The traffic light changed. Jhane trotted across the street. She liked to keep to her schedule, but her neighbors and the traffic had slowed her down. Once she reached the curb, she slowed so that she could walk more sedately into the park.

 

She shifted her mental state to that of a seer, a wise person older than she was. By becoming someone she wasn’t, she could step out of her usual shell to interact with the public.

 

To add to her persona change, she wore what she thought was a silly costume, but she thought it explained what she could do. Around her head, she wore a metallic headband with an analog clock positioned in the middle of her forehead.

 

The clock wasn’t real, but one she had made from scraps of paper, foil, and toothpicks. She knew it looked heavy, but it wasn’t.

 

She always felt her thin white midriff top looked see-through, so she had created a papier-mâché clock to wear around her neck to cover her breasts. It afforded her a little modesty.

 

Around her bare midriff, she wore a metal belt that she had put together with metal bits and pieces she had found in a thrift store. It also contained a hidden pocket for hiding money and her ID.

 

Her short white skirt wasn’t as see-through as her top, but she still wore white shorts beneath it. She kept her legs bare. But she wore sandals that had good straps and support.

 

In fact, they were hiking sandals that dried quickly if gotten wet and provided good support if she had to go any faster than a walk.

 

Jhane approached her usual park bench. Hardly anyone paused to sit, and she noticed no one else on a bench. However, a short way down, she saw another performer riding a unicycle.

 

She knew he wouldn’t hang around long. Though begging wasn’t allowed in the park, a person could perform and put out a donation jar.

 

Begging laws had a broad definition. She couldn’t call out to a person or approach them. Someone needed to approach her and speak first.

 

Before she put out any of her things, Jhane pulled out her security spider. She kept it stashed inside the papier-mâché clock. A tap from her finger caused it to unfold its long legs with barely audible clicks.

“Voice shoulder.” She had trained it to obey only her voice.

 

It positioned itself, half standing on her shoulder, the other half on the back of the bench. It had two of its legs raised in defense. They could produce a serious jolt if touched by human skin.

 

Jhane watched a man jog by with his robotic dog. She preferred her spider because of its size. Although she had to admit, the size of the dog looked daunting enough.

 

Out of her bowl, she pulled a small plastic sign she had painted herself. She placed it on the bench beside her. It could stand on its own and merely read, ‘I see the future.’

 

She put her clock-themed bowl next to her sign. It held a small placard that read: Donations.

She pulled some of her black hair forward to help accent the clock on her chest. A hair pulled at her earring, which she eased away.

 

She reflected on the earrings, feeling that they were somewhat heavy. But she thought a costume needed some gaudiness, and they worked for her. However, her ears thought differently.

“It’s only for two hours a day.”

 

The park felt almost deserted, as if she had missed the usual morning rush hour. However, she knew she had arrived between subway trains. She heard their rumbling in the distance.

 

The earlier trains carried the service or maintenance personnel. They had little money to spare. Her target customers were office workers who had more disposable income.

 

Jhane picked out the noise of the elevated trains running on tracks barely above the trees overhead.

She took a deep breath. The air wasn’t clean, as usual.

 

To her right, across the park, stood the subway station. Many people crossed the park toward the businesses behind her. She had placed herself in the middle where people had to walk by her.

Her eyes moved to three people approaching. A man approached close enough to toss a bill into her bowl, but continued walking. She saw a five-dollar bill, which she knew many performers would stick their noses up at because it was mere spare change. Even a few fives here and there added up.

The piercing noise of the subway train departing warned her that the rush was imminent. She could already make out the dark mass of people focused on getting to work.

 

Moments later, they reached her.

 

A woman, striding ahead as if she led the way, tossed in a five-dollar bill. The crowd followed her, but Jhane’s eyes locked onto a particular man and woman.

 

To her, they stood out among the others. However, she couldn’t figure out why just yet.

She could not determine whether they were a couple or colleagues. They were engaged in conversation and looked comfortable with each other’s company. Their suits were exceptionally nice. The man’s appeared more tailored and expensive than the woman’s did.

