Set your story in an oracle or a fortune teller’s parlor.

Posted in Fantasy on Jun 24, 2022

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✍️ 66 stories

“The Seeing” by Margaret Savadas

Submitted to Contest #152

Cincia’s day of Seeing had come. Just as quickly as she had fallen asleep, she was awoken to hands guiding her into a white silken robe and ushering her by torchlight to the middle of the forest that surrounded her small fishing village. The darkness is enough to cloak her even in the bright robe she had been adorned in, save for the aid of the villagers torchlight accompanying her. She’d witnessed it before, had been a part of the ritual for years. She’d led countless individuals to the same spot since she was merely a child and had ...

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“Crisis on Delphi” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #152

Chloe almost runs into the large corridor, her heels echo on the marble floor. “This is madness” she mumbles as she keeps forward until she reaches the end of it. There are open spaces on both sides of the corridor, and she can hear upset voices coming from every direction. This is a nightmare. She opens the dark wooden door and enters the reception. It’s a total mess. People are running in every direction. Some are holding piles of papers that can barely see in front of them as they run. Others are talking on their phones barking orders ...

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“The Cole Bros the Greatest Show on Earth” by Jeremy Renbarger

Submitted to Contest #152

My family, the Renbargers, had always been cursed with bad memory. Almost to the point of feeling crazy, where me, my dad, or my grandpa would put something down and immediately look down and it wasn’t there. My grandpa said it used to happen to his dad and his grandpa. Dates, events, and facts would just completely vanish from memory. The men in the family were always faithful and kind to our significant others so the memory thing was tough for the ladies in the family but I guess bearable. Even my girlfriend gets upset at my terrible memor...

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“The Fatal Hand Reading by Madame Desiree” by Angie Ayu

Submitted to Contest #152

The skin of my palm tickled as the elderly lady sitting across from me gently stroked my hand with her callused fingers. “Let me see.”, she said. Her voice sounded as rough as her hands felt. I looked at her looking at my palms. My left one. Because it’s closer to the heart she had told me earlier. I sat at the edge of my seat, waiting for her to say something. Part of me felt sceptical about the whole thing. Letting some random woman read my hand? The old me would have laughed. Ridiculous. Nothing but a scam. Did I really turn into one ...

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“The Heist of Tarot Bell” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #152

Skilled mages know the difference between seeing the future and divination: Divination - using cards or bones or the stars or such - gives a vague answer for a question asked about some distant future. Actually seeing the future can only happen if the future is definite... which lets one see about ten or so seconds into the future: longer if one limits one’s view to the immediate region. My grandmother was a ninja - able to see her opponent’s moves a full fifteen seconds into the future if she focused. I tried my hand behind the tarot desk...

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“A Modest Fortune Told” by Glenn Holt

Submitted to Contest #152

The Committee To Save The World(CTOSTW- pronounced sea toast W) met on the ship furthest from any landed area. A computer had been used to find the perfect spot. Every ounce of science and every ounce of intuition needed to be used. There must be a revolution now or there would be no more nows. The governments and their peoples were desperate. Only guesses had been made about how to do it, how to save the world.Each member of the committee had been chosen for their expertise. Klaus’s expertise in Climate change, Renke in languages, Stompf in...

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“THE ORACLE’S PARLOR, Or The Time When a Bunch of Characters From Other Stories Met By Accident” by Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #152

Oisyphrix the Outlasting - not to be confused with Oisyphrus the Decaying, or Isyphrix the Temptress - sat in her parlor in a hidden location accessible only through three carefully hidden entries - a magical doorway, a magical tapestry, and a stairway from the cellar of The Blinking Corpse Tavern down the street from the old Money Changer’s Guild in the city of Ithrasca. That last thing is the way that most people find her. But not this time. Across from Oisyphrix stood a small, mysterious figure in plain brown robes. Sethoralas was an elf ...

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“The Lost Art of Listening” by Lauren Barr

Submitted to Contest #152

“Are you sure you want to go out on this trail? We’ve had trouble with bears in the past.” The girl behind the desk peered at me behind her curtain of hair. I patted my overflowing pack. “I’m all set. I hear this peak is the one to climb; the most spectacular views of the valley.” The girl paused, then leaned forward. “It is nice, but a bear attack is no joke. I can point you towards some others trails, with equally nice views. This one passes through a wildflower meadow …” I waved a hand to interrupt her as she brought out trail brochures. ...

