5 of Cups.

Silky bristles brushed Luna's souls as she began to rise above the city. Peering over her curved arthritic shoulder, little Arlo was floating near by--bones and all clattering in the high atmospheric winds. Below, the conservatory became a small dimly lit orb among the solar system of Dreamwood. The bristles faded from vibrant green and blue to a dark grey, then black as the birds further lifted the pair into the sky. 

Stardust faintly glittered Luna's skin and illuminated the feathers of the peacocks lifting her further into the abyss. The bones floating nearby were coated with the substance and began to move with the rhythm of the peacocks' gradual swaying as the universe grew larger before them. Luna reached forward and began consuming the stardust, giggling while staring at Arlo, providing encouraging glances as she continued to shove the sparkling chalk-like substance into her mouth--causing her cheeks to puff up. 

His brittle bones started slowly mimicking Luna's, throwing the glittered dust into the space between his jaw and head. All while the dust floated through his skeleton and down to the small solar system beneath the birds. 

The sudden realization of what was floating next to her caused orbs to collect in the inner corners of Luna's eyes, becoming too heavy and gliding through the dust down her swollen cheeks. The orbs left streaks of glitterless skin, exposing a dry wrinkled reality. Slowly the dust combined, creating corners and lines in the distance. "5 of Cups" appeared outlined by a large rectangle of sparkling matter. The peacocks continued to bring Luna and the corpse closer and closer to the illuminated tarot card. Luna refused to recognize the true meaning of the card, she couldn't face it, she couldn't accept the loss floating next to her.

The dust dissolved Luna's skin, leaving her brittle bones drenched in glitter, floating.

*******

Lugging the bones back into the baby stroller, Luna buckles in her baby brother and makes the descent back down the 12 flights of stairs of the conservatory. About halfway down, she picks up the stroller and chucks it down the empty space between the flights and drags Arlo behind her--creating a routine rhythm of clanking. 

On the street, Luna decides to take a casual stroll around town and show Arlo the fabulous sights of Dreamwood. She begins with the carved statue of a random man in the middle of a fountain, a damp patch of cement, followed by a hot patch of cement, and continues her stroll. Passing a hospital, Luna begins to feel the effects of gravity. Her body begins to sink, ankles buckling; however, everything becomes still as she locks eyes with a woman in a distant window. Immediately Luna is struck with the feeling of emptiness, Hazel, she needs to leave, a voice inside her whispers. Giving the girl a wink, Luna begins her plot.

Minutes later, Luna found herself rolling out a velvet blanket in a nearby patch of woods. Straightening Arlo's bones up in the stroller, Luna retrieves her spiritual and vision notebook from the rack beneath the chair of the stroller and her crystal. In attempts to help the young girl escape, Luna peered deeply into the rock...occasionally jotting down findings. 

Her temples began to feel a slight pressure as she looked up and dust began to fall. However, the dust which glittered the ground did not fall in a random array...the substance fell constantly until a clear sentence could be made out in the pine straw.

"Today, you should be the passenger. Stay close to a driver for a day"

Closing her notebook, Luna stared into the eyeless sockets, which glared back.

The Six of Cups.

Sharp piercing white noise mirrored the blinding room Luna found herself in. The room appeared infinite, being too bright to see the movement of the walls-meeting at points. However, there was a breakage in the fluidity of the space...two hand carved and rotting chairs sat across from one another-about a casket length apart.

Locking her knees as she walked, Luna slowly lowered herself into the wooden chair and stared directly ahead...waiting. The air remained still, allowing the woman to monitor her breathing. Taking deep meditative breaths, Luna looked down at her pale blue tinted hands. The cracks of her palms appeared darker than the rest, reminding her of the dark valleys shaded by the mountain tops at home.

Her gaze slowly crept its way straight forward, revealing a crackling image. A dark silhouette began to appear in the seat across from her, building its form from the ground up. The darkness emitted shrunken feet, not yet reaching the illuminated floor, small hands clasped together, and a narrow frame. The black figure began to dissolve its eyes, reflecting the blinding light. She continued to stare, burning at the iris. 