 

That made her decide they were work associates instead of a couple. She found them both very attractive.

 

The woman suddenly cut ahead of the man and headed straight for her.

 

“I have a meeting today. I want to know how well it will go.” The woman tossed in a fifty.

 

Before Jhane could register the woman’s question and focus on her aura, another overwhelmed her. It startled her because it was the man’s. She hadn’t focused on him at all. This never happened. She usually had to focus in order to see someone’s aura.

 

She realized that was why they had caught her attention. Or rather, it was the man’s aura. And from that distance.

 

“I see.” Jhane felt perturbed and overwhelmed.

 

She knew some people possessed stronger auras than others, yet the man’s felt exceptionally brilliant.

 

A feeling of uneasiness swept over her. Within his aura and future, she saw herself. This was impossible. She couldn’t see her own future. It didn’t happen that way for her.

 

She didn’t know him. Or why their paths would cross other than right here. Right now.

Jhane swallowed hard. He wasn’t the one who had paid. She had to focus on the woman.

But she couldn’t.

 

“There are many doors to the future.” Jhane knew she had to say something. “You can pick doors, but sometimes other people can interfere.”

 

“I knew that would happen.” The woman looked rather fierce, as if discovering a terrible truth.

 

The man rolled his eyes. Jhane could tell he had no belief in her, which wasn’t surprising. Especially since she had spoken so generically.

 

“Sometimes, you have to force the door. Or choose wisely.” Jhane hoped this satisfied the woman since she could think of nothing more to say.

 

“We have to go.” The man turned away.

 

Jhane was certain that her place in his future would vanish since he wanted no further involvement with her.

 

But it didn’t. It didn’t change at all.

 

The woman laughed. She turned and followed the man.

 

Jhane expected to feel relief when they left. But she didn’t.

 

A force within her caused her to stand abruptly. She saw a vision of something she disliked and couldn’t let happen.

 

Inhibition swept over her. But a stronger force pushed her to move. She ran after the couple, knowing it was illegal.

 

“Sir. Sir.” She put a lot of force into her words.

 

The woman turned. The man ignored her, but stopped a few steps later.

 

“Sir, I’m sorry. I rarely do this because she paid. You didn’t.”

 

He looked at her as though she planned to shake him down for money. In fact, she thought he had a defiant look. A look that told her he dared her to. That almost stopped her from saying what she needed to say.

 

However, an image pushed her to speak.

 

“If you wait fifteen seconds, you’ll have a much better day.” The moment she said fifteen, she used her fingers to count out the time.

 

She saw his eyes move to her fingers, even though she kept her hand by her side.

“We’re in a hurry.” However, the man didn’t move.

 

“If you wait, you’ll be on time. If you don’t, you’ll be late.” Jhane continued to watch him watch her fingers as she counted out the time.

 

The woman laughed. “Isn’t that the opposite?”

 

“Or never get there at all.” Jhane tried not to sound doom and gloom, which might make them think she was doing an illegal shakedown.

 

The man shook his head. “Let’s go.” He half-turned away.

 

“You’ll have a good meeting.” Jhane turned to the woman, saying the words even though she didn’t know if this was true. She knew it would make the woman pause for just a second or more. Every second counted.

 

The man looked dubious. However, he waited, which surprised her. And looked down again at her fingers. The woman appeared unaware of the countdown, but followed the man’s lead to stay put.

Jhane’s fingers finished counting out the seconds.

 

A horrifying screech and a deafening crash reverberated around them. One car from an overhead train had detached and fallen into the crosswalk, full of people. It was the place the two would have reached if she hadn’t gotten them to wait.

 

Screams flooded the airway.

 

“You can walk down a block and cross without any issues.” Jhane kept her voice calm as if they were chatting about the weather.

 

She spun on her heels and returned to her bench, hoping they didn’t follow her. When she looked back, she saw them walking fast, heading away from her. She sighed with relief, but it was short-lived.