head was still pounding at the same tempo as the banging on that window. I have no idea how long I was out, but I vaguely remember dreaming of James, fuck, Jim from last night. We were kissing at the bar. Then the bartender started banging on the counter in that same goddamn tempo.

BANG BANG BANG

“Sam.”

How the fuck did the bartender know my name?

“Sam!”

BANG BANG BANG

“SAMANTHA!”

I jerked up and saw Madam Rose across the counter.

“Shit.” I took a deep breath and tried not to fall off the stool as the room started spinning again.

“How long have you been sleeping at my counter today?”

I wiped my eyes and looked at the bat-shaped clock above the front door.

12:05

“Only like… 10 minutes.”

“I’ve been trying to rouse you from your slumber for the last 10 minutes. If you weren’t snoring so loud, I would have assumed you had passed to the beyond and then I would have been forced to call the authorities.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the antique feather duster from under the counter.

There’s no point in talking to Madam Rose when she’s like this. “How long do you think I’ll tolerate your blatant disrespect of this house of worship?”

“Probably until someone other than you considers this a house of worship,” I called over my shoulder.

I started dusting around the books. I pulled out one whose cover was filled with galaxies and constellations. The Millennial's Guide to Astrology. I really just wanted more time before I had to face Madam Rose again.

When I didn’t come back to the counter Madam Rose huffed and started moving toward me.

She jingled with every step she took. Between her earrings, the fringe that dangled beneath her breasts, the belly dancing skirt, and the charms attached to her heels it was a chorus of sounds that hit my hangover in all the wrong ways.

“Another soiree with Miss Tabitha?”

“How’d you know?”

“I am a psychic, dear.”

I rolled my eyes, “Right.”

“Do you have any readings scheduled for today?”

“No. Just one tomorrow.”

“What about that young lady who came in last week?”

“She’s got a new lover just as the cards predicted.”

It was Madam Rose’s turn to roll her eyes.

“The cards are supposed to tell them that they need to keep coming back for more readings.”

I smirked, faced Madam Rose, and put on my Psychic Sammy voice, “I am but a servant to the forces that control this realm and beyond. My duty is to be a conduit to the lost and a guiding light to the living.”

Madam Rose huffed and started walking towards the seance room at the back of the shop. “I don’t have any readings today either,” she said as she was passing the herbs and salves section, “But keep things clean out here and stay awake. You never know when the spirits will guide some poor soul to our doorstep.” She slammed the door to the seance room. The all-seeing eye on the door swayed back and forth.

I wanted to laugh, but even the idea of it made my headache start up again.

By 1:30 I closed the front door. It was September, but the summer afternoons were still unbearable until late October. The regulars and tourists started rolling in around 1:50.

A group of 20-somethings dressed in the latest hippie garb from Earthbound looking for chakra books, a group of teenage girls dressed in all-black that dared each other to touch the cauldron in the center of the room, a family of four that couldn’t stop yelling “Mom! Check this out!” or “Jerry! You ever seen one of these?!”

They never spend more than 20 bucks and the teenagers always asked me for free stickers.

By 3:00 the Scarlett Rose was empty again.

I was about to go back to the Seance room to see if Madam Rose had slipped out the back when I heard the chimes on the front door. I looked up to see a middle-aged woman with frizzy brown hair in a green tie-dyed moo-moo and Birkenstocks. Behind her was a younger version. Same hair, same Birkenstocks, wearing a grateful dead t-shirt and gym shorts. She was pushing a baby stroller. Inside was a toddler who had the same brown hair and puffy red cheeks.

The first woman moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and started taking in the shop.

“Wowie! Would ya look at all of this?”

They started toward the crystals. I slumped back down over the counter.

It wasn’t long before they made their way back to the front.

I watched the green moo-moo swish at the woman’s ankles as she bee-lined towards me. I looked up, expecting to see a small piece of amethyst or citrine in the woman’s hands, but they were empty.

“I tell ya, we just moved here from Boston, and every time I see one of these shops. Ah! Just makes me so happy to see it in the south.”

The younger version was looking at the votive candles and incense to the right of the counter.
“My daughter and granddaughter are here for the weekend. My daughter named her daughter Salem, cause we lived in Massachusetts. You know about Salem, Right? I don’t gotta tell you.”

She continued before I could respond, “I kept tellin’ her that a better name would be Magnolia, but what do I know.”