Pressure began to build behind her orbs as her vision was taken over by the color of snow, the color she dreaded, the color that reminded her of him-Arlo. Luna's body began to chill, bumps started sprouting over her forearms-spreading to the nape of her neck. Her palms froze solid and began to pour water on to her legs, causing a chain reaction. Luna's body was over taken by the icy water as it began to freeze and melt into the white.

As she gasped for a final breath of the white light, the silhouette continued to lock its line of vision on her. "I'm sorry," she spoke before becoming a small puddle in the middle of oblivion.

*******

He always wanted to see the stars, collect the dust with a cupped hand and consume what created him. He always wanted to swim, feel the rush of a current and brush along with the fish below. He always wanted to roll down and over hills, smell the roots nestled in the Earth and dizzy himself so much so that he would see the sky dance above him.

But he didn't.

Luna remembered as the metal tip of the shovel caught the edge of the casket. The dirt began to moisten as she further approached the coffin, due to the depth and tears cascading from her pale blue face. The wood of the small box became more exposed at a rapid rate, due to her excitement. 
The pine appeared splintered and wilted, but in fair condition. Taking her calloused tips, the top was removed, revealing a freshly powdered skeleton. The bones were intact, somewhat worn from the decay and the mass was conveniently light for Luna's frail stature. The bones rattled as she made her way up the metal ladder, connecting the two worlds.

She placed little Arlo into a large stroller, making sure to buckle his hip bones in case the boy began to slip. Luna pulled out a small notepad, revealing a list titled "Always Wanted" proceeded by several points of tasks in a ToDo like fashion.

Making her way up Blvd. Ave., Luna passed several pedestrians who began to walk with more of a meaning upon locking eyes with the woman. Figuring her blue appearance seemed abnormal, she continued towards the observatory. 

The building was closed for business, due to the lack of public interest; however, the doors remained unlocked. The inside smelled of mildew and casted a darkness over Luna and Arlo's skull as the pair entered, bringing their appearance into the new moon. The building provided a hefty 12 flights of stairs and no elevator, leaving Luna with the responsibility of carrying the skeleton to the top. The bones became excruciatingly painful for the woman's spine and caused her back to arch as she dragged her little brother's remains up the remaining 11 flights. 

Reaching the top, Luna laid out a small velvet blanket and a set of tarot. Picking up a card for the both of them, Luna revealed the six of cups: revealing a sense of nostalgia, innocence, and childhood memories. Her corners began to curl and the lines next to the whites of her eyes deepened as she recited the card to the skeleton, giggling with joy.

To be reunited with her family meant everything to the old woman as she carried on a conversation with the brittle remains of her little brother. Reaching for his wrist, Luna rose the boy's finger to the sky, allowing him to feel the universe for the first time.

Staring into the black sky, Luna began to sob uncontrollably as she realized for the first time that she was alone. The orbs traveled down her face and fell onto the velvet. Beginning to dissolve into the puddles that lay beneath her, Luna smiled.

High Priestess.

A silent buzz entered her canal and spread through her body, causing the skin to trigger a wave of hills from her head to heels. Upon opening her eyes, darkness revealed itself. Luna felt nothing except a small drip on the top of her skull every other moment. 

The voices were now silent and no longer penetrated Luna's ears; however, she felt different. Her body began to illuminate a pale blue light as the blue orbs, which were descending from above, began to more rapidly cover her.

The fall was not long, which is all Luna could remember. Slowly sitting up, her fingertips brushed against her velvet cape-revealing little of her past. The walls were filled with bumps and crumpled as she brushed against them and the odor of metal became so potent the whites of her eyes took over her visible sockets.

Luna was awakened by a small man staring down upon her in the cemetery. His skin, also glowing with the blue tint, gleamed in waves of intensity. Reaching for her hands, Luna was lifted to her feet and began to slowly slouch as her knees buckled. The man leaned towards her right canal and faintly whispered a few words. 

Floating across the pavement, Luna made her way up Blvd. Ave. As she reached into her pockets, pulling out a stack of tarot, everything object began to fade into the color blue. The street lamps cast blue orbs onto the dark blue speckled streets, which left even darker blue shadows in the unoccupied spaces.

