"Laura Resnick - The Fortunes of Temperance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Laura)

This done, Madame Rabinowitz then closed her eyes and began meditating,
abandoning her physical being in pursuit of her divine center, communing with
the direct intuition which is the gateway to spiritual illumination. I waited
and tried not to scratch.
She opened her eyes after about ten minutes, then turned up the first
card in the spread. It was the Bungee Jumper.
"It seems that you're considering a risky venture. You're about to leap
from a stable foundation into the void of the unknown, and you're afraid of
what will happen if your safety measures fail you."
Didn't I _tell_ you she was the best? She had just captured my concerns
in a nutshell! I have the opportunity to invest my time, skills, and money in
a new venture which _could_ reap fabulous financial rewards. However, I'd have
to quit my current job (managing the Dreamweavers Cooperative), which would
mean losing all my benefits and living on my savings until the new business
(Rent-A-Djinn) starts making a profit.
"This crosses her," Madame Rabinowitz murmured, turning over the second
card: the Banker. "Your primary worries about this new venture seem to be the
risk of financial ruin."
_Precisely._
Turning over the third card, Madame Rabinowitz revealed the past source
of my fears on this score: the Lawyer. I drew in a sharp breath, for an almost
palpable air of evil and greed seemed to emanate from the card.
"There was a devastating loss of property, money, personal resources,
and dignity somewhere in your past. Your well-being was completely destroyed
by a totally unprincipled person who expressed utterly insincere good
intentions. Ever since then, you've found it difficult to trust business
associates."
Talk about hitting the nail on the head! When I was but a young maiden,
my father's business partner was a fast-talker in three-piece vestments who
eventually turned out to be a liar, embezzler, thief, and fraud. My parents
lost everything: our castle, our chariot, our savings. I wouldn't have been
able to attend Magicks College if I hadn't managed to get a full scholarship.
Starting over from scratch, it was a long time before my father found the
Wheel of Fortune once again turning favorably in his direction.
The fourth card, the Divorcee, represented the most immediate
influences in my life. "You're growing discontented in your current situation,
feeling ready to break away and make a fresh start, striking out independently
on your own. You feel unappreciated and under-valued in your current position,
and you want to free yourself for more exciting possibilities."
Yes, my growing dissatisfaction with my current job was precisely what
attracted me to this opportunity to commit my professional skills and
financial resources to this new opportunity. Not surprisingly, Madame
Rabinowitz was going right to the heart of the matter.
"The fifth card," Madame Rabinowitz said. "The influences that _may_
come into being." She turned over the Rock Star. "You will be dealing with a
person or persons of exceptional talent, but you fear they will be difficult
to work with: unreliable, temperamental, egocentric, unreasonable, vain,
neurotic, demanding..."
Yes, djinns can be all of that, and more. I think the public would
welcome the existence of an agency which would deal with the day-to-day