Greetings From Zoltan
26 Aug 2020Today’s prompt: “The fortune teller in the window”
You drop a quarter into the Zoltan fortune teller machine, pick up the receiver, and touch the button for your astrological sign. Behind the glass, Zoltan’s crystal ball lights up with a red glow. Zoltan’s head bows slightly, as if peering into the crystal ball, and then rights itself. Its eyelids close with a clack, then reopen. Music distorted by time plays, jaunty in tenor, but a touch creepy.
“Greetings from Zoltan,” a pre-recorded voice full of pops and warp emanates from the glass enclosure. “This is a message for you alone. Sometimes you have a tendency to become concerned with unimportant matters….”
The machine emits three loud clicks, and the background music slows down, the jauntiness gone and the creep factor steadily rising. The red glow from the crystal ball seems to be shining right onto Zoltan’s irises, which, despite their artificial nature, feel as though they are burrowing into you.
“What you should be concerned with,” a much deeper voice continues, “is the scarcity of your remaining days. I suppose I could tell you how you will die. It isn’t as though there’s anything you could do about it. But I prefer to leave you in suspense.” Zoltan’s eyelids clack. “Just know that I am truly enjoying the image of your dark blood pooled around you.” There’s a pause in the recording, and the clicks and whirs of the machine sound as though it is breathing in deeply.
The eyelids clack once more, and the background music speeds up again. The voice regains its original pitch. “Thursdays are good days for you. Blue is a favorable color now, and special numbers for you presently are 4, 5, and 7. Thank you.”
This can’t be right. You smack the side of the machine. It remains silent.
You fish another quarter out of your pocket, drop it into the coin slot, and select your zodiac sign again.
The crystal ball illuminates to red, and the automaton’s eyelids clack. “Greetings from Zoltan,” the original voice says against the tinny background music, which immediately slows to a crawl.
“I have already told you everything I will tell you,” the deeper voice speaks. “Run, foolish mortal. It will not help you, but run. It amuses me.”
The music speeds up again. “Special numbers for you presently are 4, 5, and 7. Thank you.”