The Fortune Cookie

Cho-mein China Buffet Restaurant was a magical place.  Mei Wong had been a waitress there for ten years and she got to know the customers well.  One of her duties was to place the paper that told the fortune inside the cookie that was given after the meal was eaten.  Each fortune on the paper was a secret until opened.  However, Mei too had a secret.  She knew that each one of the papers had a correct fortune- it always came true.  This was good if the fortune was lucky, but if it brought ill, than she felt personally responsible.
Two months ago a new customer came in.  Her name was Anita and she was a college student.  She brought in her boyfriend Ryan and Mei had delivered a fortune cookie to them.  The fortune cookie said they would get married soon.  Today they had come in and told her they were engaged, and the wedding was to take place in June.  Mei was very happy for that fortune, as they seemed to be in love. The same time that she had delivered the fortune cookie to the college students she had delivered a fortune cookie to a couple in their eighties.  The fortune cookie they got had said they would be unlucky in a gamble.  Today they had come in and told Mei that they had recently lost their savings in a stock purchase.
How could she stop the magic and get the fortune paper to be one of luck? Mei wondered.
Mei thought then to try to switch the fortune papers according to the way she thought the fortune should go to each person.  She had wanted the couple in there eighties to have a happy fortune so she decided to switch the fortune to “soon you will get married”. However the fortune did not work out as planned as the wife Elda had bad fortune to get the good fortune. Mei found out that Elda’s husband Fred had died of a car accident.  Elda had a quick romance with Fred’s best friend Larry and Mei and Mei found out that they were now engaged to get married.  When Elda came in she remarked to Mei how the fortune cookie was always right at Cho-Mein’s when Mei was the waitress.  Elda went and told her friends and family and word got around to eat at Cho-Meins.  That made business good but Mei was not altogether pleased.  Mei worried, as some of the fortunes were bad.
Perhaps she should try to destroy all the fortune papers with bad fortunes on them, she thought.               
Elda’s twelve-year-old grandson, Mike, came in the restaurant and asked Mei to give him a specific fortune.  He told Mei he wanted the fortune that said he would come into a lot of money.  Mei did not think this was a bad fortune, so she put that one aside and gave it to him in his fortune cookie.  Mei had smiled when she came to his table and waited for him to read it.  However a few days later, Elda came in and told her what happened to Mike.  Mike had come into money but Elda had said that he used all that money on himself buying things like electronic games and did not save for college.  Elda was not mad that this happened but she was disappointed.
After a few more disappointments over bad fortunes, Elda came in and had a discussion with Mei about the fortune cookies’ magic.  “Mei,” Elda explained,” You cannot fool with people’s fortunes, good or bad.  What is to be is to be.  You must accept this.”
Mei decided that she should not change the fortunes of people.  She did not want to be responsible on her part.  She devised a plan in which she printed out her own fortune cookie for herself that said, “You lose your magic.”
Anita and Ryan had come in again, now happily married.  This time she informed them that she had lost her magic.  However, they still wanted a fortune cookie. Mei waited for the cookie to reveal what was on the secret paper.  She did not switch. Surprisingly it said, “Life is what you make it”
Mei had never seen that fortune before.  It was a brand new fortune.  Now she wasn’t in control at all. At least the fortune cookie seemed to have a sense of humor.