The Present

As Fanny Mae stood at the bus stop across from Jupiter Apartments, the rain started to come down hard. She made a motion to run for cover, but then nixed the idea. Who cares? she thought. The bus will be here soon anyhow, I'm already wet... Fanny Mae continued to stare out into the distance, not focusing on anything. Her mind was as blank and her newly emptied apartment. She suddenly looked up at a strange figure, bent forward, trying to block the rain. As the figure got closer, Fanny Mae recognized it as Madame Maureen, the palm reader. Madame Maureen did not look up to acknowledge Fanny Mae, she just walked past, hunched over, gripping her left arm. Fanny Mae occasionally walked my the palm reading shop, but never went in. What was the point in knowing the future? If what you find out sucks, you can't change it anyways, right? She never let herself be tempted to know what her future holds, to know if she would ever settle. Sure it would be nice to settle in one place, but how could I really do that? She thought about Madam Maureen again. The poor woman always looks so hungry. She had heard someone say that Madame Maureen has lived here all her life. The majority of that life was spent in poverty because she wouldn't just tell people what they wanted to hear. There's no reason to stay somewhere if your life there get all screwed up! Why would I want to stay here? I don't know anyone, no one cares, and now everyone thinks I'm crazy because I stabbed a guy. Madame Maureen's shadowy figure was no longer in sight whatsoever, as she turned down the alley between Jupiter apartments and Sunshine Daycare. It looks like she's going to the playground...She is all alone I don't want to end up that way, I can't bear it. What if when I die I have no one to hold on to. If I live to be 99 years old, I want to have my loved ones at my side. What loved ones? Will I have loved ones? What will my future hold? The future... Fanny Mae glanced toward the direction of the playground. Throwing all of her ideas about foreseeing the future aside, Fanny Mae walked towards where she saw Madame Maureen disappear into the rain. She kept walking and didn't turn back, even as the bus pulled up behind her. I have to know. I can't live without knowing where I'll end up. I just need something to look forward to, even if it's a terrible fate. There has to be something that I can hold on to, that can ground me. Fanny Mae found herself sprinting towards the playground, then she noticed a crowd of people staring at something by the slide. Fanny Mae froze, she didn't even have to go any further, she knew exactly what had happened. She was stuck, she had left the past, she no longer could dwell in it, and now her door to the future was closed. She was trapped between the two, with no where to escape to.