Fear of Dawn

/ roughwighting

psychic“Yes, I can help you,” she answered, “but my magic has a price. Although under the circumstances, perhaps you will be eager to pay it.”

“How do you possibly know ‘my circumstances’?” I asked the woman. My friend Lacey told me that her cousin Jennifer knew a woman who was a psychic. This “spirit goddess,” as she called herself, rented a small room in the tiny village 20 miles from my home. I deemed myself desperate enough to pay her a visit.

Perhaps “pay” was the operative word here. I didn’t expect her services for free, but… “Whatever my circumstances, what is your fee?” I asked.

The woman peered at me with interest under her long black eyelashes. She wasn’t young, but she wasn’t old either. She dressed in tight jeans covered almost to her knees in a loose purple tunic. Her long dark hair was covered by a sheer gray scarf that glimmered even in her unlit room. Her eyes bespoke of someone who had lived a lot of years, but her hands were free of veiny wrinkles.

“What are you willing to give me?” she replied.

I stood up. “I don’t have time to talk in circles,” I said. “You’re right, I’m rather stressed. But if you can’t help me . . .”

“Sit, sit,” the woman answered in such a soothing tone I felt the air release from me like a too-filled balloon. I deflated so quickly that I almost missed her chair. “Child, it’s not that bad,” she whispered.

“My name is Eve,” I replied.

“I know that,” she said, leaning back in her velvet-covered armchair. “And you can call me ‘Aurora.’”

My eyebrows rose. Aurora? This was getting too creepy.dawn, san francisco bay, paradise cay

“Dawn for short,” she said as if reading my mind. Well, maybe she was reading my mind. “And yes, I can,” she continued. “Aurora is the name for the Roman goddess of dawn. In my life, every day is a dawn – a new beginning. And you, my Eve, need a new beginning, don’t you?”

I began to shake, from the tip of my nose down to the top of my toe nails. She knew. She knew.

“But no one else knows, Eve love. So you don’t need to disappear, and you don’t need to lie. You don’t need to do anything. Just stay quiet.”

“Quiet is not my middle name,” I replied more sarcastically than I intended.

“No, but stupid isn’t, either,” Dawn shot back. “Go home. When someone asks if you’ve seen him, just say no, and go about your daily schedule.”

“But . . .” I began.

“No buts. No hesitation. No regrets and no worry. You’re fine. And so is he, believe it or not.”

I stared at Dawn incredulously. She could even go there?

eyelashes, magic“Yes, all of the elements of nature are open to me, child. Now leave. And return in a month. I’ll ask for my payment then.”

I scurried out before asking her what she wanted. I was quite fearful that in a month, I’d be hiding from the fear of Dawn, not from the consequences of last night.

 

116 thoughts on “Fear of Dawn”

  3. I’ve got goosebumps reading this…brilliantly atmospheric and I’m already fearful of Dawn! How long are your readers going to have wait…a whole month?! Please not! Lovely writing, Pam and bet it was fun composing this! 😀❤️

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  4. I’m kind of worried about what payment Dawn will extract from Eve. I’ve grown to disdain seeing Dawn since I’ve had a week of insomnia and have witnessed a little too much it, when I should be sleeping. Great story, Pam, and left me wanting more!

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      • Lovely if she LIKED her new name in that Latin class, that is. I was renamed in an 8th grade Spanish class and I hated the name the teacher assigned so much i would have dropped the class entirely if I could have gotten my parents to sign off on it.

        I would have been a distinct outlier had I been a subject in one of the studies that link the rapidity of language learning in “past pruning” learners to a change in “identity” – rough enough being the new kid each year.

        My eagerness to learn certainly dropped – to the point where I was no longer considering pursuing languages when I got to college because I didn’t understand the link between her renaming and my former facility for languages. I didn’t even want to raise my hand to answer a question, and avoided being called on (and the other students in the class) whenever possible.

        Fortunately, we moved again at the end of the year and I was in a whole new school with nobody likely to call me that name I hated so much. My next Spanish teacher didn’t believe in “renaming” students.

        I might have fewer objections if the students were allowed to rename *themselves* – after researching common and uncommon names in the language they were learning. THAT might be somewhat useful, at least, especially if part of the assignment was to share why they chose the one they did.
        xx,
        mgh
        (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
        ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
        “It takes a village to educate a world!”

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        • Great food for thought here, Madelyn. When I was 5, I asked my parents to rename me “Pansy” (my favorite flower). Fortunately, they chose not to – but told me I could think about my name again when I was 21.

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  10. After I read your posts, I read the comments too, Part B of any good blog. I sense you are preparing us for Hallow’en frights and I’m sure you were intentional in picking RED as the font color. Great build-up, Pam! 🙂

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    • YOU are a great blogger. And you’re so right, reading the comments is so much fun. I hadn’t begun this story as a scary/Halloweeny frightful scene, but Aurora kind of took over. I think that woman has many tales to tell…

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    • I was kind of scared to find out what happens next, but so many readers here have warned me that bad things will happen if I don’t continue, I better swallow the fear and let Aurora and Eve continue… ;-0

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    • What a great way to give praise, Madelyn. Yes, those ‘look inside’s are so important. I’m gulping a bit here, because I don’t want my readers to be disappointed. Eve is taking me to an interesting place as I let her write more….

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  27. Most of us don’t believe in psychics … and yet we do. I’ve seen the signs and been tempted, tempted and afraid. I hope Dawn won’t ask for Eve’s firstborn child.

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  28. Loved the story, Pam, and would love to read more. But I understand if this is “the end”. Sometimes, I’ve had readers ask me to continue a story, but I couldn’t because that’s as far as it took me. But if you do decide to continue, I’ll be reading….🙂

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  30. You have such a wonderful imagination and really know how to build up the suspense…you have us all waiting now for the next installment…I not sure Eve or the rest of us can wait another month but then, you could be right, best not to rile Dawn’s feathers to much…so, we all wait……

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  35. Dear Pam, Sitting with Mary Beth who is expressing Thanks and appreciation for your thoughtfulness for the card and bookmark. She loves them and it means so much to her. She is recovering nicely! We’ll keep you Posted❤️ Love Jeanette

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  40. Pingback: From Dawn to Dusk | roughwighting

  42. I do so enjoy your serials, Pam. You’ve got a terrific knack for throwing people into the thick of things and infusing your stories with the all-important element of curiosity (for which companies pay marketers millions).

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  43. I am enthralled and finally have a few minutes to catch up with your detail story, Pam.
    The auto parts warehouse got 104 hours out of my body for the past two weeks so my brain may not have needed rest, I did need to allow myself new TV shows. 😊
    This is a fantastic way to start, I love Aurora/Dawn and Eve. Such atmospheric”portent” in the air! Oooh. . .

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    • Ashamed to say I just found your comment here about Fear of Dawn. Thanks for enjoying the story – I hope your car is in good shape!! Happy January (if happy is sub zero temps and snow, right?) 🙂

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