User ImageD e a r D i a r y

Today I searched for a good luck charm...

The wait was agonizing. Karmi was running with a scattered pace, anxious to discover the whereabouts of the fabled "temple" she had overheard the girls at school saying. Downtown in the "Chinatown" area was somewhere Karmi had avoided when she was alone. Didn't seem natural for a teenage girl to be stalking those streets alone. Yet here she was, shuddering as she ran, her mind tunneling to only one possible outcome; obtaining a charm that could fix her bad karma.

Only problem was that when she had precariously eavesdropped on her giggling counterparts at school she had failed to get a general direction of said "temple". (Which now Karmi was certain was far from what she had imagined.) Now a wild goose chase, she had been running around the same stretch of blocks for hours. Though her love of gab kept her talkative, here it just seemed so foreign to attempt and latch on to people, even to just bother them a moment for directions. Slowing her pace she held a hand on a large red pillar coming down from a building to catch her escaped breath.

"Maye I got confused." She muttered through long gasps. Leaning backwards she allowed her body weight to shift onto the pillar. Glancing back she could see the regular hustle and bustle of the city. Same old, same old. Karmi wasn't partial to running downtown. Like daddy's girl on a hook she would normally avoid it so as to not be "in that part of town". Lionel was never good at explaining himself, so Karmi had been brought up thinking the entire city was "that part of town". No use in listening to him now.

A sour face crossed her as she finally gasped in the last needed air before walking off into a crowd again. How was she going to find something that might not even exist? Grunting to herself she kicked a soda can that screeched loudly on the sidewalk before plummeting off into the gutter. "A fool's hope." she said, more clearly aloud but it still played on the deaf ears of the swarming people around her. Failing now meant giving up. The thought of those other, daintier girls was bitter to the taste. How were they able to find something when she couldn't? ...Where was her luck now?

Sighing deep and pocketing her hands into her favorite yellow sweater she kept walking forward, down a street she had already passed several times in the desperate search. Nothing to do now except sulk...

KRACK!

Karmi felt a sharp pain on her back and turned, her sharp eyes searching wildly for a culprit. Rubbing the spot tenderly she scanned the ground, bending down to pick up the offending object. A small polished rock glistened in her hand. She rolled it once in her hand. How can something this smooth hurt this bad? Confused, she rubbed at the spot once more to comfort it. Pulling her hand back she felt the top of the gray matter. Where had someone picked this up in the middle of a busy sidewalk and why on Earth would they chuck it at her of all people. She had heard no laughing children, no sounds of delight when it had hit her.

Glancing back at the small stone she pocketed it without hesitation. If she couldn't find the so called temple, at least she would come back with a souvenir. Turning back she got a glimpse of something... A large neon sign in the small trinket shop to her left stood out in bold green and blue letters. She read the words aloud as a light bulb went on in her head. "Temple Accessories" she said, blinking. The so called temple is nothing more than a trinket shop? She thought, staring at it dumbfounded. Taking in hand her necklace, she read the sign over and over again. In her mind she had pictured long rising stairs made of stone leading to an old wooden building.... Well, of course she had been wrong. What sort of fairytale would that have fit into.

Moving closer she nearly pressed her face to the glass looking inside. She could see statuettes of dragons, Buddha figurines and other oriental treasures. Scanning over to the main counter... ah, there they were. Hanging on a small display tree written on a bright green post-it: "Authentic Good Luck Charms". Karmi rolled her eyes and moved back from the glass. "Authentically a knick-knack." She groaned, kicking at the ground in frustration.

Well, what could she possibly have expected? She had come to find the source of the charms and here they were. Now to walk in and buy one... No. Karmi stood firmly against the idea now. What true "luck" could they possess if they were factory made? Shaking her head heavily she began a slow start back home. "A good waste of a day." She said to the world, passing under the radar through the crowds of consumers. Continuing on she pocketed her hands again. Stopping suddenly, she pulled out a smooth lump... The rock.

Epiphany time! Karmi stared down at it with a small grin. "Well, getting hit with you helped me find it..." she began, "So, guess you just got stereotyped little rock." Placing it back in the safety of her pocket she moved on, happily this time. Maybe something isn't lucky until you make it lucky... she thought before moving back into a sprint towards home. Now this... could work.

-Karmi's karma count for today-
0/+1
Found my good luck charm!




(935 words)