Editing Character Vignettes (section)

=='''Hana and Judy at the fair'''==

Blake St. John sighed.  He'd taken his new family out to the Doccombe Village Fetê in the hopes that some good, old-fashioned fun would be a good chance for them to bond together.  He was quite fond of his stepdaughter, and would have liked to spend more time with her, as well as to get a chance to get her away from her frankly thuggish pack of friends.  She'd be starting at a new school now-- thankfully, a much better school, away from the gang (and you really had to call it a gang) that she'd been associating with.  

Except that Judy had ''insisted'' that her friend Hana come along.  

To be fair, Hana had been perfectly well-behaved on the trip so far, and even friendly with him (if more familiar than he would have thought appropriate), and, as his new wife had pointed out to him more than once, she'd been Judy's friend through some very bad times in her life, protecting her from her beast of a father.  And he certainly didn't hold Hana's relative poverty against her-- Jeong and Son was a perfectly respectable plumbing business, if small, and, after all, he was very wealthy indeed.  

But... Hana Jeong was another matter.  It was a wonder that the girl hadn't been jailed, really... and, to be honest, she made him... nervous.  Not scared, of course.  A man his age had no reason to be scared of a young girl, no matter her reputation.  It was important that he remember that.  But... nervous.  There was something in her eyes that unnerved him... something predatory.

Aside from that, though, the day wasn't going all that badly.  Hana and Judy hadn't done anything illegal, or even really questionable so far, instead playing cards on their trip out, and not even for money.  Now they were at the fair, running around, having fun like two normal young girls... and he could spend more time with his new wife, which wasn't bad at all.

“Come on, Hana!” said Judy, leading her best friend towards a tent.  “Let's check this one out!”  

Hana followed reluctantly.  “Juds,” she said, “why a fortune teller?  You're the smart one.  You know that this stuff is fake, right?”

“It's just for fun, Hana,” Judy answered.  “Come on.  What's it going to hurt?”

“Fine, fine...”

Hana followed Judy into the tent, watching as an old woman had Judy stir loose tea leaves into a cup, stir them, and drink most of the tea.  Judy was then told to swirl the remainder (three times clockwise), and concentrate on a wish while touching the edge of the saucer to the cup, and then turn it upside down into the saucer, and she did, passing the cup to the old woman, who looked at the leaves remaining inside.

“Ah, I see...” she began.  “Do you see here, the axe at the top, away from the handle?  You will face difficulties, but you will be able to overcome them.  This cigar indicates new friends-- several of them, from the stalks placed near it.  The goat, though, warns of enemies, and from the size, you will either face strong ones or many ones.  You will need the help of your friends to overcome them.  This snake warns of the danger you will face, as well-- a subtle danger, as well as the overt one symbolized by the flag.  From danger may come knowledge, though.”

Hana was looking skeptically over Judy's shoulder at the cup.  She couldn't make out any shapes in the blobs that the leaves formed, although at least all this talk of danger and enemies was at least more interesting than the usual rot about journeys and mysterious strangers.  Perhaps the old lady had heard of the Bales School Girls, and knew who she was talking to.

“...and finally, the star on the bottom signifies that your wish will come true, although the rabbit nearby suggests that you will need bravery to make it happen.  Clearly, your life is going to be very interesting.”  Judy glanced at Hana, smiling, and got up.

As they left, Judy gave Hana an amused look.  “You know, Hana, I'm supposed to be the rational one.  Why are you so skeptical?”

“Eh, me whole family is mad for fortune tellers.  They even got some fancy one in all the way from Korea for dad's wedding.  She told 'em that him and ma would have a few kids, and that the oldest would be strong and loyal, and the youngest would be gentle, kind, and studious.  Now, I'm the youngest, and nobody would ever describe me that way,” Hana explained.  “Talk about a waste of money!”

Judy laughed.  “Well, you're really kinder than you give yourself credit for, but you're right.  That's not you at all.  Although...”  She thought about it for a moment.  “It's not a bad description of Jae-Sun, you know.  And the description of Chung-Ho is dead on.”

Hana snorted.  “Where does that leave me, though?  I'm the youngest-- not Jae-Sun.”

“Maybe you're an alien or something,” said Judy, laughing.  “Come on, let's go get something to eat.”