The rain was beginning to come down lazily by the time Jonas made it back to the occult shop, muttering under his breath about horrible weathermen.  The forecast had been clear enough; no rain, very little cloud over and clear blue skies.  But no, it was raining yet again.  It was as if the late spring weather was going to be forever locked in a state of grey overcast and wetness. He was beginning to thought they lived in England or something with weather like this.  Or Seattle.  Sometimes he missed living in Seattle, even with all the rain but a fresh start and a new life were what had been called for after his mother had passed away and he had taken to living with his aunt.  He had been in this town for ten years now and he was still waiting for that new life to begin, whatever it was.  Waiting just like they all were waiting for the rain to go away.<br/><br/>With a soft sigh, Jonas shucked his navy blue peat coat and hung it up on the weathered coat rack that stood near the shop's door.  The collared blue dress shirt he wore underneath was wrinkled and his jeans were splattered with water but he didn't give much thought to his appearance. He always looked frumpy. The shop smelled musty with the heavy scent of some earthy incense and he fought back a sneeze as he stepped fully inside.  Lily, the chipper, blonde owner, enjoyed keeping the shop smelling like people would expect but to Jonas, all it did was give his sinuses the round-around.  Lily had been in business for fifteen years now, opening the shop at the end of a busy avenue lined with fashion shops and a plethora of other cutting-edge retail stores.  It almost seemed out of place but they made just enough to get by.  The wispy-haired Lily looked older than she was, a deliberate effort on her part to appear as the atypical occult shop owner; she dressed in loose, white peasant blouses and colorful flared skirts, often going barefoot or wearing simple leather sandals.  The cheerful forty year old woman gave a quick wave to her Tarot reader before returning to her book about crystals and healing. There was no one else in the shop; not exactly a surprise with the way the weather had been. Jonas shrugged and waved back, his enthusiasm somewhat lacking.<br/><br/>It was going to be another slow day.<br/><br/>Jonas made his way towards the back of the cramped shop, to the small closet-turned-reading-room that had been set up to give his customers some measure of privacy.  Tarot readings were something of a forte of his and he had been reading the cards since he was seven.  His mother had been a Unitarian Universalist who favored the New Age practices and had taught her son Tarot, runes and a variety of other divination practices before her passing.  He liked to experiment with the cards and give readings to strangers, just to see how accurate his readings were.  So far, no one had complained and he had repeat customers that swore he was the best Tarot reader they had ever met.  Lily called his abilities "uncanny" but Jonas had always dismissed it at just having a keen eye for observation and deciphering symbols.  Finding the meaning and pairing it with the people who he gave readings to just came as second nature to him; whether it was some sort of connection to the divine or not remained to be seen.<br/><br/>The wiry dark-haired young man sat down heavily on the scuffed wooden stool that sat facing the door and took out his worn Wildwood Tarot deck. His dark blue eyes squinted in the dim light of the shop as he unzipped his backpack. The cards had been a gift from his aunt when he had graduated community college with an associate's degree in English and the Celtic and nature imagery spoke to him.  The well-used cards were kept in a small, plain wooden box and he didn't leave home without them in his backpack.  He shuffled the cards and spread them out over the battered surface of the reader's table, flipping a few of them upside down in a quick reading for the day.  Two cards were drawn, revealing the Kingfisher and the Inspiration card.  He raised an eyebrow at the spread in curiosity.<br/><br/>The Kingfisher represented a vibrant, brilliant soul who struggled with larger-than-life issues, things it could not contend with by itself.  Inspiration was one such issue and to see the spread come up as it did meant that an artist or some sort of creative type was seeking out inspiration for something major, some sort of incredible breakthrough that would change their path forever.  He furrowed his brow and shrugged, shuffling the cards back into the deck.  He wondered if he'd meet that person today or if the cards were just being fickle again.  They often were.<br/><br/>It was then that he heard the shop's door open, the tinny ringing of the bells following.  Lily greeted the young woman who stepped inside with a dazzling, practiced smile.  She smoothed down the front of her peasant's blouse as she set her book down on the counter.<br/><br/>"Can I help you?"