Karin Bishop
A psychic/mystic/occult bookstore opened in town when I was a teenager. (My readers may recognize it in two of my books!). My friend Robin and I went there to check it out after school, and it was like The Addams Family come to life. The front door was a beaded curtain, and the single large room was filled with books and tables with paraphernalia -- candles, crystal balls, wands, and apothecary jars with unknown contents were stacked along the wall, sending strange, exotic aromas through the room.
Having just opened, there were people milling about, sampling or shopping or simply standing in groups and chatting; signs advertised readings and séances in back rooms and there was an ebb-and-flow as people went back there or emerged.
Robin and I moved through through all the shoppers; we'd look at each other wide-eyed in wonder at some things we saw and heard, and speculating about some others, our heads together in stifled giggles. I stopped to look closely at one book -- it was Jules Michelet's book on witchcraft; I remember it had a red and white cover -- and she drifted off to examine another table of crystal balls of various sizes and prices.
Robin was looking at one bowling-ball sized orb in an ornate base of dark twisted metal, and a gentleman came up to her. As we'd moved through the store, we'd heard him referred to as "The Commander" and he was old enough that we assumed it was his former military rank; some people knew him, nodded to him and paid him greater respect than one would another shopper.
This is Robin's reporting of the incident: The Commander said something like, "Beautiful, aren't they?" meaning the display of crystal balls. She agreed, and said a silly line about, "Maybe they need batteries or something, because I can't see the future!" The Commander didn't take it amiss, but said, "You don't need batteries. Just stare into the heart of it -- you can blink if you need to, but keep your eyes on the center of the crystal."
She told him that she did so, and he said, "In a moment, it will start to cloud, to swirl like a mist ... do you see it?" Robin told him yes, although she told me she saw nothing. The Commander said, "The mist will clear and you can see people ... do you see all those people in there?"
She didn't know if he meant the people in the store, reflected in the ball, or if he meant people actually inside the ball. Around this point, I looked up at them and saw him waving his hands over the ball as he talked to her, and went back to my book.
The Commander said, "See all those people? They're all inside, but that's as it should be. Your friend over there? She's not in the ball. She's not inside, and it means things will be harder for her."
Robin pulled me out of the store so quickly that the beads were swinging wildly. We heard the clattering and the angry murmurs from the people inside as we hit the sidewalk.
I should say that other than the curiosity about this new store, which we shared, Robin had never and has never show any interest in the occult. This story was unlike her; she wouldn't have made it up and I hadn't even asked, "What did the old guy want?" As it was, it was several minutes before she calmed down and told me what he'd said.
Perhaps this mystery is more of a spooky, around-the-campfire kind of incident; certainly the meaning of The Commander's diagnosis of me has troubled me for years. And is "harder" a good thing, or a bad thing? I've gone back-and-forth over possible meanings, but at least this incident has been worthwhile; I've used versions of that bookshop and gentleman in my two books that deal with the occult -- Fool Moon, and Breath of Life.
While I've used the setting, I haven't used the setup as a plot trigger, but it lends itself to several plots --
Perhaps Robin was wealthy and gullible and The Commander was working a scam on her. Or on me. Or I was in cahoots with The Commander to con Robin ...
Perhaps it was just his sales technique, but he unknowingly pisses off the Elements of the Universe and unleashes black magic ...
Perhaps Robin made it all up to worry me, to begin gaslighting me for some nefarious purpose ...
Perhaps Robin comes back later and buys the ball and begins a descent into madness, or becomes possessed ...
Many possible plots, and if anyone wants to take one of these, do so with my blessing and I'll read your book with fascination!
Having just opened, there were people milling about, sampling or shopping or simply standing in groups and chatting; signs advertised readings and séances in back rooms and there was an ebb-and-flow as people went back there or emerged.
Robin and I moved through through all the shoppers; we'd look at each other wide-eyed in wonder at some things we saw and heard, and speculating about some others, our heads together in stifled giggles. I stopped to look closely at one book -- it was Jules Michelet's book on witchcraft; I remember it had a red and white cover -- and she drifted off to examine another table of crystal balls of various sizes and prices.
Robin was looking at one bowling-ball sized orb in an ornate base of dark twisted metal, and a gentleman came up to her. As we'd moved through the store, we'd heard him referred to as "The Commander" and he was old enough that we assumed it was his former military rank; some people knew him, nodded to him and paid him greater respect than one would another shopper.
This is Robin's reporting of the incident: The Commander said something like, "Beautiful, aren't they?" meaning the display of crystal balls. She agreed, and said a silly line about, "Maybe they need batteries or something, because I can't see the future!" The Commander didn't take it amiss, but said, "You don't need batteries. Just stare into the heart of it -- you can blink if you need to, but keep your eyes on the center of the crystal."
She told him that she did so, and he said, "In a moment, it will start to cloud, to swirl like a mist ... do you see it?" Robin told him yes, although she told me she saw nothing. The Commander said, "The mist will clear and you can see people ... do you see all those people in there?"
She didn't know if he meant the people in the store, reflected in the ball, or if he meant people actually inside the ball. Around this point, I looked up at them and saw him waving his hands over the ball as he talked to her, and went back to my book.
The Commander said, "See all those people? They're all inside, but that's as it should be. Your friend over there? She's not in the ball. She's not inside, and it means things will be harder for her."
Robin pulled me out of the store so quickly that the beads were swinging wildly. We heard the clattering and the angry murmurs from the people inside as we hit the sidewalk.
I should say that other than the curiosity about this new store, which we shared, Robin had never and has never show any interest in the occult. This story was unlike her; she wouldn't have made it up and I hadn't even asked, "What did the old guy want?" As it was, it was several minutes before she calmed down and told me what he'd said.
Perhaps this mystery is more of a spooky, around-the-campfire kind of incident; certainly the meaning of The Commander's diagnosis of me has troubled me for years. And is "harder" a good thing, or a bad thing? I've gone back-and-forth over possible meanings, but at least this incident has been worthwhile; I've used versions of that bookshop and gentleman in my two books that deal with the occult -- Fool Moon, and Breath of Life.
While I've used the setting, I haven't used the setup as a plot trigger, but it lends itself to several plots --
Perhaps Robin was wealthy and gullible and The Commander was working a scam on her. Or on me. Or I was in cahoots with The Commander to con Robin ...
Perhaps it was just his sales technique, but he unknowingly pisses off the Elements of the Universe and unleashes black magic ...
Perhaps Robin made it all up to worry me, to begin gaslighting me for some nefarious purpose ...
Perhaps Robin comes back later and buys the ball and begins a descent into madness, or becomes possessed ...
Many possible plots, and if anyone wants to take one of these, do so with my blessing and I'll read your book with fascination!
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