Chapter #1Meeting Goddess Sasha by: Unknown "Ethan, come on...we're gonna be late!" Casey's impatient voice snapped you away from your happy daydream. A long couple of months' Summer Vacation, then your new life at college will begin! Muttering a non-committal response to your cute, blonde friend, you head after her as she tugged at your sleeve, joining her at the main queue.
The Carnival has come to town. Again! For as long as you can remember, this has been a summer tradition. When you were a kid, alongside Casey for pretty much each of your visits, it had seemed novel and exciting. Not anymore! "Really Casey? Aren't you a bit old for this?"
"Aw, you love it really!" She giggles at you, wrinkling her nose in such an adorable way that it makes you wonder why the two of you haven't hooked up already. "Some of the other guys will be there. Jessica will be there too..."
The mention of the super-hot Jessica makes your stomach clench a little, as it usually does. "Ha, yeah, whatever," you reply nonchalantly, though the smirk on your blonde friend's face is more than a little infuriating.
Sure enough when you go through the main entrance, you see several of the other guys from school; technically, your former school, now that you've graduated! Greeting and fist bumping several of the other guys from your basketball team, you try to be cool around Jessica, who gives you a brief hello. There's still time to get with her...imagine what a conquest that would be...laying Jessica Hope...the hottest girl you've ever met...
To be fair, you could have pretty much any pick of girls. Being on the basketball team, athletic and good-looking, getting girls had always come easily for you.
As the group of you naturally begin to split off, with a sense of nostalgia and inevitably to the different arcades and rides, a new, unusual-looking tent catches your eye. Noticing that Jessica is standing right next to you and also staring at it curiously, you use this as an opportunity to impress her.
"Ha...those Fortune Teller tents...what a waste of money! I mean, how stupid do they think people are - to actually pay for that crap? Look what it's called: 'Find Your Destiny With The Mystical Goddess Sasha'... Ha!" You tell her with a disdainful chuckle.
Giving you a withering look and arched eyebrow, you know instantly it was the wrong thing to say. "Well, I think it's cool, actually. None of the other guys have the guts to actually go there. Risk finding out about their futures. Like, guys are really just scared little kids."
"Well, uh, it doesn't scare me," you retort, feeling your heart race around this gorgeous girl. "I mean, I could...go..."
"Awesome! Well, let me know how you get on!" She beams at you, which is enough to convince you that you're actually going through with this. Grinning at her before heading towards the pale blue, mysterious looking tent, you are greeted by a very striking yet pompous woman who could be aged anything between 20 and 30....but it's hard to tell as she has a certain wisdom about her.
"Welcome, boy. You are here to have your destiny read...to have your fortune told...to find out what awaits you in these dark and uncertain times...yes?" The woman peers at you, speaking in a foreign accent that was difficult to distinguish. "My name is Goddess Sasha," she adds, rather needlessly.
"Er, yeah, I guess..." You mutter disinterestedly. "How long will this take...and it's free, right?"
Sitting on a chair opposite you, behind a desk covered with blue satin, along with various orbs and unusual objects, she stares at you, clearly unimpressed. "Goddess Sasha requires a tribute. If you want your future read, explained and articulated to you in the most enlightened way possible, then there is no need to ask about such existential concepts such as time.."
What the hell is she going on about?!
"So you're Goddess Sasha, but you refer to yourself in the third person? And can you speak in plain English? How much money and how long will this thing take?" You reply in a sardonic tone sitting down reluctantly on the chair directly opposite her, feeling the need to ridicule this fraud. She's probably made loads of money out of gullible idiots.
The ethereal-looking yet admittedly beautiful woman glares at you, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "I decide upon a monetary convenience that is based upon my subject's willingness to respect and believe....respect and believe the ancient ways and the ancient mysticism that I invoke. For you..." She looks you up and down in disdain. "One hundred US dollars."
"A hundred...a hundred dollars! That's...that's...!" You splutter at her, taken aback. One dollar...maybe even two would be sufficient for this crappy service, surely!
"You are a weak, spineless man..." She tells you in a disapproving tone. "Not even willing to pay me or show me respect." Bafflingly, Goddess Sasha proceeds to put both bare feet up on her table, forcing you to stare directly at them.
Feet...you hate feet! It's always been the one thing that you simply could not stand. As if she could know that you detested them THIS much!
Almost pulling away in disgust, it takes a concerted effort not to yell out in protest. "You're a nut job! Charging me a hundred dollars...then putting your disgusting bare feet on the table in front of me...!"
"Apologise to Goddess Sasha, then I will forgive you, boy. I will allow you to have your fortune read for a...reduced price... All you have to do is admit that you have been disrespectful to Goddess Sasha, then you will have my forgiveness and we can begin the procedure," She tells you this completely calmly, though there is a certain menace about her. Her bare feet, several toes of which are adorned with toe rings, each ankle sporting an anklet wiggle in front of you, as though she's expecting you to surrender your pride, just so you can have your fortune told...
"Forget it," you snarl at her. "You are a fraud. A FRAUD! Standing to your feet and glaring at her, you feel genuinely enraged and full of scorn. "You're nothing but a con artist! Getting teenagers like me to pay you good money for some magic mumbo-jumbo bullshit?! You don't have any fucking powers, you loon! I'm gonna tell everyone that you are a weirdo, who puts her feet in front of their customers' faces. Seriously, get a proper job, you idiot! And no fucking way are you getting a cent out of me!" With that you glare at her while she continues to stare at you, slowly spreading her toes and shaking her head from side to side.
"You...you will curse the day that you showed disrespect to Goddess Sasha. I have created personal hells that your worst possible fears could not even begin to equate to!" The striking woman's eyebrows raise and a fury seems to sparkle inside of her eyes. "You, Ethan Price, will be subjected to all manners of humiliation and degradation! You will wish that you begged and kissed Goddess Sasha's feet, rather than spoke with such disharmony and ingratitude!" With that, she suddenly produces a handful of what seems to be glittery powder and throws it directly at you, making you cough and splutter, clawing at your eyes in frustrated surprise.
"What the...you fucking bitch!" You yell, finally getting rid of the dust so that you can rough her up a bit, to tell that she's a woman! However, Goddess Sasha is gone. Totally gone. Instead, there is a small orb, almost like a magic eight ball, in that it has some writing on the outside of it.
Welcome to your hell.
The words send shivers down your spine but anger soon takes over. Who the hell does she think she is? Throwing some powder crap in your face then somehow getting away before you could confront her. Still, at least you don't have to pay her anything! As you turn around and leave the way you came in, another thought crosses your mind. She knew your name! Well, that is weird, you have to admit. Still, it doesn't mean anything.
Stepping out of the tent, you nearly walk right into someone.
"You?" You say in total surprise at the person in front of you... | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |