Open Your Eyes

Their new neighbor was the only thing about Brian and Nancy’s new home that wasn’t quite perfect.

They pulled up to the house on moving day in a car packed with boxes and bags of miscellaneous things that they hadn’t been able to find a place for in the Uhaul. Nancy looked over at the flickering neon sign in the neighbor’s window with a sigh. Another sign planted in the lawn read “TAROT + PALM READING”, with a phone number listed below.

“Living next to a psychic should be interesting,” Brian said, trying to keep an optimistic tone. Nancy looked at her husband with a wry smile.

“Interesting is one way to put it…”

They began to unload the car and bring their belongings into the house. It didn’t take long for Brian’s father to arrive with the Uhaul, and they all worked together to get the rest of their belongings and furniture moved inside. When they had finally finished, he sat down on the porch with an ice cold bottle of water, pouring it down his throat. He looked over at the neighbor’s yard once more and paused.

A woman was standing in the lawn, staring in his general direction, or maybe looking at the Uhaul and the boxes piled in the driveway. Her white hair was pulled back, but wisps had escaped and were falling around her face at random. Her dress fell nearly to her bare feet, and she clutched a shawl around her shoulders. He raised a hand and waved half-heartedly. The old woman seemed to take no notice. She turned around and shuffled back into her house, and Brian frowned, shaking his head.

She was probably just curious about the commotion. Maybe she’d seen that they were busy and decided to wait on saying hello until later. Brian put it out of his mind, got up, and went back inside to start putting things away.

***

They’d lived in the house for a week when their neighbor showed up on their doorstep with a platter of sweet breads, introducing herself finally. “I live just next door – my name is Iris,” she said. “I do hope you’re settling in nicely. Such a wonderful neighborhood, yes.”

Brian and Nancy stepped out onto their porch to speak with her together, thanking her profusely for her generosity. Brian looked at her curiously as they talked. He really couldn’t take any guess at all how old she was; despite her white hair, her face had few lines, and her voice was clear as a bell. She encouraged them to come to her house any time for any sort of psychic reading they wanted, and the couple respectfully declined.

Finally Iris left, and Brian and Nancy went back inside. “It was certainly nice of her to welcome us to the neighborhood,” Nancy said, and they headed to the kitchen to put away their welcoming gift.

***

Over the following weeks and months, Iris visited several more times, always encouraging them to come over for readings, and always getting turned down until one day in late winter. They had just arrived home from church, and Brian had stopped the car in the drive to let Nancy out. She stood and spotted Iris heading towards them. Iris smiled as Brian pulled the car into the garage.

“How was church? Might I invite you over for a spot of tea, maybe some lunch?”

Although they’d seen customers of Iris’ fortune-telling business coming and going, Nancy wasn’t sure they’d ever seen Iris with anyone who looked like friends or family, and Nancy was beginning to wonder if their neighbor had anyone at all. She glanced back at the garage where her husband was getting out of the car, then back at Iris, and made up her mind. “That sounds lovely, thank you.”

Iris led them both back to her house, delighted. As they went inside, Nancy’s eyes were drawn to everything; cloths draped over surfaces and lamps, crystals strewn about, bundles of drying herbs and flowers hanging from the ceiling. Iris swept a beaded curtain aside and held it open for them. They found themselves in her kitchen, where a pot of tea already sat steaming. The pair exchanged a glance and sat down at Iris’ urging. She poured the tea and sat down herself, and they started talking.

That was only the first of what soon became many regular visits. Winter passed, and they became good friends with their neighbor, leaving their initial trepidations about her well behind. The snow began to melt, heralding the start of spring.

It was an unseasonably warm evening when they went to her house yet again for a meal. They’d finished eating and cleaning up, and Iris led them into the room she conducted most of her business out of. The smell of incense was nearly overpowering. The windows were draped in brightly covered fabrics, letting in only the smallest amount of light. Half-burned candles stood on every surface, and a tarot deck lay neatly stacked in the corner of the low table in the center of the room. Iris turned around and looked at them.

“You two are meant for something more,” she said. “I have seen it.”

Brian and Nancy exchanged a puzzled look. Iris pressed on.

“There is something you need to see. You’ve proven yourselves worthy.” The white-haired woman lifted both hands and held them palms together, almost as if she was praying, and a glimmer seemed to run through the air and down her body. Everything changed in that moment.

Before them stood a fae in full glory, translucent wings splaying from her shoulder blades and reaching nearly to the floor. Markings seemed to shimmer just underneath her translucent skin, visible one second and gone the next. She held out a hand to them. “There is magick all around you,” she said. “It’s time to open your eyes.”