Karla pulled over the side of the road and turned off the engine. The storm had abated, but there was a drizzle in the air that looked like curtains swaying in the velvet evening. At least the clouds are parting, she thought as she looked up at the sky and saw a sliver of moon peeking through the clouds.

Around her, the forest was silent. A single light flickered in the darkness. It came from a wagon parked in an oak grove just off the gravel road. It was a cute little thing with big wheels and ornate design reminiscent of bygone times. Perhaps for the wanderers, she mused, time remained still.

What was she even doing here? It was pure desperation. Her marital woes had gotten to the point that she was now willing to consult with a wandering mystic. Karla shouldn't have listened to Elena, who was a sucker for all things new age. Karla was more of a no-nonsense kind of gal.

This was a bad idea. She inserted the key back in the ignition but did not turn it.

Sighing, she put the key back in her purse, bit her lower lip, then stepped out of the car.

She followed the moonlit path towards the wagon that seemed so small surrounded by the cathedral of cedars, oaks, and pines.

Where was the rest of the caravan? she wondered.

She went up to the steps and knocked on the door. There were some noises inside then footsteps.

The door opened in a cloud of smoke, and behind it stood a man with dark piercing eyes. On his head, he wore a bandana which unsuccessfully tried to tame the unruly dark locks that fell about his broad shoulders.

"Good evening," Karla said, somewhat surprised by the looks of the young man. "Are you Lohan?"

"Who wants to know?" he said in a smooth voice with a slight wanderer accent.

"I'm Karla Morrison. My friend Elena told me about you and... your craft."

"Ah!" he said with a nod, then as if debating something in his mind, he finally said, "fine, fine! come in."

She walked up the rest of the steps and entered the bohemian abode. She had no idea what she had expected to find inside. Beads, cushions, a crystal ball perhaps. Instead, she found herself inside an intricate knotwork of wires and screens attached to every available surface of the small space. Some of the screens were large and showed data visualizations, while others were tablet size and hung in portrait mode displaying what appeared to be images of divination cards.

Several items of clothing hung from hooks on the wall, sewn with circuitry and some kind of virtual reality system.

Lohan pulled on several shelves and unlatched panels from the wall to create a reclining surface on which he placed a few colourful cushions.

"Sit, sit," he told her. Then he rushed to another part of the wagon, where he puttered about and muttered to himself with many ah and hmms, as if running an inner dialogue.

He came back with a cup of tea and handed it to her.

"It's always women," he said.

The words jolted Karla, and she coughed in her tea.

"I beg your pardon?" she said wiping her lips.

"I've never had a card reading for a single man. Curious, isn't it?"

Not knowing what to say, Karla shifted in her seat and sipped from her tea.

He seemed to ponder this a bit more, then he looked straight into her eyes.

"You sound like a no-nonsense kind of woman. So, I'm gonna cut to the chase. A card reading won't work on you because you don't believe in magic, spirituality, mysticism, or any metaphysical superstition."

"How do you know what I believe or not?" Karla said, beginning to get irritated with the mouthy fellow.

"I can hear it in your voice," he said studying her eyes rather closely. He stood up and rummaged through a chest then brought out a deck of cards.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked her.

"It looks like a divination deck," she replied.

He chuckled. "That's just the story people are told. It is much more than just a parlor trick to predict the future. Oh sure, it can help you clarify some issues in your life, but you can also use the table of elements for that matter. The cards are not just for individual divination but for predicting the future of everything."

"I'm afraid I don't understand. I just wanted to find out how to improve my marriage. Can the cards help me or not?"

"The cards can help you, if you let them."

"What must I do?"

"First, you must tell me about your marriage."

Karla reclined on the cushions, her body covered in electronic clothing and virtual goggles strapped to her head.

Lohan walked her through a calibration procedure of what he called the ER (enhanced reality) system, which consisted of the suit, gloves, and head-mounted optics.

