Today’s story is “The Fool” by Madison Scott-Clary, an author and editor in the Pacific Northwest. She has four books out and several works available for free. She is editor-in-chief at [adjective][species], as well as at Hybrid Ink, an independent publisher of thoughtful writing. You can find more of her work on makyo.ink.

Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion,

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and today’s story is

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“The Fool” by Madison Scott-Clary,

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an author and editor in the Pacific Northwest.

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She has four books out and several works available for free.

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She is editor-in-chief at

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[adjective][species],

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as well as at Hybrid Ink,

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an independent publisher of thoughtful writing.

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You can find more of her work

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on makyo.ink.

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“The Fool”

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by Madison Scott-Clary

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The badger looms over a small table,

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the short sleeve of her smock tugged down toward the table

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by a glass candy thermometer.

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A deck of colorful cards rest neatly stacked on its surface.

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Contrary to expectations,

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the room is bright and spacious.

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No hint of incense

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or dark velour drapes, just a simple living room in a simple home,

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a simple badger and some simple cards.

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She can't be older than fifty,

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and she's of a more motherly bent than a mystical one.

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More motherly than my mother, at least,

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I think. More earthy and far less mystical.

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"Tell me about your day, Avery,"

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she begins, and as I speak, she shuffles a worn deck of cards,

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nodding along with me.

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She draws cards yan tan tethera,

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and lays them face up on the table with a casual slowness

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that does little to distract from my words.

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Still, my language is stilted,

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and I find myself tracing the edges of the table with my gaze

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or watching her paws rather than making eye contact.

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"Now," she says when I trail off to an uneasy silence.

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The badger, the table and cards,

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a bright room with motes in afternoon sunbeams;

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an image more meaningful than I anticipated.

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And me - dingy clothes draped over a broad frame I never wanted -

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out of place. "Here are three cards.

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Look, and tell me the first thing you notice."

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"Notice?" I ask. I sound dubious even to myself.

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"Notice," she confirms.

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"What do you see? When you look at the cards, what jumps out at you?

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Colors, motions, angles and lines. What do you see?"

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I stare at the badger.

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She stares back, then lets out a kindly laugh

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and gestures down at the cards.

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Three cards, laid out in a line.

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I move my stare to those,

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more bewildered than anything,

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trying to pick out singular things.

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"From each of them?

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One at a time?" She shrugs,

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smiling not unkindly.

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Odd, I think. How such a small task could feel

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overwhelming. I puff out a breath of air,

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whiskers bristling,

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and tap at the first card.

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"Well, this one's upside down, for starters.

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The, uh...Page of Wands.

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Wands." Digging through memories,

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I try, "A page is like a squire or something, right?

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Someone who helps a knight?"

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"Yes, a young person, someone in training." She grins

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and nods down to the remaining stack of cards.

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"There are knights in the deck, too,

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but that's for another time."

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Whiskers still canted forward,

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I nod and hesitate for a moment.

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"So, what does it being upside down mean?"

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"You tell me." I roll my eyes.

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Still, she sounds kind rather than petulant or snide,

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so I think about upside-down cards.

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Upside-down figures, upside-down and tipped over,

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upset in the literal sense of the word.

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Upside-down meanings.

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Meanings inverted,

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reversed, turned over.

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"I think I see." I intend it as the beginning of a sentence,

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but seeing the badger's smile widen,

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I leave it at that.

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I shut out the other cards,

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focus on the Page.

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"In training, hmm? They looks like they're investigating or contemplating.

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The, uh...I guess the wand. The wand is the only thing growing,

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the only thing with green in the entire scene."

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"Learning about life.

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Investigating growth.

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growth." The badger nods, but neither confirming nor sage. Simply agreeing.

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"But reversed." "Not learning?"

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At this, I sense her expression close down.

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It's not a visible thing; it's a sensation of her

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movement of thought being put on hold.

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"Not...not doing anything with learning, perhaps?"

