With his hands in his coat pocket, he walked toward her. "Hello Miss Rose," he said, trying to keep his voice low as not to disturb the quietude of the park.
"Hello Mr. Will," she said, her eyes on the pond. "Sit, please." She patted the space on the bench on her left. On her lap was a small, black leather book
Will sat down and looked toward the pond. The frozen surface was covered with fallen debris and one of them appeared to be a small, stuffed bear.
"How did you..." Will's friend said not to be surprised by her knowledge of things she shouldn't have known.
"Let's begin. If I say marrying Shelia will make you the happiest man on earth, you would marry her but if I say marrying Shelia will make you miserable as hell, you will reject her. So, how should I answer?"
Will was, again, surprised by her. He swallowed and said, "Truthfully. I need an honest, real answer. Should I marry Shelia?"
"Then I have to say, Shelia will make you happy but not the happiest on earth and she will make you miserable but not enough for you to regret marrying her."
He waited. Shouldn't there be more? "That's it?"
"What? Oh, you want some detailed foresights? Do you want me to tell you will get a black eye the moment you said your vows? Or that you will spend most of your money on car washes? Or that Shelia will hate mud baths but take them anyway? And that on your forty-fifth birthday, you will choke on jelly beans? Or that when your daughter is four, she would duct tape you in your basement and forget you but you would sleep through the days because of the cold medicine you have taken and your wife will call the cops and you will become a missing person for a week before they thought to search the house? Is that the kind of details you want to hear?" She turned to face him. There were a few faint lines on her smooth skin. If she was supposed to be in her early sixties, Will couldn't believe it.
"I don't know. But those details would be nice to know. Does my future daughter really leave me in the basement and forget me? Do I die on my forty-fifth birthday?"
Miss Rose chuckled. "I could not say. I made them up. The future comes when it comes, you don't control it. You can only make your decisions and handle the consequences later. But do avoid jelly beans and whatever you do, don't give gift certificates for mud baths as anniversary gifts." She grinned.
Will couldn't help but smiled. He came to her knowing whatever she would say, he would still marry Shelia because he believed his life was with her. But he hadn't been certain until she spoke.
"Mr. Will, I do not know why you came to me when you already know the answer. Now, if you are done here, would you mind leaving? I like to have these early mornings to myself. If you please." She turned back to facing the pond.
He nodded. "Thank you, Miss Rose. I hope you have a good morning." He got up and walked away but after awhile, he paused to look back but she wasn't there. He looked around the park but couldn't see her bright colored coat and there was no one around. She must walked really fast, he thought. He shook his head and went on his way and reminded himself to avoid jelly beans.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This month's Words for Wednesday prompts are provided by me. The prompts are posted here. This week's prompts are: black eye, car wash, mud bath, jelly bean, duct tape. And Charlotte's color for February is Electric Rose.
