The Lion's Tamer's Palm

The Lion Tamer's Palm

“Please.” Ann said it with finality this time, and Aurelia knew she had run out of excuses. 

“Your right hand.”

Ann took off its white glove eagerly, and stretched it out to the gypsy. Aurelia took it into her own and started studying Ann’s palm as her grandmother had taught her.

“The hardest part,” her Nana had once said, “Is knowing what to conceal. Will it help or hurt?”

Help or hurt whom, Nana? Aurelia thought, as she began to trace the lines on Ann’s palm. Truthfully, she knew she was more afraid of what she might find here then Ann was. Aurelia followed the patterns with purpose, examining the exposed depths of the young lion tamer’s past, present, and future.

Ann watched intensely, itching with excitement. She tried hopelessly to conceal it. She has seen Aurelia's gift with her own eyes. Ann was there the night Aurelia's gift found the little village girl. And the way the magician's eye's had darkened when Aurelia had accepted his challenge and whispered his darkest secret into his ear. He had left without a word, and hadn't harassed the gypsy since. The seconds slowly ticked by, and each one felt like a drip of water slowly falling with a thunk into a bucket. But she could wait. Finally, it was her turn.

“The calluses in your palm exaggerate the lines and patterns. This speaks to your life. There has been movement. Restlessness. Confusion.” Ann listened, captivated by the gypsy’s words. “There is a break away from security. Family. Love. There is distance between this line and your path. Your choices have created this distance. This was deliberate.”

Ann nodded, feeling the weight of the words like a stone in her stomach. "Are they alright?"

"Your choices created distance." Aurelia repeated this with emphasis. "Too much distance for me to see anyone in your present but you."

Ann nodded again, trying to hide her disappointment.

“But this story,” Aurelia pointed to a long line that wrapped around the main crease she had been referencing, “this story shows that…” 

It was as Aurelia suspected. She felt the choke start to rise in her throat, but she knew what Nana would want her to do. 

“…Love. Security. Family. It is all very close to you. Right now and within your reach. It…it actually surrounds you. It waits...longs...for you.” She whispered this, as she traced the curvature of the love line around the life line. She hardened her gaze and looked up to meet Anne's wide eyes."This gift, if given to you, is not to be taken lightly. Do you understand?"

Anne was taken back by the gypsy's sudden forcefulness.  She shook her head with embarrassment.

"The things you lost---gave away, even! Those will come back to you. Not in the same way, but you will have another chance. Don't you see?" Aurelia pointed to the lines and spoke with frustration. "If you want it; Love. Security. Family. It wants you. He wants---"

“Lia?”

Both girls jumped slightly at the voice and looked up to see Adam at the entrance of the tent, shovel in hand. Aurelia’s heart skipped a beat. Had he become even more beautiful since she had seen him this morning? The dirt on the stagehand's clothes and color from being in the sun made him even more endearing.

Adam suddenly realized that he had interrupted, and took off his hat. “I’m sorry, Miss Ann, I didn’t know you were here,” he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair nervously.  “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“It’s no intrusion,” Ann insisted, and as she looked to him, her palm lightly fell from Aurelia’s hands. “Aurelia was sharing her gift with me.”

Aurelia hesitated and choose her words carefully; "I think we're done for now, Ann. I...we've seen enough."

Ann turned to the gypsy. “Thank you Aurelia.” Ann slipped the glove back on her hand and started out from the tent. She looked up to see Adam gazing at her. His eyes were so green. Soft, yet intense. Trustworthy. She blinked and willed herself out of his trance. With a small smile, and shake of her head at her foolishness, she pulled back the red drape and left the tent.

Adam watched Ann go, transfixed. And Aurelia watched Adam, her heart aching.

Will it help or hurt whom, Nana? She wondered again. Help or hurt whom?