I am in a small room. Before me is a woman in a Disney princess kinda gown. There is shredded flesh all over her face...and what looks like a human heart pinned to her bodice. She is regarding me through slitted eyeballs that would look more at home on a cat and (I am pretty sure) a half smile.

"Are you...Snow White?" I ask.

She nods, which makes the shreds of flesh on her face shake in a most disconcerting manner.

"What...umm...happened to you?" I ask.

"I got shot in the face...with a shotgun," she tells me. I believe it.

"Who would shoot Snow White?" I ask.

She smiles at me. (Probably.) "The Huntsmen," she says.

"...oh...."

She taps the heart and says "This is his heart." Now she's REALLY smiling...not a good look on her.

I've been hired to do a show at the military base for a Halloween Party...followed by one-on-one readings.

"So?" she asks.

I have been oddly fixated on watching a particular flap of flesh sway back and forth as she talks.

"Huh?" I respond. (Yes...most un-readerlike of me...I know.)

"Any advice for me?" she asks.

"Avoid apples," I say.

She smiles and taps the heart again. I'm thinking there is a veiled threat there somewhere.

I tell her what I tell each person I do a reading for: "I am not a fortune teller. I can't predict the future. I get impressions about the people and I share those impressions. Sometimes they are very clear...sometimes they are abstract. And I don't sugar coat the things I see. Do you want me to continue?"

She nods and the fleshy bits waggle again. I am thinking that this is going to be tough because I can't see her eyes. I am not going to get any of the cues I am used to because she's not wearing her her own clothes. The usual cues I would read from her face are hidden by those bloody ribbons of flesh. No body language help at all. Not good...because I really depend on it.

I sit and regard her for a long moment. I see an ornate tattoo on the inside of her arm. It reads "Lindsay."

"I am seeing someone significant to you," I say. "This is someone you think about often...a female you care about very deeply."

The slitty little eyes move upward. She's thinking.

"I am seeing the letter 'L' in her name. Does that make sense to you?"

She nods once and is now smiling broadly.

"When you think of this person...she's not looking up at you, is she?" I ask.

The smile broadens. She nods.

My eyes flicker to her fingers. No rings. But that may not mean anything. I decide to take a chance anyway.

"She's not your daughter, is she?"

Snow White shakes her head.

"I didn't think so," I say.

"When you think of her, I get the sensation of warmth here," I say tapping my heart. "You've known her all her life."

Snow White nods. I wish she would stop doing that. "She reminds you of yourself."

She nods. "Yes. When I was that age. She's smart."

"You feel very protective of her."

She nods again.

"I thought so," I say...and on it goes. One thing leads to another and before long we establish that she is trapped in a clerical job on the base and that she wants to run her own company one day, probably something to do with the movie industry. (Go figure.)

The reading takes about seven minutes...but as I watch her walking away I am thinking how handy it is to have Cold Reading tucked into my arsenal...how wonderful it is to be able to do a cold read...then a warm read...and then a reading that makes the sitter feel like they brushed up against something amazing...even if just for a few minutes.

I love my job.

David

Wow! Great.

Its still one of my favourites - a few years ago, a camp barman in a bar bugged me for a reading after I'd finished the little gig I had in a private area of the place...I gave him my rules and explanations...he agreed and understood them...I gave him the cards to mix, and he said...

"Sooooo, can you tell me when I'm going to die?"...

"Yes . . . when your brain stops functioning."

Part of me did want to say "well, don't make any plans for late next week..."

That's a great story, thanks for sharing David!





ROFL

I don't like ask anything during a reading.
The consulent who asks questions for me and in those questions I have the information.
If I ask a question ... well ... it's just to clarify between two or three possible interpretations that I see...
About the future of the consulent.
When will he/she die?
If I don't know anything about his/her health, I usually says:
"I don't know, but I know you'll be alive for more 4 or 5 years."

But, this is variable too...

No. You're immortal. Has no one told you?