Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Fortune cookies


I have never believed in fortune tellers, until I met this witch doctor who wanted to predict my future, in Potchefstroom, South-Africa. He was old, really old and had barely any clothes on. He held a leather pouch in his hand, and the content of that pouch was about to predict my future.
He made me sit, while he closed his eyes and started to chant. At the time, I thought it was really funny. I was 18 back then and didn't know anything about witch craft. He opened the pouch and started to divide the different objects in sections. I remember seeing the skull of a small bird, the tooth of a lion, a feather of a vulture, a wheel of a matchbox car and a couple of building bricks of Lego, amongst some other things I don't remember.

He looked me right in the eye and got my attention. The chanting went on and I thought it was still kinda funny. Until he said my grandmother had died from the complications of diabetes. Bang! That my grandfather died a couple of months later, because he couldn't live without grandma. Bang again! I had a hard time to swallow and it made me feel a little awkward. 
He went on and said that I had bad knees, caused by a fall. A third bang hit me.. Cheese and rice! what had I gotten myself into??? This was no longer funny..

He asked me for my watch, and I gave it to him. I told him the battery died some days ago, so it wouldn't be of much use to him. He gave me this creepy look and I shut up.. Rubbing the watch between his skinny brown fingers, he said he was ready to talk about my future. I stood up and left.. I never heard what he had to say. 

I think I will stick to the little notes in fortune cookies. They are innocent. They are fun to read. They contain no truth. And they taste good. Without any aftertaste.

2 comments:

Upje said...

Brrrrrrrrrrr. Ik zou ook zijn weggelopen, denk ik.

www.kokenenhogehakken.blogspot.be said...

eng hè! ik wou echt mijn toekomst niet weten van die gast!