June 14th. Velorice City. Sunny afternoon. 8-year-old James Ruth was playing with a few of the orphans in the playground on swings in the back property of Holy St. Lithe. One of the girls looked at James on the swing, causing him to stop and get off.
“Did you want to get on the swing, Celie?” He asks.
“Um, no.” She answers. “I want to know if you could… tell me what you see?”
James looks at her reluctantly. “Celie, we’ll be out here all day if I did that.”
“Please? Just a couple of sights?”
James sighs. “Okay. But only a couple of them.”
. .
James, Celie, and the other children were standing around a table with James and Celie in the middle. He holds her hand and looks at the palm closely.
“So,” She speaks. “What do you see, James?”
James focuses on her palm. “Hmm… In 10 years’, time, you’ll be making blankets and dresses. During then, in a short period of time, you’ll be married—”
“Married? Eww!”
The other children start laughing at Celie’s statement, and so does James.
“Yes, you will be.” He responds. “But remember, it’s only 10 years down the line and not now. Anyway, you will make a great living making blankets, dresses; making good pay.”
“Ooh!” Celie exclaims happily. “What else, James?”
James stares at her. “Celie, I told you I would only do a couple, so I’m done enough reading you for the day. Let someone else have a turn.”
Celie pouts. “Okay, but thank you!”
James then let’s go of Celie’s hand and she moves out of the center.
“So,” He speaks. “Does anyone else want their fortunes read?”
A boy raises his hand quickly before the other children.
“Okay, Roy. Give me your hand.”
Roy walks to the table’s center and extends his hand to James. James takes Roy’s hand and holds it in order to read it. Unbeknownst to the children, Father Nyris Dustine was looking at the children through the window with a kind smile on his face.
“I see… in 2 years,” James speaks. “You will be adopted by a wealthy couple who are well known throughout Velorice for making buildings. And in 9 years after that, you will be taught how to be a constructor—well you will lead on floorplans.”
“Wow. That sounds great!” Roy responds amazed.
Sister Deborah then walks outside and claps to gather the children. “Lunch time, children!”
All the children begin to run inside the orphanage, including James.
. .
Several minutes later, the children were eating at a table in the dining room that connected to the kitchen. As James gets done eating, he gets up from the table and picks up the bowl he ate out of and gives it to Theresa who was next to a wash bucket.
“All full, James?” She asks.
“Yes, Sister Theresa. Thank you.” He replies.
“Oh, you’re welcome, darling. But before you go back outside, Father Nyris would like to talk to you in the sanctuary, okay?”
“Okay.”
James then walks out of the kitchen and goes into the sanctuary and sees Nyris at the podium fumbling through his papers. James then walks up to the pulpit.
“Father Nyris?” He calls to him, catching his attention.
“Ah! James.” Nyris greets. “Sit down, please.”
James sits down in the front pew while Nyris comes down from the pulpit and sits next to James.
“Sister Theresa said you wanted to talk to me?” James asks.
“Yes.” He responds. “During these years we’ve spent with you, I have known that you were blessed with a gift.”
“A gift? What kind of gift?”
“The gift to have premonitions. You’re a little mind reader. The Maker has blessed you.”
James looks at him in disbelief. “What? I don’t think I have that.”
“You don’t think so?” Nyris asks. “What do you were doing when you looked at young Celie’s palm, or little Roy?”
James could not answer and shook his head while looking down at the floor.
“Look at me straight in the eye.” Nyris tells him.
James does as he is told and looks Nyris in the eye.
“What do you see?” Nyris asks.
James begins to concentrate on Nyris. In that moment, he sees a vision of what Nyris will have.
“I see…” He starts. “I see new people coming into the congregation two Sundays from now, and they will stay and worship. Three new sisters will be joining you as well in the next two years. The King will come visit in a few days to give money for you for the church and us for clothes.”
“How many new people for the congregation?” Nyris asks.
“24 new people.”
“What are the new sister’s names?”
“Lorraine Barkas, Catherine Stone, and Crystabelle Lee.”
Nyris was surprised that James knew the women’s names. “Now, how did you know all of that, my boy?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I saw it and they all seemed so real.”
