Pull at least three cards and use them to… write about a (real or fictional) call that was a wrong number.

The Phone Call

There came a time many years ago where a boy filled with youth and potential (Il Sole) lay within a bed, his body broken into pieces (La Torre di Babele).

Lying within the bed after one of the many surgeries needed to put the boy’s body back together, he almost ignored the call when the phone beside his bed rang.  Almost. Instead, exhausted and disheartened, he answered.

On the other side of the line came a man’s voice.  A voice he had never heard before.  The man was confused and struggling, driving in the rain and lost in an unfamiliar city.  He was on his way to a blind date, and couldn’t figure out which way to go (Gli Innamorati). He had meant to call his date and get directions, but had clearly dialed the wrong number.

The man, oblivious to the boy’s own plight,  was all worked up and expressed that he was greatly tempted to just turn around and go back home (Il Diavolo), writing his date off as a flop and accepting (although mournfully) that perhaps he was meant to be alone forever (L’eremita).

The boy in his recovery bed felt bad for the man and his struggle.  He felt that no one that longed so deeply to find a connection with another should allow their fear to keep them from finding that connection, and he said as much to the man.

He told the man that he should go through with the date, because after all… what if (La Ruota della Fortuna) this woman is the person that the man has been waiting for his entire life? (Il Guidizio)

In talking with the boy, this premise gave the man hope (Le Stelle), and he decided to try and go through with the date after all.

The boy in his bed did a search of the man’s destination on his tablet, and pulled up a map with directions (Il Bagatto) to the place that the man was supposed to go.  As the man drove, the boy talked the man through the steps to get to his destination (La Luna and Il Carro).

Once at his destination, the call ended with the boy wishing the man good luck, and the boy then went back to his rest and healing.  The call was soon  forgotten in the fog of medications, surgeries, and physiotherapy in the days and months that passed.

Then one day, a few months later, the boy’s phone rang again with an unfamiliar number. Again it was the same man!  This time calling calm and happy (La Temperanza) and wanting to thank the boy.

He told the boy that on the night of the first call, the man had been dead set on going home.  But, the boy’s encouragement had given him hope and, in going through with the date, he had indeed met the person he’s been waiting his entire life to find.  The man had called to thank the boy, for the man’s life had completely transformed because of this date (La Morte), and he told the boy that he and the woman from the blind date were going to be married (Il Papa).  This news gave the boy pleasure and hope, and he worked even harder to recover so that he could dance at their wedding.

DECK USED: LA CORTE DEI TAROCCHI