Fateful Fortune

My name is Matilda Karmer, and I swear that magic is real. I’ve met a witch myself, honest I have, and she saved my life.

It all happened at a Chinese restaurant. I was seated beside my mother, and we were having a peaceful lunch with my father and his new wife. At least, it was peaceful as it could possibly be when two parties, seated opposite, passionately hate other. I suppose I should give you some backstory about my family.

Richard Karmer, my father, owned a prestigious golf club. You can imagine how rich we were, then, and all the high-ranking people he came in contact with. I was only young when he came in too much contact with one, my step-mother, Taffy. What followed was a series of fights and then the inevitable divorce.

I hated my father after that, and went to live with my mother. But for some reason, no matter how many times I refused to acknowledge his existence, my father still loved me. So myself, and even my mum, were still at the top of his will. Taffy, the money-hungry bitch, was super pissed off by this. So she hated the both of us, and was constantly trying to get us erased from the precious document. My father wouldn’t do it though, in fact, he tried to make the three of us become friends. Friends!

That’s how we were sitting opposite each other at a Chinese restaurant. And it wasn’t going too well.

“I hear you’re doing very well at school, Matilda,” dad said, munching on a prawn cracker.

“My grades are average,” I shrugged. “I don’t really like school.”

“Oh? If you wanted to transfer somewhere else, I could help…”

“Richard,” I heard Taffy kick him under the table, “I don’t think that’s what Matilda means.” She narrowed her eyes at me and smiled. I could feel my mother fuming beside me, if it weren’t for the bowl of crackers between them (my mum hates to make a mess) I’m sure she’d have punched Taffy right there.

“Thank you, Richard, but we’re alright financially.”

“I wasn’t implying anything like that.”

“How’s the club?” I changed the subject. My dad was going to speak, but the evil stepmother opened her fat mouth.

“Excellent, We’ve won so many awards, haven’t we, Richard?”

He nodded, “Plenty. But that’s not really what I want to talk about. I’m interested in your life, Matilda.”

“My life’s as normal as it’s ever been.”

“Matilda’s been volunteering at an animal shelter,” my mother added. Taffy’s nose screwed up at that, I bet she was imagining all the dog crap.

“That’s wonderful!” Dad grinned, and I have to admit that bit of praise made me blush. I quickly stifled it with a prawn cracker, “Do they accept donations? I’m always looking for charities to donate to.”

“Richard,” The bitch started up again, “before you go handing out money to stinky animals you should consider the needs of our homes. The Florida house needs a new coat of-”

“Why don’t you just sell all your shoes?” I asked. “Then you’ll have enough money to buy a whole new house.” I could have said something much worse, but that fired her up well enough.

“Matilda,” my mother tried to display parental authority, but I could feel her shaking as she giggled beside me, “don’t be rude.”

“That’s alright,” Dad was smiling too, oddly enough, “I’m sure she’s got a point.” Taffy turned hellish red when he said that.

Throughout this trying conversation, I hadn’t even noticed that one of the cooks, an old Chinese lady, had been intently watching our exchange from behind the counter. I did notice the odd symbols painted on the counter, though. They looked magical, possibly ancient runes of some kind, like the sort of thing they’d study at that school in Harry Potter. Back then, I’d just thought it was Chinese lettering to add to the restaurant’s atmosphere. Now, I know better; they were definitely magic symbols.

“You bitch!” My mother shouted when Taffy suggested that we ate food out of dumpsters. The main course hadn’t even arrived yet, and I was certain we’d be thrown out of the restaurant. So you can imagine that I was extremely grateful when the Chinese woman came over with a plate of fortune cookies.

“Here,” she replaced the empty prawn cracker bowl with the cookie plate, “discover your fortunes while you wait for your meal.” She grinned at me, her eyes almost burning into my soul, and simply walked away.

“Matilda.” My father gestured for me to take the first cookie. Then my mother snatched one before Taffy’s manicured hands could, and my father cleared the plate.

I’m not sure what made me take the fortune seriously. Perhaps it was the way that old woman had looked at me. Perhaps I was just desperate to get out of the awkward family gathering. I don’t know. But when I cracked open the cookie and read the words on the paper, I jumped from my seat and bolted out the restaurant’s front door.

You are in great danger. Go outside. Now. That’s what the little piece of paper had said, and regardless of what made me take it seriously, I’m bloody glad that I did. Because, as soon as my foot hit the pavement outside, the earth shook and the Chinese restaurant tumbled to the ground.

It wasn’t your typical earthquake; this was over in a second. As if a demolition ball had ploughed into the side of the building, at exactly the right spot to bring it down in one hit. Or as if the restaurant was a house of cards, and a god’s fingers had flicked the bottom layer. Just like that. In one second, in one deafening rumble of the earth, the building was a pile of rubble.

It had taken me a moment to gather my bearings and realise that my mother, my father, and that idiotic Taffy were still inside the restaurant. Still under the rubble. I was so preoccupied with my fortune cookie, with that little slip of paper which had saved my life. How the heck had it known what would happen? Now I know, of course, that woman was a witch, a fortune-teller. The Chinese woman had warned me through a cookie and saved my life. But she saved my mother’s life too.

When the thought of my parents finally hit me, I ran towards the pile of wood and concrete, searching for survivors of corpses. I hadn’t known which to expect. I spotted the table we’d been sitting at; it poked out of the wreckage like a beacon. Crouched under it was my mother, very scared but very much alive. She climbed out and embraced me, and that was probably the most relieved I’d ever felt in my life.

Later, after we’d escaped the chaos, she showed me her fortune. You are in great danger. Get under the table. Now. The Chinese witch had saved her too.

My father and Taffy hadn’t been so lucky. I suppose I’ll never know what their fortunes said. Maybe Taffy’s had read along the lines of: Die, greedy bitch! And maybe the witch lady had tried to warn my dad, I like to think she did, but he just hadn’t taken the warning seriously.

I don’t really miss my dad, but I feel sorry for him. He did love me, even if he cheated on my mother and married the perfect romance movie villain. And he tried his best, I think, to make things right. That’s why we were at the Chinese restaurant in the first place, because he was trying to fix our relationship. So I did something nice for him after his death; I donated one of those wooden park benches in his name. Now there’s a seat outside a deli where he used to buy me ice cream; it’s got a plaque with his name engraved on it. I think he’d like that.

I didn’t do anything for Taffy, she doesn’t deserve to be remembered. The police, when they were examining bodies after the earthquake, found a gun in Taffy’s coat. I bet every last dollar of my massive inheritance that my evil stepmother was going to shoot both myself and mum. So, I suppose, that old Chinese lady saved our lives twice. From both the earthquake and the gun. Heck, maybe the witch conjured the disaster to prevent a shooting. I guess I’ll never know. The woman’s body was never found, and she hasn’t been seen since.

But she was a witch, and she saved my life. Magic is real. It’s true, I swear.