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The badger nods. I can see the clip on her thermometer holding it to the over-washed fabric,

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see beads of sugar still clinging to glass,

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bobbing with her movements. "Wands are

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for beginnings,

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for doing. Or perhaps activating is better.

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better." She sets a paw next to the card.

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"This Page - a bear, maybe?

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I've never figured that out -

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is learning,

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but not moving, not beginning.

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There is knowledge,

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but no decision." "Activation energy!"

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I blurt, and, seeing questions in her eyes, continue.

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"Like in chemistry.

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It's dorky, but there has to be enough energy for an electron to jump from one sphere to the next; it just

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sits there otherwise.

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It needs the proper amount of activation energy to get going."

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Questions turn to understanding,

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but her gaze stays locked on mine,

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waiting. "I don't have the energy."

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"Perhaps not. Or perhaps you do, but you're -

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you or something within you -

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is not letting it reach the activation.

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The energy may be there,

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but blocked." I have to restrain myself from a snide smile.

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A reaction to my mom's mysticism, maybe.

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To crystals and blocked energy.

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In the badger, though,

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I sense only earnestness.

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"Energy as in will?

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Purpose?" She shrugs.

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My choice, apparently.

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"Everything's yellow in the card--" "Energetic

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color, yellow." "-

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-yellow except for the black of the salamanders on their coat-thing."

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She nods, murmurs down to the card,

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"His creations, perhaps.

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How many full ones do you see?"

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I lean closer, nudging glasses further up my blunt snout.

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"Two, maybe three out of a dozen or so."

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"If the card were upright, those other ones would be creations yet to happen.

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happen." Her voice carries knowledge,

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and more authority than she's shown yet.

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"Reversed, that becomes flipped around.

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It could be creations abandoned,

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or it could be things you're afraid to start.

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"These cards named after people or titles -

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the page, the knight, the king, the queen -

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they're sometimes about people.

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Maybe this card's about you.

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Or they all could be.

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Maybe--" I smirk, nod my head toward the second card.

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"So I'm the fool?" "Maybe they're just facets of yourself.

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yourself." She finishes, returning my smirk.

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Thus chastened, I look at the second card.

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"Okay, well, there's a dog, one of those breeds with short fur,

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though it doesn't look like any of the dogs I've met.

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He's--" I catch myself,

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seeing androgyny in the dog's features

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and tamping down the yearning for my own.

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"They're stepping toward the edge of a cliff,

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with a little spirit thing dancing at their feet.

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They have one of those sticks with a bag tied to the end,

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but their tunic thing is what has me thinking.

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It's all growing things.

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things." I lean in closer and add,

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"And little splashes of water.

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Green and blue with flowers on navy."

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We sit in silence for a moment

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while I think about the card more.

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"There's a good balance of colors, come to think of it.

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More than the Page, at least.

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Blue and green and red and yellow.

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yellow." I hesitate, staring at the lean canine muzzle:

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the balance continues there,

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masculine and feminine,

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hard and soft, focused and uncaring.

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I say nothing, and wonder why.

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The older woman nods slowly.

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"It's a fancy shirt, no denying.

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It'd look good on you."

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I laugh, to which she looks up, smiling.

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"Seriously. It's a good mix.

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You're a good mix, too.

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But you wear all drab colors.

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Why's that?" There's a sudden flush to my cheeks, at my appearance being so deliberately addressed.

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I lay my ears back.

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A blush along with the first hints of annoyance.

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These are soon replaced with simple embarrassment.

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"I don't want to-- I mean,

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I don't think I'd look good in bright colors or fancy clothes."

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"I think you would.

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would." She hastens to continue,

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speaking over my mounting disagreements,

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"I think you'd look good,

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if you dressed how you wanted.

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Don't you?" I frown at her.

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She continues, "You didn't say you don't want to dress in bright colors and fancy clothes.

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You started to say you didn't want to do something else."

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I held my breath.

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Anger is the wrong word for what I feel.

