It's In The Cards

I remember the day the stars sent tarot to me.
 
I was struggling in my studies, and it was suggested that perhaps a consultation with the cards would help shift my perspective. The reader was a kindly elder with a warm aura about them. I was extremely trepidatious upon sitting at the cloth -- how were *cards* going to teach me about my life? -- but the reader spoke to me in a calm and somehow ancient voice, the shuffling of cards a mesmerizing soundtrack: "The stars guide your head; the cards guide your heart."
 
And so I stayed.
 
And so they drew.
 
"The Hanged Man. And....Death, in reverse."
 
My heart plummeted. Dread choked me.
 
"There is great sacrifice in your life, child. You are called to a purpose greater than yourself, something greater than perhaps all of us. And yet....you resist. You push against it with all of your might; this has caused you to stagnate. You are in limbo, caught between the life you have and the life you wish for, and it is there you will remain until you learn to accept and surrender to that which you cannot control."
 
I shot to my feet, trembling, tears pouring from my eyes. "That's easy to say when it's not *you*!" I seethed, before turning on my heels and fleeing.
 
I ran until my feet bled. Cried until my eyes burned. Screamed my throat raw. Busted my knuckles by beating my despair into the trunk of a tree.
 
 
They were right.