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“Too Much TV Is Bad For Your Health” by Susan Dalziel

Submitted to Contest #152

Agatha's fingers hesitated, her hand hovering like it was trying to sense some unseen force, a vibration, maybe a temperature difference, slightly warmer, slightly cooler than it should be? She held her breath and closed her eyes allowing her senses to close ranks and focus solely on touch. Nothing.She opened her eyes and let her breath escape. There was no astral message coming through the technology in her hand, no great sign from the universe to tell her this was the right course of action. She sighed and stabbed the numbers from the...

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“The fortune-teller” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #152

They can be found all over the world. In every village, there is always at least one woman who takes pleasure in reading people's fortunes in teacups, coffee grounds, reading the cards, or predicting the future in whatever way. Some place advertisements in newspapers, but of course, there are those who do not advertise and who live on word of mouth. These are people who don't need advertising. They only use their gifts as a matter of friendship for certain beneficiaries and a round price of course. You come across them everywhere, people who...

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“Ensuing Fortune” by Karen Leidy

Submitted to Contest #152

Ensuing Fortune Here we were at PPF (past, present, future) revelations. Okay, it was basically just another fortune teller’s parlor. Why and how did we end up here, you ask? Well... It was our night out. There are four of us. We’re all nurses, working at the same hospital. Once a month we enjoy one evening of freedom from our husbands, kids, responsibilities. We meet at a designated restaurant or diner, have a meal prepared by someone other than us, then whatever stirs our interest will be next on the agenda. I’m Freida. I’m middle-age...

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“TRUTH IS IN BLOOD” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #152

TRUTH IS IN BLOOD It had the appearance of a small temple, or rather a small chapel, surmounted as it was by a dome that resembled those of Palladio. The small chapel had been built by willing people of the town, with the collaboration of willing people of the nearby towns ( villages). Even from the beginning it was known it had been a place of prophecy , of predictions, that is , a kind of meeting place or club where people would go to ask about their future, yes, to have proph...

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“The Tarot Reader” by Athena Reyes

Submitted to Contest #152

Stephanie Gutierrez stared at the neon sign in the storefront window, barely breathing.INTUITIVE TAROT CARD READER, it announced. Squiggly lines bordered the words, while stars and moons adorned the empty spaces in between. Stepping closer, she realized that the stars and moons had faces – set lips, a subtly raised eyebrow, eyes boring into her demanding why she was there. For a second, she could have sworn that these celestial beings collectively sighed and downcast their gaze, shaking their heads with a tsk tsk, dismissing her, a lost caus...

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“The Boardwalk Oracle” by Katie Shocinski

Submitted to Contest #152

The Boardwalk The shuffling of wooden boards echoed and blended with the crashing of the waves. The full moon, dusted with gray clouds, highlighted the deep cracks time had weathered. "The sky seems almost purple tonight, doesn't Calvin?" Kristi said, as they strolled the Boardwalk. Slowly watching the carnival rides disappearing into the distance. "It's different, isn't it. The clouds make it, I don't know, almost eerie." Calvin said, making an ass out of himself with a crooked smile as he tickled her...

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“Seer” by Madison Marvin

Submitted to Contest #152

I believe in miracles simply because one hasn’t happened to me. It’s easy to believe in something that no one is sure exists—there is no evidence to prove it doesn’t, after all. Hope is like that. It’s easy to have hope when the future is unknown, unfolding like the crumpled wings of a newborn bird. It’s like oxygen and clouds and the space between fingertips—something we can’t always see or touch, but know is there. I’ve always believed in the inherent unknowable mysteries of the world. I’m not so naive or egotistical to say that I have a G...

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Set your story in an oracle or a fortune teller’s parlor.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 66 stories

“The Seeing” by Margaret Savadas

“Crisis on Delphi” by E. Roux

“The Cole Bros the Greatest Show on Earth” by Jeremy Renbarger

“The Fatal Hand Reading by Madame Desiree” by Angie Ayu

“The Heist of Tarot Bell” by Cajek Veilwinter

“A Modest Fortune Told” by Glenn Holt

“THE ORACLE’S PARLOR, Or The Time When a Bunch of Characters From Other Stories Met By Accident” by Gary Wells

“The Lost Art of Listening” by Lauren Barr

“Too Much TV Is Bad For Your Health” by Susan Dalziel

“The fortune-teller” by F.O. Morier

“Ensuing Fortune” by Karen Leidy

“TRUTH IS IN BLOOD” by Mara Masolini

“The Tarot Reader” by Athena Reyes

“The Boardwalk Oracle” by Katie Shocinski

“Seer” by Madison Marvin

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in which a miracle happens — or everyone thinks it did.

Start your story with a character saying “I can see it now.”

Write about a character whose life changes for the better.

Write a story about someone whose job is to make miracles happen, literally or figuratively.

Contest #152

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

237

Contest entries

101

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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