12/23/17 - 12/25/17
Isolation
12/23/17
August left me alone most of the day, but I could hear him bumping around up in the attic. When he did come down I drew his card, the Daughter of Pentacles reversed. He deduced the meaning on his own, the little fawn, just starting out.
“I’m on shaky ground,” he said, “I should tread carefully.”
“Please.” Was all I could mutter.
12/24/17
I tried calling Mal to tell him what August had done, but my phone wouldn’t work. I think August must be interfering with it somehow. He didn’t came down from the attic today, I’m too afraid to go up there. Eventually I drew my own card, Two of Swords reversed, a stalemate resolved?… I took a walk, hoping distance would resolve the phone issue, but no. The Christmas lights on my street were pretty, though. Life seemed eerily calm outside my own little prison. I wondered what the neighbors would think if I begged to use their phone to call a demon magician to help me with a super-powered Victorian spirit. I didn’t go talk to any of them. If August tracked me down… When I got back home he was waiting. He looked amused, but he didn’t say anything.
12/25/17
“Merry Christmas,” August said, leaning against my office door. I was writing because that’s the only thing I can do right now. I’ve already cancelled all my Christmas plans… by email since my phone still isn’t working. Hopefully no one gets worried enough to check on me. I don’t need any more carnage.
“Is it?”
“Don’t be a miser with the cheer just because I don’t want you to contact the only people who know how to end my existence.”
“Your existence should have been ended a long time ago.” I said, he simpered.
“Just read my card.”
I pulled the reversed Ten of Cups.
“See, normally this stands for harmony and joy, but there is none. You tipped the cups upside down and it all spilled out. You want a merry Christmas, asshole, you better make my phone work again, let me get a new contractor, and let me join the circus.”
He started to laugh. It built in crescendo and pitch until my ears ached and the windows rattled. Then it went silent.
“Sorry, love,” he said, then disappeared.
What started as more or less a spectral rom-com is getting darker by the day.
Quick question - do you actually draw the cards and build the story segments around it? That's something that I experimented with for a while, and it kind of worked but was a bit exhausting.