Before Boarding
A long time ago people used to consult Oracles before setting out on a journey.
May I suggest that if you are considering doing the same before boarding the Vulcania you may want to set your bags down, sit with me here on the Pier(we can watch the fog roll in together) and give me a moment to tell you a story about a Fortune Teller from town called Duwamish Bay
named
Saterlee Chapel.
Photo: Vicki Bracken
There used to be an Amusement Park right here on the dock where a Fortune Teller named Saterlee Chapel would one day sail away from in a cloud of smoke.
The smoke screen was lucky for Saterlee, as you will learn about very soon, because everyone remembers the day the Pier and The Park burned down but nobody remembers Saterlee’s part in the story.
Which suited her then, as it does now just fine.
Saterlee used to tell fortunes in Sideshows and Tea Houses and at Train Stations here in Duwamish Bay- something about Train Stations brought out the most powerful Visions in Saterlee Chapel and sometimes as she spoke you could almost smell the fire and hear the screams and that’s when you made the decision that maybe things that haven’t happened yet are things that you don’t really need to be thinking about.
Especially if Saterlee was the one doing the fortune telling because all, without exception of Saterlee’s Visions dealt with fire.
And who would die in them.
Sometimes she would be shocked and sometimes she might even feel a little sad at who would be taken by the fire and sometimes she couldn’t stop laughing but your elevator may not go to the top floor anymore if you saw some of the things that Saterlee saw.
Like that fire that happened years and years ago at the amusement park.
She saw it as she told Mrs. Opal Gale her fortune over a cup of tea and a plate of Almond Cookies.
Saterlee saw who started the fire, she saw who died- and a lot of people did die slowly on that day .
She knew people on the ferris wheel would be the last to go-
they turned slowly around and around as the fire crept towards them and in the end it got them too.
Some years later people wondered why the Ferris wheel passengers just didn’t jump from the wheel and take their chances.
Saterlee saw the reason- just like the passengers did-and when it came down to making the choice they chose the Ferris wheel and the fire and screams over the figure that was standing just below them.
It had no face and when it opened it’s eyes and looked at them smoke crawled from between it’s parted lips…
as it laughed.
Later Mrs. Opal Gale who lost her fingers in that fire went straight to the police and told them about the Fortune Teller who saw the fire before the fact and then she suggested that maybe they should have a talk with Saterlee.
Maybe, she said as she waved her bandaged stumps around that Saterlee Chapel didn’t exactly just see a fire, maybe she had something to do with starting it.
But Saterlee was long gone and with all of those bodies to deal with, nobody wanted to take the time out to look for a Fortune Teller who came into town sometimes and told fortunes at Sideshows.
Besides everyone on the Pier knew that
Saterlee always shows up somewhere and she will be glad to tell your fortune for a small offering-
And as for that that smell,
that slightly smoky smell that seems to cling to her hair,
they know you can ignore it.
And they also know that you can choose not to sit down with her, that you can walk away from Saterlee Chapel and her Visions of Fire.
Ignore her, if you can.
That’s what they’ll tell you.
Photo By: Wonderlane
I haven’t changed your mind, have I?
You’re dead set on having your Fortune told.
No. No. The choice is yours.
And you’re in luck.
Saterlee you see, is a passenger on the Vulcania.
Look.
Speak of the Devil.
Here comes the Vulcania now.
a.m.m
Passengers who choose to stay on board for long periods often decide to leave their cabins and come on up to P Deck for the Pythian Games. 
Some passengers of the Vulcania have responded to the call of the piper and they are travelling overland, on Donkeys. Each night at twelve midnight donkeys wait in the stable behind the Swan and Rose Inn, ready to take newcomers on the increasingly, well todden road most travelled.
It was a week before departure and I was becoming bored with hanging around the waterfront of Duwamish Bay. Last night, I passed the time by doing a little window shopping along the wharf. As I strolled, I noticed a sign in front of a shop: “Fortune-telling by Saterlee.” I had been warned about getting a fortune told by this woman, so I stepped up my pace and hurried on by.
It was beginning to get dark and I decided it was time for a little supper. I ducked into the first eatery I found– a tiny Chinese diner tucked between dry cleaning store and a tattoo-parlor. It felt good to get out of the cold fog that had descended on the wharf.
After I had consumed a steaming platter of kung pao chicken, the waiter brought me the check. He placed a fortune cookie on top of it. I cracked the cookie open and pulled out the slip of paper. It said:
“Lori, take your dramamine, beware of pirates, and avoid the Friday Night Karaoke party on Deck C. Oh, by the way, don’t forget to pick up your dry cleaning before you leave port.”
