The Fortune Teller | Susannah Stewart
The Guardians
Her animal friends protect her
Safety is an illusion and perhaps it’s better to challenge it sometimes, to see how far we can go, to learn about the stuff we are made of.
Tania Aebi
The wind lately chatters Of threats and warnings, Dark and ghostly forms Lurking at the edges.
your horse is dark your cloak is dark your face is dark
The wind breezily dismisses The foreboding chants. It speaks of safekeeping and protection, Talismanic animals as shields.
“Don’t worry. The boys can handle anything.”
Animal avatars, Guardians, Promise to stand by her side Everywhere she goes.
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
Walter Winchell
Beneath the full moon, I called on the Raven and sought a vision of the child in Haven. I saw her, older and more serious than in the last vision, though much younger than in my first sight of her.
Three Guardians accompanied her. Despite the dangers and gravity of the child’s circumstances, I laughed when I realized who they were, wayward young gods who had manifested in animal avatars.
How the goddesses must have raged.
Penelope
Male guardians! Animal avatars! They will wander. They will be easily distracted. They cannot protect her. They’re men, aren’t they?
This is a fortune teller named Penelope at this point in the 21st century. A combination of a curse and her own powers has allowed her to live many centuries and travel all over the world. She and her young lover, Ronan, are living in New Orleans.
Penelope has encountered many animals over the centuries.
