The first word is PALM, crossing someone’s palm with silver to have your fortune told. We looked for words that started with silver, and we chose silverware, because it mentioned forks, knives and dishes by name, but it left the spoons out. And the last word is SYLVAN, because we liked the idea of silverware growing on trees.
Once upon a time there was a kingdom where silverware was forbidden, because it only took a touch to predict the future. One day a boy got lost in the woods, and when night fell a glint caught his eye. Under the moonlight, the boy saw a tree with silverware hanging from its branches. There were forks, there were knives, and the boy wondered aloud why there were no silver spoons in that tree. The moon answered that the spoons were already in the mouths of other children, dictating their future. And the lost boy, that had been about to pick a fork, changed his mind. He found his way back, and left without touching anything made of silver. Because there were already people dictating his present, and he didn’t want to lose his future in the same way.
The future is written in my hands. I have a silverspoon, I can pay the price. To have my fortune told, and have the moon shine only on me.
I don’t mind being told what to do, how to live my life. I like the future this silverspoon has shown me. I see no need to be contrary, just to prove a point.
I’m ready to pay the price. I’m ready to cross my palms with silver and watch the future unfold. I’m tired of moonlit dreams at the mercy of every cloud and every tree. I’m ready to grasp something, that won’t disappear on me.
I’ve seen my future, it’s a never-ending feast. Spoonful by spoonful, I will get to eat the moon. For the rest of my life. The future I’ve been promised says that the moon will magically replenish itself. That I have nothing to worry about. That I can simply keep eating, to my heart’s content.
Lost little boy, wouldn’t you like to have your fortune told? Pick a fork, pick a knife, pick the silverware that better suits your soul. You don’t have to bleed for it. You don’t have to offer someone else’s blood to me. Just cross your palm with the silver of your choice, and close your eyes. Moonlight doesn’t belong here. I will show you the way. To the home you so desperately crave. You seem surprised. Do you wonder why I know? I know that you are desperate, because the word blood came out of your mouth first.
Look at you. So lost and afraid. Do you want a future? I can give you one, I have silverware to spare. But you have to come closer, child. You have to use your hands. This is not moonlight, this is not a dream. We are talking about your future, about something real, that can be touched, and doesn’t disappear behind the clouds. If you came to this forest looking for moonlight, you have made a mistake. I don’t deal in the kind of silver that cowards prefer.
It should be an easy enough association to figure out. You don’t seem to have any problems following that silvery moonlight to your dreams. The moon is out of reach, and so are your dreams. Moonlight seems gentle, and that is how you wish to be let down. You don’t want the disappointment to hurt. I understand you. But for some strange reason, you don’t seem able to understand me. To have any kind of future, first you have to stay alive. You have to eat. I give you silverware. Shiny silverware. Because I don’t want you to forget that the moon exists. I want you to be able to eat it. So that your dreams finally become part of your life.
Why did you run? You came all this way. The future was right here, waiting for you. Why did you leave without taking any silverware? Did I do something wrong? Didn’t I polish it enough? I’ve been waiting. All this time. I just wanted to do something nice, for someone other than myself. Why doesn’t anyone believe in fate anymore? I don’t want to be self-centered. I want to be generous. I want to be nice. Why couldn’t you just take some silver, and let me do something for you?
This silverware? I’m glad you asked. It’s just a little something to eat you alive. I will tell you your future, I will show you who you will become, thirteen years from now. You will like that person, I will make sure of it. And you will do everything in your power to become him. You will cut pieces of yourself off, the ones that don’t fit. You will stab them with one of these forks, and you will feed them to me.
I miss the moon. Did you know that she used to be a part of me? She used to hang among my leaves, among my knives and forks. But one day she said that she didn’t feel appreciated, that she was tired of waiting in the dark. She wanted to change someone’s life. She was tired of waiting for the future. She was ready to be seen, she was ready to shine. One day she left, and now she hangs in a different place. In a dark place, where no one seems to care that the light she uses isn’t really hers.
I live in this forest, because this is where the deer are, and I like watching them. They say that the future are endless possibilities, but I prefer to call it deer. I prefer to envision majesty, growth and moonlit dreams. The future is yours. You can eat it. You can cut it into little pieces and stab it with a fork. The future is yours to live. But don’t delude yourself. No matter how many little pieces you eat, the truth won’t change. You will never be a king. You will never be all that the future promised you would be.
Look at me, I am a tree. I was born to be a fortune teller, and nothing more. I am rooted here, I will never be able to go anywhere else. I will never change. I may show you branches, a future of endless possibilities, a future where you have a choice, but don’t delude yourself. You are just as rooted as I am. You know who you are. You know what you will do. There are no real choices. There is just you.
I don’t need a future. I have a present, and that is where I live, because I chose to let go of my past.
My future is mine to write. I don’t believe in fate. I am perfectly fine on my own.
I don’t want to see my future. I still remember my past, thank you very much. That nightmare is more than enough for me.
I wanted to have a future. I wanted to live forever and fulfill all my dreams. But now I know that I won’t survive the next change. Someone else, a new version will take my place, and everything I once held dear won’t matter anymore.