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Frustration? Humiliation, perhaps.

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Am I so transparent?

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"I don't want to," I begin in a rush of pent-up breath,

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feeling that struggle blown out with it.

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My shoulders sag,

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and I complete the statement more slowly.

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"I don't want to be seen like that."

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"The fool, here, they're everything.

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They're the beginning of all things,

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and they've already got all of the endings inside themselves.

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At the beginning of all journeys,

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there's the fool:

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taking that first step is a fool's gamble, after all.

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all." She pauses, looking at me earnestly,

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intently. "You caught yourself earlier,

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you said 'he' and then switched to 'they'."

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I hunch down into my slouched shoulders,

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muzzle dipping as I struggle for words.

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"They looked-- I mean,

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It's on my mind, I guess."

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"I'll come clean," she admits after a pause,

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dark paws fiddling with the remainder of the deck,

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straightening cards.

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"Your mom told me you were coming,

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so I know that much.

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Even if she hadn't, though, it's written on your face.

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I mean this in the best possible way, Avery,

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but you don't make a very good man."

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I close my eyes.

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I shut out the cards,

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the motherly badger.

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Motherly in the sense of speaking truths,

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in the sense of knowing children,

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in having seen them grow up.

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Motherly in lived experience.

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Experience lived in the moment,

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not in some dream world of crystals and chakras.

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More motherly than my mom, I think.

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When I open my eyes, her gaze has softened.

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"Why three cards?" I ask, deflecting.

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"Past, present, and future.

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future." She laughs. I nod, then sit up a little straighter,

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murmuring, "So it's more that past me that didn't have the activation energy?"

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"Or didn't want to use it, yes."

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"That makes more sense, then." "How so?" I shrug, continuing, "If I'm at the beginning of something now, it's because of how much time I spent fretting -

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and not starting - before."

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She nods. "And are you at the beginning of something now?"

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"I think so." I sound dubious, even to myself.

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"Why now?" "College," I say.

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"Away from home?" "Mmhm." She nods again.

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"It's a little freeing, isn't it?

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Being away from parents.

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So you, like the Page of Wands,

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have been investigating,

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leaving all that energy pent up inside.

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And now you're ready to...

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to...to what? Take that step?"

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I catch myself fiddling with the hem of my shirt.

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It's an olive color,

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faded further into drabness by countless washings,

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no fancy tunic; even her washed-out smock is brighter than my shirt.

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It doesn't go with my fur.

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Nor do the well-worn khakis.

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A darker animal dressed in those would look rough and tumble, ready for a hike.

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A mountain lion looks like a mess of dirty laundry.

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I look up from my dull self to the table once more,

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speaking to the cards.

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"I have an appointment to start talking about it -

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talking about gender -

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with a counselor."

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"Congratulations," the badger says, smiling.

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And I realize she doesn't need to say anymore.

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I realize that's what I needed from my mom.

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I realize that's probably why my mom sent me here.

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I realize that there's probably more to my mom than I gave her credit for.

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I realize I've stopped thinking of this -

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the tarot card reading -

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as something mystical.

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I speak up, "The third card, then."

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The badger returns her gaze to the table.

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"It feels impenetrable to me."

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She laughs and shakes her head.

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"It's not a book. You're not writing a report on its deeper meanings.

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You're picking up on some of those meanings,

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but you don't have to do it right away or all the time.

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Or at all, for that matter.

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matter." Still grinning, guides my attention back down to the card with a gesture,

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badger and

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cougar looming over the table.

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"Just tell me what you see."

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Abashed, I return her smile as best I can.

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"Alright. It's a...

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a...well, I want to say a woman and a child being ferried across a lake or something,

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but the boat they're in has six swords in it. They're

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upright, like they've been stabbed through the bottom of the boat."

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"Stabbed? Like they're going through the wood?"

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"Yeah." "Is water coming up around them?"

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I look harder. The bottom of the boat is pitch dark.