Nyris chuckles. “So, King Donovan will be coming here a few days from now. Then, two Sundays from now, we’ll have 24 new faces to join us in our worshipping. And two years from now, we’ll have three new sisters in our church. Also, how did you know their names?”
James shrugs his shoulders in denial. “The names just… came to me like I’ve met them before. I don’t how I knew exactly, Father.”
“Alright, then. So, I’ll hold you to what you’ve predicted. I’ll write it down in my notes and it will prove that you do have a gift.”
Nyris then gets up from the pew. “Well, that’s all. You can go and play with the others now. Dinner will be at 6 o’clock.”
“Okay!”
James stands up from the pew, and leaves the sanctuary to go back to the other kids outside. Nyris goes back to the pulpit, takes his papers from the podium, and walks into his office. He then sits down in his chair and takes out a leather covered journal, opens it on a clean sheet of paper, and writes down what James had predicted, hoping what he saw within James was real and true.
. . . . .
June 19th, cloudy evening. James and the other children were reading their bibles along with Nyris in the sanctuary while Deborah, Theresa, and the other nuns were cleaning the dining room. They all hear a knock at the door, which makes Nyris stand from his spot and walk to the door. He opens the door revealing the king of Velorice, Donovan Love.
“Hello, Father Nyris.” Donovan greets him with a kind smile.
“King Donovan.” Nyris greets back. “Please, come in.”
Donovan walks in the sanctuary and looks at Nyris. “How are you doing this evening?”
“I’m fine, my king. Would you like to talk in my office?”
“Yes.”
Nyris and Donovan walk down in the sanctuary’s aisle as the group of orphans run to greet the king, along with James who walks toward the king and Nyris. As Nyris and the king walk past the children, James catches the king’s attention which Nyris sees.
“My king.” He speaks. “This little one is James Ruth. He’s our little fortune teller of St. Lithe.”
“Is he now?” Donovan asks as he looks at James. “Maybe you can show me how much of a fortune teller you are, young man.”
James nods and looks into the king’s golden eyes and begins to pick up on a vision. “Do you have a son named Duval?”
Donovan becomes surprised that James knew his son’s name, due to never saying anything about his son, nor any of his family’s business.
“Very good, young man.” He compliments James. “You have promise in your abilities. You’d make a fine citizen in our land.”
James smiles. “Thank you, King Donovan.”
James then moves aside for Nyris and the king to walk to Nyris’ office.
. . . . .
June 23rd, Sunday afternoon. Nyris was done with his sermon as the congregation left the sanctuary. He goes into his office and looks through his notes, until he hears a knock at his door which opens; it was James.
“Ah, James.” Nyris greets. “Did you enjoy the sermon?”
“Yes, sir.” James replies. “Was my premonition correct?”
“It was, once again, correct. There were 24 people in the congregation I’ve never seen until today.”
Nyris then takes out his leather notebook and crosses out what he had as a list.
“Again,” He speaks. “You’ve proved that you have a gift from The Maker himself. Not many people have what you have.”
“Not even the king himself?” James asks.
“Hmm. Even though he is a vampire, I don’t think so.”
“Oh. So… I truly have premonitions? What can I really do with this gift? Especially years from now, Father?”
“Well, son, that is for you to decide, when you’re old enough to go out on your own.”
“Oh…”
Nyris sees James look disappointed with his head down. He walks towards James and kneels to his level.
“Understand this, James.” He speaks with a calm tone. “You will be able to understand your purpose in life when you become a man. When that time comes, don’t feel afraid to come back to the sanctuary and have a talk if you feel lost. I’m sure I will still be here when you become a man. Until then, Theresa, Deborah, and I will still take care of you, for that was our promise to you the day you came here. We’ll always give you advice in any way possible.”
With Nyris’ words, James looks up at him feeling encouraged and tears welling in his eyes. James hugs him with Nyris returning the favor.
“There is no need to worry, my son.” Nyris assures. “We will always be there for you, whatever you decide to do in life.”
James sobs. “Thank you, Father Nyris…”
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