Then the gypsy gave the small silver ball to my mother.
My mother didn’t seem fazed by the elderly woman’s saliva in the palm of her hand. After all, it was meant to be a friendly gesture.
“I see past,” the gypsy said. “You will see past too.”
With that, the gypsy walked away in a different direction. It was an odd encounter, but we were glad that my mother was able to save someone’s life.
***
That night. It was our last train ride for the trip. We made the most of it with a nice fancy dinner in the dining area. As the train turned, we had a view of the full moon. It looked bigger & brighter than anything I had ever seen in America.
“What a sight,” mom said. “I wish I had my camera right now.”
“You don’t need a camera for that. Maybe we can come back next time.”
She took a bite of her food and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. This trip was more satisfying than I ever could have imagined. I learned so much.”
“It was definitely a lot of fun.”
“I’m so glad you enjoyed it,” she said with a pleased tone.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to be interested in the historical aspects, frankly. I was afraid that visiting the ancient places was going to be boring for you. But I’m glad you had fun.”
“Well, I had a great teacher on this trip.”
She blushed, “Thanks.”
“You know, we should seriously come back next year. There was so much cool stuff that we didn’t have time to see. Can you believe that we have a background with the royal family?”
“My grandmother used to tell me that,” she replied. “I had always assumed that she was just being a typical grandmother. I never thought she was actually serious. Granted, that royal lineage was from many many centuries ago.”
“The question now is, how did that old gypsy lady know?” I said in a jokingly playful manner.
“I’m sure she was just trying to be nice. Especially since we’re tourists.”
“Plus you saved her life,” I added.
“That too. But in this area, it’s filled with small towns. Mathematically speaking, if you traced people’s lineage around here, many of them would have royal backgrounds if you look back far enough.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“That’s just the reality of mankind. We’re all inter-connected if we trace our roots far enough.”
“But still, don’t you think that was kind of creepy? The way she looked at you. It was like she knew something.”
“I’m not a superstitious person,” she replied.
“Well, you never know.”
That conversation ended when dessert was brought to our table.
***
Late that night. After I brushed my teeth in the bathroom, I went to our private sleeping room.
My mother had been laying in bed reading a historical book for the last hour. Since my mother was a professor, she was used to reading fast and efficiently. And by the time I got there, she had already finished the short book.
“Well that was interesting,” she said, putting the book down and adjusting her pillow so she could sleep.
She laid flat on the bed and got cozy. She wore a simple outfit: a tshirt and sweatpants. She was barefoot. As usual, she was braless.
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