“I said, how do you know about Marie, and she started leafing through one of her magazines. Looking up, she said it’s all in here, it’s all in here. Then she abruptly turned and walked out.”

I have worked in retail for over nineteen years and believe me, in that time I have seen everything – from the nicest people in the world to the nastiest. I’ve seen a woman go into labor and rush off to the hospital, and I saw an elderly man collapse in front of me with a serious heart attack.

But perhaps the strangest incident was the woman who was shabbily dressed and walked through the door carrying a stack of magazines. She laid them down on the counter right in front of me and started leafing through the pages, periodically looking up at me and smiling.

Then, in the calmest, sweetest voice I ever heard, she said, I’m not crazy you know. I had expected to hear a voice that was a little off, a little brittle. I didn’t think she would sound like a normal, intelligent person.

Holding a few of the magazines in her hands, she told me she picks up “clues” from writers who write in “code” in magazines and newspapers. Now I knew she was a whacko and she noticed the look in my eyes and said, I know something about you that could be very helpful to you.

I said, uh huh, sure. And then she dropped the bombshell on me. She put her face very close to mine and said, “You should marry her, you know.” I said what are you talking about, and she said, “Marie.”

Well, I was stunned. Marie was my girlfriend whom I had just met a month ago, and she was threatening to walk out on me if I refused to marry her. This had come to a head the previous night, and how in the world did this strange vagabond know about it. After all, I had told no one at work about Marie because I try to separate business from pleasure.

I said, how do you know about Marie, and she started leafing through one of her magazines. Looking up, she said it’s all in here, it’s all in here. Then she abruptly turned and walked out.

I never saw her again, but I’ll never understand how she did it. My best guess is that although I have no doubt she’s mentally ill and my heart goes out to her, somehow she has developed psychic capabilities that allow her to pick up information from a person’s thoughts.

And then it came to me… when she entered the store and walked toward my counter, Marie was definitely on my mind at the time. I think she “heard” my thoughts and that’s why in this large store I worked in, she came directly up to me.

R. Landry
Houston, Texas