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"I can't tell, but no one seems in a rush to get them out, anyway."

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This gets a chuckle.

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"No, no they don't.

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Maybe they're plugging the holes in the boat.

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Maybe it's best to leave them in."

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Nodding, I keep looking at the card.

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There are lines to draw the attention.

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The swords, the boat,

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the pole of the oarsman,

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the horizon, the water...

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water...the water. "The front of the boat, where the swords are, isn't sinking.

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The people still weigh something, though.

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Look, the back of the boat's low in the water."

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She nods, "Maybe they--"

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"Like they don't weigh

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anything," I add hastily,

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cutting her short. "--don't

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weigh anything, yes."

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I lay my ears back and grin,

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"Sorry, didn't mean to trample."

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She returns my grin,

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pats my tan paw in her black one.

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"You're excited. It's really nice to see." "So why swords?"

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"I don't know.

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What do swords do?" I laugh.

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"Cut and stab. Kill people. Stuff like that."

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"Fair enough," she chuckles.

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"Why would one do that?"

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Her words stop me short.

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"To...to kill," I begin.

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"But that's what I just said.

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Are you asking me why people kill each other?"

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She nods. "To get something,"

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I murmur, fumbling for words.

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"To gain something.

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To get what one wants,

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or needs." "So, since this is the Tarot

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and there's bound to be a lot going on here,

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can we just say the swords are a tool?"

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"Well, I'm not about to hack and slash my way to get what I want."

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She leans in close to me,

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stage-whispering,

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"I'll let you in on a secret.

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None of the cards in the swords suit -

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in any suits - show blood.

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Death, yes. Change, definitely.

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But no blood. It's hardly hacking and slashing."

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"But they're still--" She holds up a paw,

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"They're still swords,

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but they're tools. Swords show work.

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Strife, sometimes, sure; striving toward a goal.

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But what they is show work.

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These swords aren't working right now,

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they're just standing there.

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So where is the striving?"

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"Behind them?" I ask.

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"They figures are all facing away from something."

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"Or toward something."

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"So," I say hesitantly.

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"I'm going to go on a journey?"

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She laughs, "Can you guess what my next question would be?"

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I shake my head. "My next question would be:

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are you? And then you sit and think about it for a moment."

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"I sit and think a moment,

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no, of course not,

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it's about the work of going through something.

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The journey is the work.

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work." I hesitate, then nod and continue,

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more sure of myself.

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"Because I'm here at the beginning.

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I'm the fool, ready to take the step, and then I just have to take the next and keep going."

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She smiles and urges me on with a little gesture of her paw.

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"So if I was stalling by investigating every possibility,

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never starting," I say,

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nodding back to the first card,

then say: 00:15:35

the Page of Wands.

then say: 00:15:37

"Then I guess what I'm focused on is taking that first step,

then say: 00:15:40

and after that, taking the next."

then say: 00:15:42

"You're doing my job for me,"

then say: 00:15:44

the badger laughs.

then say: 00:15:46

My smile falters.

then say: 00:15:47

"Fair enough, but what do I do?"

then say: 00:15:50

"That's advice, kid.

then say: 00:15:52

kid." That soft smile, again.

then say: 00:15:54

She flips the cards over, one by one, and continues,

then say: 00:15:58

"Advice comes from people, not from cards.

then say: 00:16:01

And if I'm going to give you advice,

then say: 00:16:03

you're going to need to tell me what's actually going on."

then say: 00:16:06

She leans forward,

then say: 00:16:07

folding her arms on the table,

then say: 00:16:09

and looks past the cards and to me.

then say: 00:16:12

So I tell her. I tell her all that stuff from childhood,

then say: 00:16:16

all those stupid things -

then say: 00:16:17

the dress-up, the questions,

then say: 00:16:19

the uncomfortable guidance,

then say: 00:16:20

the frustration at forced roles.