Startled by the specificity of the fortune, I jumped in my seat and looked over my shoulder. I saw seated in the corner a dark-haired woman dressed in gypsy attire slurping up some chow mein noodles.
She looked up and winked at me.
Lori
December 30, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I’d take a fire extinguisher along with you..you know, just in case.
Anita Marie
December 30, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I’m having a hard time getting it to fit in my baggage.
Lori
December 30, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Wonder if I can get a collapsible dingy to fit in my luggage…just in case–
Vi
woodnymph
December 30, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Just in case you may also want to consider Super Glue and Dental Floss Vi. Really.
Anita Marie
December 31, 2008 at 1:50 am
Personally I would stay well away from Deck C most nights – unless you have had a swig of gin with the dramamine or had hot Saki. If you have had the Saki then it all begins to make some sense.
Heather Blakey
December 31, 2008 at 3:04 am
Gin and Saki- Heather has E spiked your toothpaste or something?
You need to tell people to just pound your head against the table a few times too- I mean if you’re into pain then that combo will feel exactly the…and heeeeyyyyy – oh yeah, Gin and Saki.
Bottoms up
Anita Marie
December 31, 2008 at 3:22 am
Gin and sake also doubles as a fine paint removal medium.
Lori
December 31, 2008 at 4:06 am
Livers are overated if you ask me.
Anita Marie
December 31, 2008 at 4:52 am
I most definitly will on boarding s. s. Vulcania bring my nurses First Aid Kit,
which contains among other things cures ( Magic of course)
for …
1. FALLING overboard.
2. Sea sickness.
3. Hangovers.
4. Madness in any form
5. Pamphlets on the evil of alcohol.
6. Protocol for Dissecting livers ( for Anita)
7, Knowing whether the Gypsies are telling the truth
and if that Ball is real.
8. How to make friends with Pirates of the Sea
9. How to remove Super Glue from your lips.
10.How to eat the GOOD food of Australia
like Sausages and Mash and where to find it on board (Menu =included = in booklet)..
Lois ( Muse of the Sea) 1.1.2009
lois (aka Druscilla)
January 1, 2009 at 11:57 am
As we embark O Goddess of the Seas
save us from ghoulies and ghosties
and things that go bump in the night
(except for Anita Marie, who likes that sort of thing),
may the mage winds be with us and
may the muse always give us the grace to be inspired
and most importantly, remind us often as needed,
“DON’T PISS OFF THE FAIRIES!”
(Pirate wench attire with cool boots recommended but optional).
“Sure hope the ship don’t sink!” Kezza
kvwordsmith
January 2, 2009 at 2:10 pm
“Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Roses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of
troubles
And is anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a fairy, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping
Than you can understand.”
(The Stolen Child
By
W. B. Yeats)
Maryna
January 5, 2009 at 2:20 am
The fog was dense with dewdrops this dark night. I was extremely “scarecited” (a combination of scared and excited) about my journey across the seas of time. As I walked along the waterfront shops of Duwamish Bay, I noticed a small shop that belonged to the fortune teller, Saterlee Chapel. The name seemed so familiar to me but I could not place it. I continued my stroll intending to look for a pharmacy. But I could not move my feet. The were strangely stuck like a wet tongue on an icy pole! I felt my entire body being pulled backwards as though a silent vacuumn had been activated.”I must go have my fortune read,” I thought to myself. That mere thought was enough to release my feet. I turned and entered Saterlee Chapel’s shop.
Saterlee was, of course, waiting for me. She was a robust woman with etherical beauty and a presence that enveloped me like a mother sweetly cradles her babe. I felt an immediate sense of trust and love eminating between our hearts. I knew she would do me no harm. Saterlee held her hands out to me. When I joined my hands to hers, I felt a surge of energy enter my hands traveling through my arms and dispersing throughout my body. She closed her eyes and gave my hopes, dreams, and my heart a voice. How was this possible. How could this woman who I had never seen before speak my soul when I wasn’t even sure of…didn’t have the words myself. It was frightening yet oddly comforting. What she told me next had me running through through the dense fog down the wharf, up the gangplank, and onto the SS Vulcania without my purse or coat.
Sally
January 11, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I came on board of an island, with a pet gecko called Speck, a never ending supply of coconut milk from my magic coconut, and a shell of prophecy in my pocket.
I was rather shy at first and was looking to find out about some angels and maybe locate my friend Miranda Miracles somewhere on one of the island of Lemuria.
I have a turtle friend- Dido, who is sometimes following the ship and sometimes off on an errand somewhere. She is a particularly wise creature.
pearlz
January 24, 2009 at 5:55 am