A Picture Prompt: Interpret the picture above.

Katya was standing at the bus stop, fifteen minutes early, waiting for the Number 21, which wasn't due to arrive until 7:30 AM. The warm spring weather had called to her that morning and she found its song absolutely irresistible. It was so mild out that Katya decided to take advantage of the favourable weather and get in an early morning run through her neighbourhood. That's how she landed at the bus stop nearly 10 minutes ahead of her regular schedule.

Katya let out a satisfied sigh as she stood on the edge of the sidewalk, letting the tips of her sneakers hang over the edge of the curb so she could tip back and forth like a teeter totter. The street was not a main thoroughfare and was completely devoid of traffic. Katya took a brief look around her. It was also devoid of human life too but that didn't worry her. In a few minutes there would be half a dozen familiar faces waiting silently together to get on the Number 21.

Feeling content and happy, she just let her eyes wander and her mind drift as she teetered back on forth on the edge of the sidewalk. The enormous bright pink 'Madame Holly, Fortune Teller' sign across the street, which was all aglow with old-fashioned warm yellow bulbs, caught the attention of her wandering eyes quite easily. Katya read over the bright sign and smiled to herself remembering how frightened she'd been as a teenager about having her palm read or her fortune told. She was always afraid she was going to learn something awful about herself or her future. Why such a pessimist? She couldn't say but it amused her now just thinking about how easily she believed back then. She never once entertained the idea that it was all hocus pocus.

After a short while, the Madame Holly sign faded from sight and Katya was entirely lost in thoughts and memories as she stared blankly at the forgotten sign. That's when she felt it - a strange tingling sensation at the back of her neck. She reached up a hand to rub along the collar of her hoodie but the tingling didn't stop. Next, all the hairs on her arms were standing erect and her entire body was suddenly wracked by an involuntary shiver. Katya responded by quickly pushing down the sleeves of her hoodie to help keep the strange chill at bay.

And just like that, in the blink of an eye, her peaceful morning didn't feel quite so tranquil anymore. Katya looked around nervously.

To her great surprise there was a tall and elegantly dressed stranger leaning up against the brick wall of the bicycle repair shop, which was directly behind the bus stop. She was totally out of place in her dark pant suit, fashionable spring coat, high heels, and matching Burberry purse and silk scarf. This was a working and lower-middle-class part of town. This wasn't where the muckamucks lived or walked around any time of the day, let alone at nearly 7:30 in the morning.

Feeling awkward and unable to kick the uneasy feeling that had sort of settled somewhere in her gut, Katya gave the woman a small nod of acknowledgement. She didn't think she had anything to fear from another woman. Especially, one so well dressed. But, there was definitely something peculiar about the whole situation that didn't sit well with Katya. She wished the Number 21 would come early.

Her anxiety increased when the woman pushed herself from the wall of the shop and casually sauntered over. It was as if Katya's nod had been an invitation to come and say hello. Seeing no way to escape without being rude Katya remained fastened to the spot and watched the stranger apprehensively.

She kept telling herself over and over again in her head, 'You are just overreacting. Don't be foolish. You've nothing to worry about.' Only, the closer the woman got to her the stranger Katya felt. She didn't know how to explain the feeling that overcame her. It was both an external sensation, like a charged atmosphere, and an internal nagging sensation. In any case, the woman, and the feeling in the atmosphere around them, was weirding Katya out big time.

The stranger came and stopped just a little over a foot away from Katya. She was too close for Katya's comfort but Katya had no where to go unless she stepped off the curb and onto the road. Also, the woman was quite tall, which meant Katya had to crane her neck to look up at her. When she did, she felt off balance and worried she might fall into the road anyway.

Everything about the encounter felt uncomfortable and Katya wondered if she should just risk offending the woman by stepping a little to the right or the left. If she could just put a little distance between them she was sure she'd feel so much better. Why was it that such a posh woman didn't understand 'personal space'? Katya swallowed anxiously and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her right ear as was her habit when she was feeling restless.

The woman smiled down at her but the smile was neither pleasant or welcoming. Truly, it was much more like a sneer. Katya looked around a bit nervously for the other bus commuters. Surely they were going to show their faces any moment.

The stranger surprised her further by speaking in a low and sensual voice. It was the voice of a jazz singer or a sultry late-night hostess from some old-school smokey men's club in the '20s. Katya whipped her head back immediately as the woman practically purred, "That woman is charlatan, you know. There's not a bit of spiritual power in her. Not a drop of it."

Katya didn't have to guess. She knew instinctively that the stranger was talking about Madame Holly. Was this Madame Holly's competition? Katya felt like the woman had some sort of peculiar presence that would probably lend itself very well to the mysticism of fortune telling and all that.

The slightly older woman leaned back, out of Katya's personal space, and tapped her lightly on the shoulder with a rolled up magazine she had in her hand. The movement gave Katya a little fright but she recovered quickly as the woman smiled insincerely at her.

"You'll get nothing from her you couldn't get out of a woman's magazine or tabloid," she offered expertly.

That sealed it for Katya. This was definitely Madame Holly's competition. Katya wondered incredulously if the woman hung out in front of the bicycle shop when she didn't have a client, just waiting to pounce on innocent pedestrians and transit goers. Was business that bad? Was Madame Holly's business that good?

"I'm not interested," Katya suddenly blurted out.

Then, horrified that she sounded very rude, she backtracked with, "I, I ... don't believe in that stuff. I wasn't really looking at the sign. I was sort of just staring off into space," she explained in a rush.

Katya also took the opportunity to finally step to her left and put a little distance between herself and Madame Holly's competition as she awkwardly looked over her right shoulder to see if the bus was coming yet.

The woman's dark brown eyes scanned her face for an impossibly long time. Katya couldn't tell if the woman was offended and about to lose it or if she was only curious. Self-consciously she brushed her loose hair behind her ear again while she waited for some kind of response from the rather intense woman.

The stranger surprised her by producing a small, white business card, which she handed to Katya. Just as her fingers came in contact with the card, Katya felt that strange tingling in the back of her neck intensify 10 fold. Her entire body broke out in goosebumps. She was so spooked by the experience that she nearly let go of the card.

Then the stranger spoke with confidence saying, "The universe has been trying to talk to you for a very long time. When you are ready darling, you can come and find me."

Katya glanced down at the card. It read Natasha Vetrova, Psychic Therapy.

When she looked back up the woman was gone. In the next moment the air was suddenly filled with the sounds of every-day commuters, honking horns, and the tell tale squeak and hiss of the Number 21 as it came to a stop behind Katya. She looked around in a bit of a daze as she unconsciously slipped the card into her pocket. She was surrounded by the familiar faces of the regular bus commuters. Where had they been all this time? And just when did they arrive at the bus stop? Katya was baffled and feeling truly unsettled.

She felt an immense sense of relief when she finally got on the bus. She wasn't sure what had just happened but, now that the weather was getting nicer, she thought she might make the effort to walk all the way to the 2nd Line and start taking the Number 7 bus to work from now on. Just to be on the safe side.

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