then say: 00:16:22

I tell her all those things

then say: 00:16:24

that meant nothing,

then say: 00:16:25

may still mean nothing, and yet add up to a picture

then say: 00:16:28

of a different me

then say: 00:16:29

than who I am now.

then say: 00:16:31

A different shape,

then say: 00:16:32

a different body,

then say: 00:16:33

different face and voice and name.

then say: 00:16:36

I speak more freely than at the beginning of the session.

then say: 00:16:39

I tell her about my mom,

then say: 00:16:40

about telling her bits and pieces of my feelings,

then say: 00:16:43

and her insistence

then say: 00:16:44

at first that it was just a blockage of energies,

then say: 00:16:46

and then her reluctant acceptance.

then say: 00:16:49

I tell her about my dad,

then say: 00:16:50

and how terrified I am of him and his iron grip on masculinity.

then say: 00:16:54

I tell her about leaving for school and deciding that becoming my own self mattered more

then say: 00:16:59

than their financial assistance

then say: 00:17:00

and what belongingness they could offer.

then say: 00:17:03

"Your mom sent you to me,"

then say: 00:17:05

she states again,

then say: 00:17:06

after a comfortable silence.

then say: 00:17:08

"Did you tell her any of this?"

then say: 00:17:10

I shake my head. "She knows just that I'm, er--"

then say: 00:17:14

"That you're transgender?"

then say: 00:17:15

she finishes for me.

then say: 00:17:16

"Would that be fair to say?"

then say: 00:17:18

"I...yes, that's fair."

then say: 00:17:21

"But you don't want to say it?"

then say: 00:17:22

she asks, kind eyes on my own.

then say: 00:17:25

"You don't have to,

then say: 00:17:26

can just say yes or no."

then say: 00:17:28

"No. I mean, I don't want to say it,

then say: 00:17:31

but I should. Maybe that's part of the first step.

then say: 00:17:34

step." I hesitate for a second,

then say: 00:17:36

ears flat and eyes averted, before murmuring,

then say: 00:17:39

"She just knows that I'm trans."

then say: 00:17:41

The badger nods, unclipping the thermometer from her smock

then say: 00:17:44

and turning it over in her fingers.

then say: 00:17:47

"Alright. And she sent you to me for advice?

then say: 00:17:50

She told me to talk to you, mentioned vague facts."

then say: 00:17:53

"Yeah, she told me to go to you to work on things.

then say: 00:17:56

things." I give a wry smile and add,

then say: 00:17:58

"Her words, not mine."

then say: 00:18:01

She laughs and sits back in her chair,

then say: 00:18:03

slouching and twirling that thermometer.

then say: 00:18:06

"Your mom is nuts,"

then say: 00:18:07

she says. "I mean that in the kindest way, of course:

then say: 00:18:10

I love her dearly.

then say: 00:18:12

Have since school.

then say: 00:18:13

I suspect she wishes the world worked differently for her.

then say: 00:18:16

And for you, for that matter."

then say: 00:18:18

The unabashed laugh and words of affection are contagious

then say: 00:18:21

and have me grinning.

then say: 00:18:22

"Yeah, she's nuts," I echo.

then say: 00:18:25

"Still, can't say I'm upset with what I got out of this."

then say: 00:18:28

"The cards, you mean?" "Yeah.

then say: 00:18:30

I was expecting fortunes, I got--"

then say: 00:18:33

"You got what you had when you came in the door,"

then say: 00:18:35

she asserts. "And a chance to talk it through.

then say: 00:18:38

Now, you want my advice?"

then say: 00:18:41

"Yeah. I want to know what you think I should do next."

then say: 00:18:44

"About which bit?" "Coming out, I suppose.

then say: 00:18:47

suppose." I scuff at the back of my neck,

then say: 00:18:50

paw feeling clumsy.

then say: 00:18:51

"Maybe starting transition."

then say: 00:18:53

"Well, it sounds like you're on your way to both, right?"

then say: 00:18:56

She clips the thermometer back to her smock

then say: 00:18:58

and straightens the remainder of the tarot deck in deft paws.