Sorting the deck as if she had thousands of times before, Luna passed two hopeless beings. Both appearing a mucky shade of blue, shoulders slouched, anxious, and falling apart. Passing the first, a male, Luna cupped his left hand in hers and began, "It will open like a blooming tulip." Startled and confused, the man began to deepen his murk. "Sorry-what will?" he mumbled, his voice becoming higher. Tensing, Luna bellowed, "Your world. Then you will realize you are not the center of it."

Shaking him from her grasp, she approached the young woman-tossing a blank tarot at her feet, allowing it to expose what the holder wants to read.

Luna lowered herself onto the bench outside of O'Harley's and allow her hands to raise a card from the deck. The high priestess: high power and mysterious. How fitting for an old woman in a new blue world.

Nine Wands.

Ringing filled the cavity of her inner drum. The iced air began to freeze Luna's glassy eyes and further deepened the canyons. Shadows casted by the branches brought her face through the phases, the cycle ceased on waning as Luna faced the roots of the giving tree. 

The trunk was illuminated by a red flickering glow. 

As Luna slinked around the curve of the tree the ringing increased, bumps crawled up her pale grey arms, making their way over mountains and through valleys. 

A woman's silhouette appeared, her face illuminated by the flames. The flickering transitioned her features from waxing to new and back. 

There was something present in the space surrounding the two, forcing Luna to drop her tote, unroll a velvet cloth and sort out the deck of tarot. Studying the expression on the woman's face, Luna could tell she was doubtful. The woman's edges began to curl downwards and eyes slowly shut.

A nine of wands presented itself to the two. Luna whispered, "Courage, persistence, test of faith, resilience...my dear." The woman's face stared blankly, expressionless, at the moon sitting in front of her. Luna took advantage of the silence to ponder what this could mean; however, her thoughts were bombarded with piercing whispers in the distance.

An abyss, which was ever so slightly lit by a single parking lot orb, pierced the irises. Her drums began to melt from the frequency of the tones.

Luna jumped.  

Fools.

Deep carvings made jagged lines and curves through the rock. When glanced at in a closer light, the cryptic symbols spelled out dec1334dec1344. Further down the coarse slab, the stone read in lower case, "arlomarzuch." The Marzuch's were not the wealthiest family; finishing words, punctuation, and spaces were quite the pretty penny.

The dark sky contrasted with the white orbs beginning to descend from above. Upon contact with the mysterious bright lights, Luna was taken away.

The images were faint, projecting blurry silhouettes blinded by a white background. The figures glided on the light at a downward angle, levitated, and evened out. Luna's throat began to close as the figures began running towards a blur that lay limp in the white.

As 4 bells rang from the city hall, the door of apartment 2043 flung open-colliding with a pile of velvet tablecloths and metal stands for her crystals. Luna refused to move as mortals in suits began to sift through a lifetime collection of memories.

Cards were thrown across the room by the suits, drifting softly to the ground like the white orbs. Under the table, where Luna lay covered in several collections of polaroids and dried out sage, a tarot card floated between the floor and velvet cloth.

The fool, sometimes titled the jester, card presented itself to the crusted over woman. A faint ink arrow pointed to the face of the fool. Tracing the line to the beginning with her finger, Luna read the word "Arlo."

He was a fool, innocent and hopeful for the future and she was his guardian, the white dog.

Luna was supposed to know.

As the suits filed out of the box, Luna emerged from the curtain like cloth and decided to conquer her fear of the mysterious white orbs.

Trudging through the white with her violet cloak dragging behind her hunched back, Luna passed the solid fountain.

The fool was gone.

Luna radiated heat and began to melt the collection of orbs covering the pavement. Trembling, Luna made her way back to her apartment. She kept her sockets fixed on the white, attempting to find a speck of color. Her eyes were glazed over with water and film, making it nearly impossible to determine what was in front of the woman.

A man appeared sitting on a bench, adjusting his collar.

Desperate now, Luna approached the man and pressed, "Have you seen one of my tarot cards? It is the Fool." His voice tuned in muffled to her drums, so she followed his gestures. His hand lead her to the card.

