Tarot Tales - Page 3

kd-neeley (48)in #story • 6 years ago

Previously on Tarot Tales

Page 2 of Tarot Tales by @zakludick saw the Fool and his dog, Prashanta discover the mysterious temple of the High Priestess.

It is now @KD-Neeley's turn to add a link to the story in Page 3 of Tarot Tales.

Page 3

All this talk of water made The Fool realize how thirsty he was, and Prashanta must be thirsty too. He watched as the High Priestess took a single drink, ending the mysterious ceremony. He looked down at Prashanta and saw her dry tongue hanging out. His dog swallowed, pulling her tongue in and out as if she couldn’t decide whether to save it from the air or drink the humidity. The followers of the High Priestess all said some mysterious words together in a language The Fool did not understand. Then they began to leave one by one, each taking a single drink on their way out. The High Priestess stood and refilled the cup for each person to have a small drink.

The Fool waited patiently until everyone had gone. The High Priestess turned her head in his direction, waiting for him to approach. He walked up to the cup and passed the cup down to Prashanta, letting her drink first. When Prashanta had finished he lifted the cup back up to the Priestess, and to his surprise, she refilled it.

“Thank you,” said The Fool, and he gratefully drank down the whole cup. It wouldn’t hurt to push his luck, speaking directly to the High Priestess again, The Fool began, “You said that we are made mostly of water, but I’m afraid that’s no longer true for my companion and me. We’re still so thirsty.” He was relieved to see her smile. She held out the urn. It was empty.

The Fool jumped as she broke the heavy silence and said, “Follow me.”

They walked through the temple to a pool filled with rainwater where light beamed down from above. The Fool took in a deep breath and exhaled with excitement, “Whoo Hoo!” His voice echoed throughout the quiet temple.

But before Prashanta could get to the water, the High Priestess shouted, “Wait!”

He couldn’t believe how Prashanta stopped in her tracks. He could learn a thing or two from this woman. The High Priestess stood in front of the pool and said, “First you must bathe here, without taking a single drink. If you disobey, you will suffer.” It’s a good thing she stopped Prashanta, this water must bear an illness.

The Fool laughed, “Do we smell that bad?”

She did not answer him but walked away toward a dark room. Holding Prashanta there, The Fool wondered if it was even possible to bathe his dog without letting her take a drink. This was no simple task. He wished he could let her jump into the Pool and cool off, she would have loved it. Either do it or don’t do it. They did need a bath.

The Fool pulled on Prashanta’s leash, and mimicking the High Priestess said, “Sit!” To his bewilderment, she obeyed. What luck. The Fool began to undress, tossing his filthy clothes into the pool as he did so. How was he going to do this? He realized too late that, priestess voice or not, he couldn’t recover his wet clothes now and keep Prashanta from taking a drink. Had he failed the task already? She said they had to bathe, she didn’t say he had to be dressed.

“You’re not going to like this,” he said to Prashanta. Neither was he. He walked up to the Pool and carefully stepped in then quickly stopped Prashanta again, who had followed him and was about to drink. Holding her mouth closed, as he did when she barked and cursing at how heavy his big dog was, he pulled her into the water.

Splash! She kicked and swam as he continued holding her mouth closed. She whined and whined and fought him to get free of his hold. With his free hand, he scrubbed at her fur, watching the water turn dirty. She calmed down eventually but didn’t stop groaning at him with her mouth held closed.

Now to get her back out of the water. Christ! What a pain in the ass this was. He guided Prashanta back to the edge of the Pool and, with his free hand, pushed up on his heavy dog trying to lift her out of the water without letting go of her muzzle. She finally helped him by getting the message and climbing out on her own. She groaned at him as he still held her mouth closed. It was hard for him not to drink in any water, made easier only by the distraction of his task to bathe the dog. The Fool was exhausted. He worked on bathing the rest of himself with one hand as he continued his hold on Prashanta.

At last, it all felt good enough. Finally releasing Prashanta’s muzzle he pushed her back as he quickly pulled himself up out of the pool. They were clean.

“Priestess?” The Fool said to the dark room, “We’ve bathed as you asked.” When she walked out he was grateful for at least the appearance that she couldn’t see.

“The water is safe to drink,” said the Priestess. He really could learn a thing or two from this woman, although at this point, looking at the now filthy water, he didn’t believe her. At least Prashanta didn’t care.