Law 77809

This story contains mentions of suicide and death

Rita had been at this job for thirty long, grueling years. Sitting behind the same desk, incense burning an inch away, a magenta turban wrapped around her curly hair. Silver makeup caked her eyes and a bright pink lip stood out almost as much as her eccentric ‘office.’ A beaded entrance, woven tapestries along the walls, an eerie, magical feel…

Even as work had slowed the last few years, Rita was still busy as ever, keeping up the persona of a young enchantress, with the ability to predict and warn. All sorts of young people came in, asking for their future, their fortune. While rewarding to see the look on their faces when they were told ‘rich’ or ‘beautiful,’ work had grown mundane in the last years, an everlasting array of questions all pointed at the same thing: who am I?

Rita sighed. As young as she looked, time had run ahead of her in an endless sprint, leading to creases between her eyes and cheeks, lines across her head. Extra skin began arriving on her arms, and her already mid weight self seemed to grow. Still, she tried to ignore the signs of aging and insisted on helping the people in front of her, the young people who needed guidance.

The little bell rang in front of the doorway, alerting Rita of another customer. She smoothed back the fabric on her head with her long nails and slightly wrinkled fingers. She relit the incense and, as a foot appeared through the beads, rang a gong to her left.

“Welcome, my child, to Madama Rita’s Fortunes, the only place in suburban New York where you can learn of your future and potential. Please, come sit.”

The person, a young woman in her twenties, sat on the cushioned seat. Rita started a low humming, running her hands over her desk.

“Hmm, my child, what is your name?” Rita said, opening her eyes and holding her hands out in front of her.

“Um, my name is River,” the woman said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Ah, yes, a beautiful name, possibly after a parents love of the water,” Rita said, knowingly nodding her head and pulling her hands to her lap.

The woman looked slightly perplexed before regaining her composure. “Uh, yes, that is right, uh, my father loves the water-“

“Yes, I see, he has a boat, a Boston Whaler, if I’m not mistaken, and a nice amount of fishing poles, as well as nets and crab traps. Very nice, a fisherman.”

Again, a surprised look covers her face, this time not dissipating. Rita, as usual, had pulled in the customer into the magic of fortune telling and mind reading. The script she had followed so well in her head reminded her of what to say next.

“Well, River, what brings you here to me today? What must you ask, what must you find out?” Rita smiled and let the incense create a kind of haze around the room, making it seem enchanted and peaceful.

“I…I want to know how, when, anything, about my death.”

Rita felt shocked for a second, feeling her eyebrows climb up her forehead and her eyes grow into shining ovals. Then, she snapped back and smiled. “Yes, yes, my child, I can do that.”

With a sweep of her hand, the lights dimmed ominously and a low hum coming from the floor vibrated around. Rita closed her eyes and rolled her head around, sensing the surprised expression coming from the woman across from her. She whispered a few wispy words under her breath before raising her hands high and shaking her fingers.

Suddenly, a vision erupted in Rita’s mind, just like the other times. But, this time, it was scary.

It was dark. Flashes of silver numbers sparked around, hiding behind the head of the woman. Cars, fire, knives, rope, bees, every possible way someone could kick the bucket flashed by like a slot machine. Click, click, click, over and over. Slowly, though, it slowed. And, with a sinister final click, this poor woman’s fate was decided.

Slowly, Rita lowered her hands. The lights turned back on fully and the humming stopped. The woman looked…scared, but expectant. Ready. Unfearing. Gosh, she would be.

“Um, well? How, when, uh, will I die?”

With a breath, Rita said, “The spirits, the universe, say just a few days from now.”

The woman’s mouth opens wide, shock reverberating throughout her body. “But-but how? How will I-how? I mean, I, gosh, I don’t know, how? Why? When? Where? Oh gosh, oh gosh,” she says, putting her head in her hands.

Rita doesn’t want to say it. Many people had come to her asking for their death. And, sadly, most came to death from their names, if that gives you any idea.

“I…I saw water. Freshwater, with stones smooth as sea glass. Fish wisping by in a current of blue strings. And…I saw you, laying in the bottom, small canoes floating overhead, one stopped, looking below. Yelling your name. Splashing the water desperately. Calling for help. Begging, pleading for you. Weeping.”

River begins weeping herself, mascara flowing down her young cheeks like the wrinkles on Rita’s. “But, what can I-what, what can I do? Can I stop it? Can I save myself? If I were to-to not go, to stay home, would that change my future? Can I stop it? Can I survive? Can I live longer? Stop it? Not cause pain to anyone? Live? Not die, not die, not-not leave? Survive? I…” the woman said, seemingly going mad from fear.

Rita didn’t know how to respond. Everyone else…they had so long. They had so much time. Never had she seen this, so soon, so close. What was she to do? How could she help? She knew. She would be breaking every law, everything she had sworn not to do, to help this woman. Warn. Help. Possibly change her life, extend her time. Finally have done something right in her illustrious career.

“Get up. Get up!” Rita said, standing as well. She waved her hands around and raised them high. “Okay, you have to trust me. Do you?”

The woman nodded.

Rita closed her eyes and welcomed the spirits back in. Her arms moved in slow arcs, making their way down to her sides. And, soon, she was in her mind.

Rita looked across the vast plain. It was white tile, going on for miles and miles and an expanse of space stretched on above. Of course, there were many different ways to change someone’s future, but Rita, being the rule follower she was, went for the least illegal.

She walked her brown sandals across the floor, making her way to the slot machine that had started this whole mess. Grunting and wincing as her old bones worked hard, Rita pushed down the lever, watching the wheels spin. For 3 minutes, the slot machine ticked and tacked in a circle, before finally landing on…the exact same thing. Rita groaned angrily, deciding she would have to do this herself. Rita grabbed one of the three wheels herself and pushed on it. She slowly, very slowly, clicked it to 70. Then, already having a layer of sweat across her body, Rita moved to the next wheel and began pushing again. Eventually, after about 10 minutes, it was on Years. Finally, Rita made her way to the last one, looking at the possible things she could choose. After choosing one she thought was suitable, Rita clicked it into place.

Old Age.

With a satisfied breath, Rita flew back.

Within seconds, Rita was back in her body, standing in front of the woman. She looked scared, as if she had seen something.

“My child, it is done. You are free to live long, and you will not die soon,” Rita said, sitting back in her chair. The woman slowly sank into her own.

Rit noticed how the woman was shaking. She looked pale. “What is wrong?”

With a shaky hand, River pointed behind Rita.

Rita turned.

There, behind her, was a glowing, beautiful body. It was adorned in golden clothing and had long, luscious white hair. The eyes were white, the skin pale, but undertone as if with gold.

“Rita Elrod. You have been summoned to the High Council for violation of Clare Law number 77809: Altering the destiny of an individual to whom you have previously spoken to of the course of the future. Come with me.”

Suddenly, Rita was traveling through time and space, watching River grow farther away, and knowing that River life was no longer changed.

In just a few days, River would become part of one.