The Psychic on West Main Street

[DGMPhotography]

I wrote a story for a contest, enjoy

Or you can read it on The Psychic on West Main Street Figment where the formatting is much better. Either way, enjoy. Tell me what you think.

The Psychic on West Main Street
​

“She’s so weird.”
“What is wrong with her?”
“What a freak!”

These thoughts constantly assault my mind. I cannot control it, but I have the ability to read minds and to see the future. I am the psychic on West Main Street.

Years ago, I was praised for my ability. People would come to me, asking for readings of their future. Curious to know whom their first kiss would be with, winning lotto tickets, careers. At first, the attention was quite welcomed. Here I was, a sixteen year old who just discovered she had psychic powers. It’s the kind of thing that people wish they could do, but only dream about. I’m the real deal. But the real deal isn’t all that.

As time went on, I began to feel a sense of dread. Knowing everything about everyone, and even being able to see their death broke down any barriers I had against people. I knew all their hopes, dreams, and secrets. Their deepest sins were mine for the perusing, corrupting my mind. Eventually, I began to read my own mind, see into my own future. What I saw I didn’t like, and there was nothing I could do about it.

One day, a girl in her late teens came to me, seeking my knowledge. She had recently become pregnant and was hopelessly devastated about her future. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal had I not taken LSD an hour before. My visions of her future were insane. Couple psychic ability with the classic trippiness of LSD and you get a heck of a mess. I screamed at the girl, telling her she had no future. I cursed her for what a whore she was, and that she was a waste of existence. One week later, the girl was found dead in her home, overdosed on sleeping pills.
I became depressed. I was a junior in high school, and high school was the last place you wanted to be depressed. I didn’t talk to anyone, and when I began to ignore people who wanted their fortunes told, they began to insult me. I was berated constantly in the halls, and in classrooms. I was told I was a freak of nature, and that I didn’t belong. They were right, I didn’t. Soon, I dropped out of school. I couldn’t stand the worried glare of my parents so I got a job at the corner store and found an apartment. Living alone I found solitude, but like rioters from Frakenstein, people found me. I was a spectacle that no one could leave alone. Like Lindsay Lohan to the paparazzi, I was news to the city of Richmond. I thought about moving, of course, but what good would it do? Eventually people would find me, they always did. So, I decided to try embracing my powers again. I opened a small shop called ‘West Main Fortune Telling.’ My business success was modest, but I still felt that depression. With age, my powers grew stronger and I began to even hear people’s thoughts in my dreams.

Today I woke up around noon, and it was a day like any other, but I decided to change that. I tried to make my own future, to sculpt the world without seeing it first, but it was futile. There were no surprises to me, nothing to enjoy in life, and what’s the point of life if you can’t live it up?
I hope, or rather know, that this note finds you in good health, Alex. You see, I read your future when I woke up today, knowing that you would come visit West Main Fortune Telling, hoping for me to tell you whom you would get married to. I’m sorry to disappoint but you see, I’m about to die. I had predicted it years ago, and I’m simply fulfilling the prophecy. Look behind you, you see that gas line? That is fed under a road about two miles from here and it’s exploding in three… two… one. Hear that boom? That was the gas line. I, and four others just died instantly. I know this is probably not what you were expecting in coming here, but the moral of the story here is to stop worrying so much about your future! Live life to the fullest, since you have the ability to.

Oh, and you die alone, sorry.