then say: 00:19:02

"You've told your mom, and you have that appointment, right?"

then say: 00:19:05

I nod, brushing fingertips over the overturned cards

then say: 00:19:08

left on the table.

then say: 00:19:09

It felt like we were both acknowledging their presence in our own ways.

then say: 00:19:13

"But I still haven't told dad,

then say: 00:19:15

and I'm still freaked out what the counselor will say."

then say: 00:19:18

"Anxiety, then?" she offers,

then say: 00:19:19

waving a paw above the cards.

then say: 00:19:22

"A bit of the Page of Wands still left over?"

then say: 00:19:25

I nod again, silent.

then say: 00:19:27

"Do you want to dig at that?"

then say: 00:19:29

"Mmhm. Do you have any thoughts on how to get past that?"

then say: 00:19:33

She shuffles the cards and opens her mouth to speak,

then say: 00:19:35

but I interrupt, "Wait, don't tell me.

then say: 00:19:37

Now you'll ask if I have any thoughts on how to get past that." Her laugh is kind and

then say: 00:19:42

her fingers sure as she slips another card from the top of the deck,

then say: 00:19:46

laying it flat on top of the first three.

then say: 00:19:48

The image shocks me enough to get me to sit up straight,

then say: 00:19:51

as if by gaining some distance from the card itself I could escape it.

then say: 00:19:55

"What the hell?" "The ten of swords," she says,

then say: 00:19:58

voice level, conversational.

then say: 00:20:00

I count the swords sticking out of the anonymous figure's back.

then say: 00:20:04

Ten. A feline laid flat on his front,

then say: 00:20:07

a dark sky, a calm shore,

then say: 00:20:09

and ten swords buried in his back,

then say: 00:20:12

each as high as the cat himself. I clear my throat and

then say: 00:20:15

manage, "I thought you said there wasn't any bloodshed in the swords."

then say: 00:20:19

"Do you see blood?"

then say: 00:20:21

Despite everything urging me not to do so,

then say: 00:20:24

I lean in close and inspect the figure.

then say: 00:20:26

"No," I admit. "Though his cloak is red."

then say: 00:20:29

"The color of passion.

then say: 00:20:31

And yellow, the color of action."

then say: 00:20:33

"The dawn's yellow, too,"

then say: 00:20:34

I offer. I sound dubious, even to myself.

then say: 00:20:38

"Dawn, then?" The older woman looks down at the card curiously.

then say: 00:20:42

"Dawn or sunset?" I frown and shake my head.

then say: 00:20:46

"Dawn, I think. It always feels like dawn chases the night,

then say: 00:20:49

but sunset gives in to it."

then say: 00:20:51

"Poetic," she says, and her smile is earnest.

then say: 00:20:55

I count the swords again.

then say: 00:20:57

"One in his ear, one in his neck.

then say: 00:20:59

Three or four in his back.

then say: 00:21:00

back." I stifle a giggle and murmur,

then say: 00:21:02

"That's a lot of swords."

then say: 00:21:04

Her eyes brighten.

then say: 00:21:05

"Isn't it? Overkill,

then say: 00:21:07

in the truest sense of the word.

then say: 00:21:09

Like an overreaction."

then say: 00:21:12

A thought occurs to me,

then say: 00:21:13

and I lean in over the table.

then say: 00:21:15

"Staring at the dawn,

then say: 00:21:16

killed ten times over.

then say: 00:21:18

Look, the water's even clear,

then say: 00:21:20

like the--" I lift the last card up to peek, and continue,

then say: 00:21:23

"Like the six. Like me staring at coming out and poking a billion holes in the idea without ever taking the step."

then say: 00:21:30

Her eyes stay bright.

then say: 00:21:32

"Maybe it's an alternative to the six, then.

then say: 00:21:35

Too much emotion,

then say: 00:21:36

not enough action.

