These are the days when the tectonic plates shift. Gaps yawn in the surface of the land and time falls through. Or stretches wide, over the void. These are the days when the earth quakes, seas go crazy, tidal waves rise, fire storms attack and pilgrims mass on the ancient ways. Im talking actualities here. Im talking about the Asian tsunami, the Iranian earthquake, the 98 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, the Canberra firesthey all happened in the same niche on the calendar. Days of shock and awe, miracle and wonder, chaos and carnival. Holidays.
Every year I have a succession of daysI never count them because that would break the stretching spellstarting with the day of Christmas and coming to an end with the first day of the new yeara succession of days with nothing in them but life.
From the time when I was old enough to remember my thoughts, Ive thought of these days as the best days of all. But Im learning that you have to be wary of their powers, because they dont discriminate. Whatever is visited on the planet in its tectonic stretches can be visited on you, so its best not to draw attention to yourself. Its best to stay very calm and very quiet. Dont look behind you and dont look ahead.
You see, a couple of years ago I made a mistake. A big one, maybe, though it hasnt played out yet so Im lying low and trying not to mention it. Except to you. Its only you Im telling about it, so keep it to yourself.
It would have been the day after the day after Christmasor possibly the day after thatI got out of bed first thing and went to the window to watch the light spreading across the gardenand I thought: so whats next? Suddenly I really wanted to know what was coming next. And I wanted it to be something big.
So I got on the internet and googled for a psychic. It took a while to narrow down the options and find the best choice, which I did with the most rational parts of my brain. Arealocal. Pricereasonable. Credentials? Well, that was a bit trickier. I was torn between Stella, who had been 20 years a professional clairvoyant and Pixi, who said she was from a long line of seeing minds. I rang Pixi.
Im interested in having a reading, I said.
Uhhuh. The voice didnt sound very likely somehow.
That is Pixi, is it? Pixi the clairvoyant?
Yuh.
What do you use? Tarot cards?
Nuhuh.
So do you take it off a personal item?
Can do, but not today. I wouldnt do that today.
Doesnt have to be today, I said. Although in fact I was hooked already and I actually wanted it to be now. She must have read my mind.
Of course it has to be today. Wheres your nearest beach?
Turns out what Pixi likes reading is jellyfishthe transparent kind that get washed up as the tide goes out. And it turns out Pixi is all of about sixteen years old, at most. Half my age. I was starting to feel a bit of an idiot, following this kid in white shorts and pink bandeau top stomping across the sand.
She stopped at the edge of the water.
Alright then, what you got to do is you got to pick one.
What? My mind had gone blank.
Jellyfish. Ill give you a tip. The clearest ones are the best.
There was a little round blob at my feet but it looked milky and exhausted so I flicked it back into the waves and went looking for a better bet. There were plenty of them around, and every so often a wave came in with a couple more to swell the number. The fresh ones were the clearest, but when I looked closely they all had a milky cast.
A ripple crossed my toes and something made me turn around. Pixi was right behind me, gazing straight ahead as if I was transparent, and at her feet was a shining crescent shape.
That one. I pointed.
We sat there just out of reach of the waves and she stared at the crystalline tube and began to talk. The voice is still with mea shallow childish voice that scrapes against the edges of the words as if they didnt really belong to her.
It wont happen yet, but it isnt too far away. And it wont happen herewell, not right here, but all this will be affected. Therell be people all along there. Masses of them, all clumped together. She waved a hand in the direction of the white unit blocks and hotel buildings on the beach-front. And youll be in amongst them. Theyre in a panic and youre in the crush but youre a survivor so its going to be up to you. Afterwards its going to be up to you.
After what? What are the people panicking about?
Pixi had already got to her feet and she was holding her hand out. Sixty dollars.
As I fumbled for the cash, she smiled and said, Nice bag. And didnt you lose a pair of shoes around here one time? Try looking up there. Where that coke can is.
She ran off and I headed up towards the dunes, spotting the coke can amidst some clumps of grass. How she could have seen it from back there I didnt know.
I found the shoes. They were sand logged and all out of shape, so I buried them again but the trouble is now I know where they are, and thats not all I know. But Im not sure how many days it is till the new year because I dont count them.