"You will see a frame appear in front of you," said Lohan, his voice rumbling like the delicate sound of thunder. "Relax and keep your eyes on it when it appears."

In the virtual world, Karla saw a peaceful beach with an impossible blue sea.

The frame materialized above the sand, empty at first, but then a three-dimensional divination card appeared.

"It's beautiful," said Karla, admiring the artwork. "What does it mean?"

"The floating man," Lohan replied. "This is your husband. Meeting him was a rush, wasn't it? The dinner dates. The dances. The kisses. Lovemaking. The passive exploration of each other's sensual energies. Then came children, and the initial surge of young love turned into a force for adult domestication. His sensuality became tuned to more earthly matters. And you transformed from lovestruck young woman to motherly matron. Now let me show you something."

He typed on a keyboard and clicked with a mouse.

Karla felt a soft breeze blow up her legs, spreading upwards along her spine. She giggled.

"What a strange sensation. It feels like a breeze."

Then the feeling changed, and she felt her skin compressed along different point as if invisible fingers were massaging her skin. She let her body fall limp, and a soft moan escaped her lips.

"That's the floating man. Passive hedonic energy used to cement our socio-sexual bonds. That is the level where your husband's somatic energies remained. Yours, on the other hand, have been inadvertently propelled onto a new stage."

A new card appeared on the virtual frame. A skeleton riding a horse.

"Death," he said.

Karla gasped.

"The popularization of the divination cards has led to a misunderstanding of this card. Most people focus on the scary skeleton who automatically activates the death-reflexes in us. But the focus should be on the horse, quivering with energy and life. It means the wild energies can be tamed and a new self arises from the bones of the old one. In practical terms, you learned to control and channel your sensual urges through yoga and meditation. They are some of the most advanced technologies created to control sensory-somatic energies, one organ at a time. Sit back, let me show you."

The sound of the waves grew louder. This time she felt water flow over skin, back and forth, the gentle waves tingling every inch of her. Birds chirped in the forest. Astral music pervaded the atmosphere. She began to feel relaxed in the waves.

"It gives me a feeling of bliss, not sexual, more like the way I feel after a long yoga session" she said.

"Precisely," Lohan said enthusiastically. "The software and sensors mimic the yoga-state artificially. The sensual energies are now under proper control and mastery. There is much to explore in this realm, which you have done in your own way. The problem, you see, is that your husband is still in the previous stage. He hasn't mastered his own energies, so he can properly fuse them with yours and experience a new level of intimacy. You're literally operating at different levels of activated energy."

"So, what do the cards say I should do?"

A new card appeared in the frame.

"Temperance," said Lohan. "The fusion of polarized opposites."

She felt as if she was floating in the waves.

An electric buzz sizzled through her like a bolt. She felt a strange unity not only with the waves but the entire 3D simulation.

"Clear communication is only possible between equals," Lohan said.

"This is amazing and all," Karla told him, taking off the mounted optics, "but how does this help me with my marriage?"

Lohan stood up, and rummaged through shelves filled with small bottles, dried herbs, and other curiosities.

"Aha!" he said and held up a little green vial with an ornate design.

"Five drops in his drink. No more. Then settle in for a romantic night."

"But what about the cards and the stages of arousal?"

"About the cards concern yourself not, as Yoda might say. The stages of arousal are there for you and your husband to discover. The potion is only a catalyst."

Outside, the sky had cleared, and the moonlight glistened on the grass and leaves. Its brightness reflected on her vehicle, which lit up at her approach.

"What just happened?" she said looking through the windshield where she could see the wagon, glowing and pulsating in the darkness.

She took the vial and raised it to the moonlight. Emerald sparkles struck her eyes and made her gasp in awe.

"Five drops," she muttered and turned on the ignition.

Thank you for reading my story. I had actually started the story awhile ago in response to Prompt #181: Gypsy. But then I couldn't finish it on time, so I put it aside. I hope you enjoyed it.

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