then say: 00:21:37

Passion and action

then say: 00:21:39

pinned down, rather than the work of the six.

then say: 00:21:42

You could keep taking those steps,

then say: 00:21:44

or you could keep killing yourself with indecision."

then say: 00:21:47

I nod eagerly and ask on a whim,

then say: 00:21:49

"What's it like reversed?"

then say: 00:21:50

She gives a little shrug and turns the card over for me to see.

then say: 00:21:54

"The swords fall out -

then say: 00:21:55

that's a relief - but he's still dead, isn't he?

then say: 00:21:58

Resigned to his place on the shore."

then say: 00:22:00

"Sure enough," I laugh.

then say: 00:22:02

"Wait, 'he'?" "You said it first," she says playfully.

then say: 00:22:06

"Seriously, though,

then say: 00:22:07

most of the figures are ambiguous. Or androgynous, I think.

then say: 00:22:11

What you read into them can mean something if you let it."

then say: 00:22:14

"It could be nothing,"

then say: 00:22:15

I mumble. "Or it could be the old me.

then say: 00:22:18

The 'he'." She shrugs.

then say: 00:22:21

My choice, apparently.

then say: 00:22:23

A chime interrupts us,

then say: 00:22:24

me staring at the card

then say: 00:22:25

and her smiling at me.

then say: 00:22:27

A clock tolling slow hours.

then say: 00:22:29

I check my watch to confirm it.

then say: 00:22:31

Five. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry.

then say: 00:22:34

It's way later than I thought."

then say: 00:22:36

She laughs, "Conversations go where they will.

then say: 00:22:39

There's no rush. I can pull together dinner for two if you want to stay.

then say: 00:22:43

stay." She taps at the thermometer with a grin,

then say: 00:22:46

"I even made marshmallows, though they'll be sticky still."

then say: 00:22:49

"No, it's alright. Thank you.

then say: 00:22:51

I'm getting pretty tired, as it is.

then say: 00:22:52

is." I shrug, realizing just how true that statement is.

then say: 00:22:56

"This took a lot out of me."

then say: 00:22:58

"It does that. It's a wonder we need exercise at all, when just thinking about things wears us out."

then say: 00:23:04

I laugh with her,

then say: 00:23:05

nodding. "Still," she continues.

then say: 00:23:08

"You're in town, now.

then say: 00:23:09

Don't be afraid to stop by, say hi.

then say: 00:23:11

There's lots more we can talk about, cards or no.

then say: 00:23:14

Don't wait for your mom to push you my way."

then say: 00:23:17

I lever myself up from the chair,

then say: 00:23:19

swishing ropy tail once or twice to make sure it hasn't fallen asleep,

then say: 00:23:23

and offer my paw to the badger.

then say: 00:23:25

"I won't. I know she thinks we'll work on things,

then say: 00:23:27

but I just want to talk.

then say: 00:23:29

This was more than I expected.

then say: 00:23:31

I didn't know I needed--"

then say: 00:23:32

She bypasses my offered hand

then say: 00:23:34

and gives me a firm hug around the middle.

then say: 00:23:36

Startled, I hold still.

then say: 00:23:39

She smells of sweets.

then say: 00:23:40

Sweets and baking.

then say: 00:23:42

I feel unfortunately tall.

then say: 00:23:44

A rectangle. A lummox. A big, dumb

then say: 00:23:47

cat. I also feel understood,

then say: 00:23:49

appreciated. Welcomed.

then say: 00:23:52

I return the hug carefully.

then say: 00:23:54

Then, with her farewell in my ears,

then say: 00:23:57

take that first step

then say: 00:23:58

out into the evening air.

then say: 00:24:01

And then the next.

then say: 00:24:05

This was “The Fool”

then say: 00:24:06

by Madison Scott-Clary,

then say: 00:24:08

read for you by Khaki,

then say: 00:24:09

your faithful fireside companion.

then say: 00:24:12

Thank you for listening

then say: 00:24:13

to The Voice of Dog