The daughter didn’t look our way, and Salem was much more interested in the flowers printed on her dress.

This lady was about 4 decibels louder than my ears could handle, but this wasn’t my first hangover. I gave the daughter the warmest smile and said, “With a namesake like that, I’m sure she’ll be divinely connected with her ancestors.” The daughter turned and smirked at me.

Without missing a beat the grandmother said, “Anyways, you got time for a reading today? I swear my husband is driving me up the wall and I’m just directionless…”

The daughter turned away quickly and started staring daggers into the candles.

The mother gestured toward the daughter,

“You wanna do a reading?”

“No.”

“Ah come on. It’ll be fun.”

“NO!”

Her forcefulness made me jump. The shop was dead quiet. If it weren’t for the backdoor slamming shut, that moment would have gone on for eternity.

“We have fun, we’re having fun.”

Granny’s attempts to smooth things over only made it worse. Before she could say anything else to make this situation even more awkward I blurted out, “Actually… I only have time for one reading today.”

“Oh Great! Would ya look at that!”

I hustled Granny back to the seance room and made sure to put the Reading in Progress, Back in 15 Minutes sign on the front door. The daughter opted to wait in the car with Salem. Granny handed her the keys before walking back with me. I noticed a bright green keychain with black lettering.

S H E R R I

I opened the door to the seance room and gestured Sherri inside. The walls are covered with black velvet. At the center of the table is a crystal ball held in gold filigree that compliments the red velvet tablecloth. There’s a switch under the table that makes the crystal ball fill with smoke, but I’ve never used it.

As Sherri was settling into her seat I quickly unplugged the crystal ball and moved it to the accent table left of the room. I walked over to the psychic’s chair which was more akin to a throne than an actual chair.

“Hello, Sherri.”

Her eyes were massive.

“How did you-”

“It seems that the spirits have brought you here today to prepare you for what your future may hold. Before we begin, I must tell you. I am but a servant to the forces that control this realm and beyond. My duty is to be a conduit to the lost and a guiding light to the living. What the cards share with you today, is for you and you alone.”

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and began to shuffle the cards.

I could feel Sherri’s eyes on me, her breathing was shallow.

With a big exhale I opened my eyes and fanned the cards in front of her.

“Pull out as many cards as you like. Listen to your intuition. Your spiritual guides will lead you to the truth.”

Sherri pulled out three cards. They always pull out three cards.

She laid them face down in front of her. I set the rest of the deck to the side and gestured for her to flip over her cards.

The first card was Choice. There was a tree with three faces carved into its base. One face was crying, one face was shining bright in the moonlight, and the other was looking down towards the ground. A golden apple sat on the roots of the tree. A snake holding a flaming torch hung from the branches.

The second card was Death and Rebirth. Three human skulls lined the bottom of the card. On top of the skulls sat a golden egg. Inside the egg was a sleeping child, and wrapped around it was a purple and green snake that eyed an unsuspecting tree frog who was sitting atop the middle skull.

The final card was Destiny. A woman wearing an elaborate headpiece made of feathers, snakes, and an eagle’s head. Her eyes were closed, but she stared at us with the third eye in the middle of her brows. A bell hung from either side of the headpiece.

Every card was reversed.

Choice in Reverse: When someone continually searches for a more desirable outcome, we only delay the inevitable. If a choice is not made, then another will decide for you.

Death/Rebirth in Reverse: It is time to see what you never wanted to know. Look at the life you’ve created and let go. Let go of what was, what you dreamed of, and what will never be.

Destiny in Reverse: Meeting your destiny does not happen on your terms. Prepare to pay your dues.

I stared at the cards stunned for a moment too long.

”What? What is it?”

Normally I paused in a moment of revere to add some suspense and drama, but this...

My Psychic Sammy voice dropped as I said, “I - I’m not sure how to say this…”

The wrinkles on Sherri’s forehead deepened. Her smile lines were gone and her rosy cheeks were a sickly gray. I had to get it together. I thought it was just weird timing and bad luck.

My arms shot up above my head, I took an obnoxious breath, and then I let my hands fall gracefully in front of me.

“Apologies Madame Sherri,”

My voice was shaky. I could feel my fingers twitching.

