Photo by Petr sidorov on Unsplash
A blink of an eye was enough to leave Caleb distraught. His intelligence has led him as far as to make him wander down a bad path. He stole a lot of money from Angus' casino; his former brother-in-law and enemy, using his card counting skills, but this has been a mistake, as young Angus had a keen eye for detecting these techniques.
A stinging blow stabbed into Caleb's chest as he read the letter from his hostile rival: "I know where you stand you miserable thief. You stole all my sister's money and now you want to steal from me? I won't let you, prepare for the worst," Caleb shuddered, paranoia overtaking him and he looked out of his bedroom window. He glimpsed a couple of strange cars stopped in front of his house.
He didn't think twice. He grabbed all his stuff and the cash he had stolen from the casino and left through the back door. He slipped through the neighborhood and made his way to a caravan of gypsies settled in an abandoned park. He tried to hide there, but he felt someone following him intently and slipped into one of the tents.
There, a man with brown skin, lined eyes, blue pupils and big smile spoke to him.
"You can hide here sir, I have no problem," the gypsy said. Caleb exhaled slowly and looked at the man suspiciously.
"How do you know I'm hiding?" he asked.
"Because I predicted it, you are coming to get rid of a very big problem."
"Excuse me?"
"As you hear sir, destiny brought you here to help you and I am the one who is going to execute that longing. I can make those men not chase you anymore and at the same time disappear the problems you have with your ex-brother-in-law."
"And how can a simple man I don't know do something like that?"
"Sit down, please," the fellow indicated with a polite gesture.
Caleb did as he asked, wanting to buy more time before leaving the store. The man gathered up his curly hair and pulled out a bundle of cards. Caleb was surprised at the trick.
"You are a man of great daring, sir," the fortune teller asserted. "You have survived so far only by using your intellect, that's why fortune wants to help you for so much honor it has given you."
Caleb looked at him confused. "Are you going to use magic to solve my problems? That's absurd!"
"Lack of faith is understandable in those who have always lived by logic," the gypsy stressed as he shuffled the cards. "A good quality, but a bad one at the same time."
Caleb watched as the fortune teller extraordinarily manipulated the cards; the rapid movements mesmerized him for seconds until the man stopped. He took a card from his deck and showed it to him.
"Oh... You are very lucky. You got The Hand."
"What does that mean?" replied Caleb hastily.
"It means that all your problems will be solved instantly. If you accept this letter, tomorrow you will no longer have to worry about your conflict with your ex-brother-in-law, however, since nothing in life is free, you will have to pay the price for it."
"Price? What price?"
"Your hand, sir, is all in the description of the letter. The Hand sweeps everything, but it needs a substitute to continue its mission, otherwise it dies. do you accept?"
Caleb didn't understand much of what the conjurer was telling him, but since he was paranoid at the time and eager to buy more time, he accepted the card offered by the sibylline and stared at it for quite a while.
"Sweet fortune, Mr. Caleb," Manifested the man as his blue eyes glittered with two mirrors.
Caleb rose from the chair and left the tent. His hope now was to get to the secret apartment he had downtown. Once there, he let his body rest on the bed. His head was spinning, as if he were drugged. He began to have visions with strange colors he had never seen before in his life. In a one-hundred-and-forty-degree turn, everything seemed to return to normal. The night passed like a snap giving him dominion over the dawn.
Caleb woke up and rubbed his eyes, turned on the television to get a little more oriented and tuned to the news channel. One in particular was reporting on the mysterious disappearance of his ex-brother-in-law and his bodyguards. The police hadn't found even the tiniest trace of them; the case was so bizarre that even the government had to intervene.
Caleb stood transfixed in front of the television. "Did that spell really work or am I dreaming?" he wondered, as he felt a strange sensation in his body. His right hand began to twist so fast that it came off his arm like a screw. There was no blood or pain, but Caleb was so shocked that he even lost his speech.
The hand fell to the floor, but instantly got up and began to walk on its own. It slid down the wall and escaped out the window. The last thing Caleb glimpsed, was his walking hand descending down the building to the street.
The hand crossed avenues until it reached that neighborhood. It made its way to the abandoned park just outside the Sibylline's store. Upon arrival, the conjurer greeted her with a small wooden chest and placed Caleb's hand there, then put it away on one of his shelves. The fortune teller, very calm and smiling, sat back in his chair; waiting for his next fortune dupes.
THE END
Oh wow! The loss of a hand as a price for all of the protagonist's problems to disappear. That's a hard price to pay, no? What a gripping tale! If I was Caleb, I would pursue my hand and get it back. 😅 Beautifully written.
Ha ha ha ha. It must be horrible to be left without a hand, I thought of that to add a touch of absurd humor to the story. Thanks for reading.
With a highly efficient use of imagery you keep the reader attached to your lyrics from start to finish, @universoperdido. We know from them of Caleb's ambitious mentalityaa and his cowardice. At the end of the reading we imagine that the soothsayer achieves a sort of justice. In a magical way Caleb's problem disappears and he pays his price. Thank you for this story and for the meaningful comments on the other stories.
Thank you very much for your comment and support. This week's challenge has really inspired me. My best vibes.
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Good reading!Greetings, @universoperdido! The gypsy has managed to make Caleb pay a high price for his violations of others' trust by magically applying an ancient penalty for thieves.
Friend, Graciela, thank you for your analytical comment and your support. My regards to you too.
Yay! 🤗
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Caleb simply paid for his crime, reinforcing the statement that evil is bad, and will always pay evil back.
You are right, justice always strikes when we least expect it. Thank you for reading me.
I loved your story when the conjurer managed to make Caleb's hand detach from his body, losing his speech from that impression. Have a happy evening.
Thank you very much. I'm glad you liked it. Happy night to you.
Good narrative, engaging from the first words. The ending is superb, I expected him to lose his hand accidentally, but the way you expose it one would never expect it. Brilliant.
Thank you very much, my friend. I thought of that in the first place, but I didn't want to make it look bad and violate the community rules, so I went with another, more fantastic method.
Thanks for reading me.
This is an amazing read! Money, indeed, can be the root of all evil. Caleb's hand running away reminded me of Thing in Wednesday Addams.
Everything has its price indeed.
Ha ha ha ha. It was the same thing that went through my mind when I wrote that part, I wanted to put that touch of humor. Thank you very much for reading it.
An excellent story that really gets the reader into the story. I loved the way you tell it, especially leaving me wondering what will happen to Caleb, since nothing and no one ensures that he will lose his other hand by falling into the temptation of money again. Best regards, excellent work!
I think Caleb will have to continue his life single-handedly, although it will be difficult. Thank you so much for your comment, I'm glad you liked it. Regards.
Hi, I'm glad you liked it. I've always been interested in gypsy curses, it's something mystical and attractive.