For this week's story, we have a retelling of Second Sight. I updated it but decided to keep the magic because who doesn't like being able to see the future?
 |
| They say diamonds are forever, but dirt is pretty close. |
Marcus checked his watch and settled back into his seat at the coffee shop. He still had awhile to go before his flight. He was glad to get out of the airport during his long layover. It was just annoying that he had to be more aware of what time it was out here.
A woman stopped in front of his table and looked at him. Since the coffee shop was fairly empty, Marcus was a little confused.
"Marcus Bradley, flying to Atlanta?" she asked.
Marcus's head snapped up. "What?" How did this random woman know his name and where he was going?
"I'm Tory. I'm here to collect on your debt to my father."
Marcus stared at her for another moment. Then he started laughing. "That's the best scam I've ever heard," he said.
"It's not a scam!" Tory snapped. "My father, Vince Pozi, loaned you several thousand dollars years ago, and I'm here to get it back."
"Sit down," Marcus offered.
Twisting her lips to the side, Tory sat in the chair across from him, keeping her arms tucked in and jiggling her leg.
"What's the whole story here?" Marcus asked her. He had plenty of time. He might as well indulge this woman.
Tory sighed. "Several years ago, my father loaned you a lot of money. Before he died, he told me how to find you to collect on his debt."
"He knew I would be here?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," Tory replied, pulling an old scrap of paper out of her pocket. She gently set it on the table in front of Marcus.
It was a piece of newspaper that was dated a bit more than ten years ago. On it was written Marcus's first and last name, where he was flying to, the words "brown hair, green eyes, sitting by the window at Cafe Leon" and today's date and a time of about two minutes ago.
Reflexively, Marcus looked up at the window next to him. Intriguing. He handed the paper back.
"Did your father ever say why I borrowed this money from him?"
"No," Tory admitted. "I had other things on my mind, so I didn't ask. He just told me that I would find you here and now and you would return the money. It meant a lot to him for me to write this down. I wasn't sure I was going to track you down, but the money he left me ran out and-" Tory stopped, probably aware she was pouring out her life story to a stranger.
"Did your father see the future?" Marcus asked.
Tory's face went hard. "Are you making fun of him?"
"On the contrary. Could you please go up front and ask for a bowl of water?" He looked at her stony face. "I promise I'll wait here until you get back."
Tory glared at him for a moment, then she went up to the counter. Marcus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When Tory came back with the bowl of water, he was just about ready for her.
She set it down in front of him and Marcus poured some water from his cup into it.
"What are you doing?" Tory asked, slightly less guarded.
"Your father could see the future, right? Well, I can see the past."
Tory bit back a response and watched Marcus silently. Marcus watched the bowl of water and waited for the water in it to still.
Once it got still enough, Marcus deepened his gaze into the bowl of water and focused on Tory's father, Vince Pozi. An image slid into focus. A man picking up shovel. Leaving a shed and going outside, into a fenced in area. The man digging a hole in the ground and looking toward a brick house with white shutters around the windows. The man setting a metal box in the hole and filling it back in. Then he looked directly at Marcus and winked. Marcus jumped backward and lost the rest of the vision. He'd never seen someone look directly at him when he scryed into the past.
Tory smirked. "Guess he knew you'd be checking on him," she said.
Marcus took a moment to get his breath back under control before he replied. "Guess so." Marcus checked his watch again. He had plenty of time. "Do you still live in your father's house?"
"Yes," Tory answered cautiously.
"Then let's get to digging. He buried something in the yard, and I think it's for you."
"Buried it? But I thought..." Tory smiled a little and shook her head. Then her eyes turned flinty and focused on Marcus. "Wait. Before we go. Are you helping me because you want part of whatever he buried?"
"No. You can have it all. I just want to see what it was. And I'm worried he'll do something to me if I don't help you."
"He's been dead more than ten years," Tory replied tightly.
"Just the same," Marcus said, standing up. "You've got some shovels, right?"
It turned out that Tory lived in walking distance from Cafe Leon. So she and Marcus walked back to her father's house. It was the same one from Marcus's vision, although it looked a bit older and more run down. The same shed was in the backyard, looking worse for wear as well.
Tory grabbed two shovels out of the shed and Marcus walked over to where Vince had buried that box. The two worked in silence until Tory's shovel clanged against something in the dirt.
It didn't take long to get the metal box out of the ground. There was a big padlock on it. Tory pulled a key out of her pocket. "He never told me what this was for, but he told me not to lose it," she said, as she fit the key into the lock. It turned and Tory took the lock off and opened the box.
Inside wasn't cash like Marcus had suspected, but coins. Marcus was disappointed. He had hoped whatever this was would cover the "several thousand dollars" Tory had been expecting.
Marcus looked up to see Tory was crying. "Well, it'll get you something," Marcus offered, trying to soften the blow.
Tory shook her head. "This is his coin collection. When his last wife came in and demanded everything, she was so mad she couldn't find this. She kept threatening to send the police after me to get it, but I didn't know where it was either. Now all these coins are even older than they were, and she died a month ago." Tory sucked in a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Marcus. You helped me get a piece of my dad back again."
Marcus smiled at Tory, unnerved to see her crying like that. "It's the least I can do to settle a debt with a man I never met."
Tory laughed. "It did seem like a pretty strange story. Even for him. But when that cafe opened up with the same name, I had to check if it was true."
Marcus smiled. "Your father was a wise man." His phone started buzzing and Marcus turned off his alarm. "I've got to get back to the airport, but you take care of yourself."
"I'll look you up and let you know how much this is worth," Tory said, closing the lid of the box.
Marcus smiled. "That would be nice of you. See you later, Tory!" He pulled out his phone again to call for a ride as he headed back to the street.
No comments:
Post a Comment