I shot out a hand and grabbed the cards. My nerves cooled as I started shuffling them back into the deck. “My head is clouded today, and I should have been the one to reveal your cards. These cards have vastly different outcomes when handled by an experienced conduit.”

Sherri was quiet. I could tell she was suspicious of me. I fanned the cards out. Again, she laid three cards face down in front of her. My fingers touched the edges of each card and shook harder with every card I revealed.

First card: Choice

Second card: Death/Rebirth

Third card: Destiny

Each card faced upright toward Sherri this time.

“You - You see? Nothing to be concerned about.”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but at least the cards weren’t reversed. ”This first card is Choice. It reminds us that when we feel like we have no other options, choosing to do nothing is also a choice. The spirits ask you to consider your options at a crossroads in your life.”

Sherri was so still, I wasn’t sure if she was breathing for a second. I couldn’t handle looking into her eyes any longer.

I pointed to the second card. “This card signifies Death & Rebirth. It is time to begin again. Your winter has been long and painful, but the spring is here now. Let go of the past, focus on what you need to plant so that your summer will be fruitful.”

I heard the bells at the front door. Damn, I thought I locked it when I put up the sign. Sherri never took her eyes off me.

“Finally. This card symbolizes your Destiny. Destiny is the eighth reason for being. We all have a destiny, and we all hope to lead a life with meaning and purpose. It is time to find your gifts, Madam Sherri. Hone your craft, and then share it with the world.”

This is why you always have them pay before a reading, Sammy.

I could hear Madam Rose lecturing me in my head.

I don’t know why you insist on ignoring my wisdom. You can always control what the spirits share through the crystal ball. The cards are unpredictable.

But the cards always relieved me of something. It wasn’t me telling women about their unfaithful husbands. It wasn’t me encouraging them to leave their job and risk it all. The cards said enough, the people filled in the blanks, and I took the money.

Sherri started rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a wad of bills and slammed them on the table.

“Tell me what they said.”

“But - I just told - “

“PLEASE. I need to know.”

There was nowhere to run. No way to escape this moment. I could hear the floor creak as someone walked around the shop. Every muscle in my body tensed as I relaxed my throat enough to get the words out. I stared down at the cards.

“Your actions to prevent the inevitable were in vain. It is time to walk towards the fate you thought would never come to pass.”

Sherri stood up fast and knocked over her chair. She stumbled over the chair’s legs and nearly fell into the side table. The side table jostled and the crystal ball fell to the floor. I felt some of the glass hit my ankle. I couldn’t stop staring at the cards.

I felt a rush of cool air as the door swung open. I heard Sherri’s footsteps as she ran to the front door. Then I heard the shots.

BANG BANG BANG

I ducked down out of instinct. The next thing I knew I was under the table.

I tried to steady my breathing. I flinched every time I felt my skin brush against the tablecloth. I don’t know how long I was under there. All I could think about was trying to breathe without sound.

When the officer lifted the velvet I screamed and put my hands over my ears.

“It’s Okay!” He looked back to the door, “I found her!”

I didn’t crawl out of the seance room until I heard Madam Rose’s heels on the floorboards. I ran to her like a child running to their mother.

She scooped me up and enveloped my whole torso into her chest.

“I’ve got you. Oh, thank Hera, we found you. You’re safe, it’s going to be okay.”

Her breath was shaky. I had never seen Madam Rose unsure of herself before.

She led me out the back door. An ambulance was waiting in the alley behind the shop with a cop car flanked on each side.

Before we walked down the steps I looked back and saw her. She was lying with a sheet over her face, a cascade of crystals on the floor. If it weren’t for the blood stains, it would have looked like a field of quartz and emeralds had been planted in the middle of the shop.

I turned forward and let Madam Rose help me down the stairs. I couldn’t feel my arms or my legs. Each step was more wobbly than I expected.

As we made it to the asphalt, a cop holding Salem passed in front of us.

Her cheeks were puffier and her eyes were red. She was turning a pacifier over and over in her little hands. The officer was bouncing and cooing at her. “There you go, sweetheart. You’re going to be alright baby girl. Your pawpaw will be here real soon.”

I don’t remember Madam Rose driving me home, but I’m here now.

I don’t remember the EMTs checking me out, but they must have, because I woke up with a bandage on my hand. I guess I cut myself on the glass as I was crawling out of the seance room.

I don’t remember grabbing my tarot deck, but it’s here on my nightstand.