Luna considered her actions lately and thought to herself, "Maybe I am the fool and he my dog?" 

The Stars.

Droplets made their decent from the line, over the bone, to the end, and fell to the Earth. The salt water filled orbs reminded Luna of crystal balls; always containing an insight, a gaze into the future. Luna refused to wipe away the drops, in fears that it would cause bad luck with her reading abilities.

The moonlight kept a steady glare on Luna's grey crater-filled face and reflected off the orbs. Looking up, Luna thought she caught her own reflection, but it was just a worn tombstone. She always found herself in the cemetery. She always found herself at his grave. Always.

Reaching into her silk bag, her calloused finger tips catching on the fabric, she pulled out a small circular throw and a packet of tarot cards. The cards featured silver etched crescents and stars. Laying out the cards, Luna flipped over the star card. The stars promised hope, renewal, and inspiration-all exactly what Luna was seeking.

Just as her hopes seemed to have been lifted, the stars began to fall. It began slowly, the dusted sky experiencing one flash every minuet or two, but became more rapid as time progressed. Luna's mouth tasted of the ocean. The droplets returned and fell in time with the stars. Hope had vanished.

Luna felt her senses slip away from her. Her abilities had been leaving her body for awhile now, but the process seemed to be picking up. She felt heavy.

Upon returning to DreamWood Terrace, Luna found herself on the 5th floor. Realizing what today was, Luna pressed the cracked elevator button. Standing in front of the dull silver doors, Luna waited. As soon as the doors let out a loud moan, she rushed forward and met with what felt like a wall. Her vision became clouded, the weight was lifted. Luna's eyes began to peer into the crystal earrings enclosed in the lobes of the wall, or woman, she had ran into. Luna received a vision. She knew this girl; she understood.

Luna's hearing became unmuffled as she whispered, "How strange it must be for you, my dear. To think one thing and be another."

Before allowing her patient to question her, Luna pushed the woman back into the elevator. 

Maybe the stars aren't falling after all thought Luna. She had nailed that reading...but how odd she thought, for a girl to be so conflicted about wanting waffles.

The Moon.

The grey lines began at the sockets, making cracks that curved outwards towards her temples. Darker grey splotches were dusted across her face. Peering into the crystal, Luna watched her reflection casting shadows on the faded lavender walls of her 2nd floor apartment.

She felt outside of herself, airy even. Readings tend to drain the soul-she believed.

Whilst lifting herself from the tattered velvet chair, Luna noticed the bumps protruding from her knuckles. Until recently, aging never seemed to exist for Luna. In her personal readings, she was always portrayed as a youthful and glittering young sprite. Now all that appears is a lumpy old hag with an extensive collection of crystal balls.

"Sage," she thought, "Sage is known to cleanse the home and spirits, hopefully including my own."

Luna made her way through the stuffy apartment, easing over stacks of tarot cards, advertisements for her home based reading business, and other random articles of the psychic nature. Tripping over a pile of old polaroids, Luna felt a hole begin to burn through her heart. His face stretched and vibrant-flowing with life and emotion-filled the polaroid. "Arlo," whispered Luna, reaching for her heart. Luna's blood began to boil. Her once grey crusted over face heated up and transitioned from pale pink to blazing red. Shrieks escaped from the deepest cavern of her being. Losing control of her muscles, Luna began to flail herself uncontrollably throughout her apartment.

Darkness.

The white light shining through the slits widened as Luna awoke. The apartment was lit dimly by the gaze of the moon. The light grazed the crystals, casting soft rainbows throughout the room.

Checking for the time, Luna shifted her vision to the clock on the microwave. Nothing. "How peculiar," Luna murmured with white clouds escaping through the crack of her mouth. The power was off.

As Luna walked down Main St., she admired the darkness; however, she was drawn to the light.

Many believe the face of a man can be made out on the Moon's crust, but Luna often sees herself in the powdery orb. 

"The Moon itself is deceitful," she thought, "When it appears, its presence casts a glow over the Earth, but the Moon isn't the mass projecting the light." 

In tarot, the Moon represents a covering. Meaning one is shielding their true identity, their past. This eases Luna as she continues her stroll through the darkness.