The Teller of Small Fortunes

by Julie Leong

“How much wealth makes a fortune depends on how much one already has, for it will always be more than that,” said Tao. She was rather enjoying getting into character—even if some small part of her shook its head at showing folk what they wanted to see in a mystical Shinn fortune teller, rather than the more mundane truth.

Familiarity could look very much like love from a certain angle, if one didn’t look too hard.

Everyone deserves a home, Tao thought, patting Laohu’s whiskery grey nose. And what was a home but somewhere you wouldn’t have to feel quite so alone?

“People think they want true fortunes, but they don’t really. What they want are

lies. Small lies, big lies, entertaining lies, comforting lies.

“And the suspicion turns to fear, and the fear, as it always does, turns to anger.”

And the two of them stood there awhile longer, the brawny old warrior and the young Shinn fortune teller, each lost in their own cloud of longings and regrets, before they finally took leave of the church and returned to Tao’s wagon.

“All cats are slightly magical, don’t you know? It’s why they’re so smug all the time.

“How Terrible For You. To See The Strings Upon Which We Dance. To

Understand Fully That All Paths Are Predetermined, And Choice Does Not Exist.”

Aye, our lives are short and shaped by circumstance, and maybe we can’t control most of what’s to come. But we can control how we feel. We can savor the sweetness of a blackberry scone, and the company of our friends, and the warmth of the summer wind at night, and be grateful for it. We can be nothing, and choose to be miserable about it, like you—or we can be nothing, but choose to be happy, and let that be purpose enough. Which sounds more worthwhile to you?”

Sometimes, thought Lisbet, you just have to make it easier for people to do the right thing.