Horoscope

Elara had never believed in horoscopes. The daily blurbs in her phone’s weather app— “Aries: Your impatience may lead to a surprise today” —struck her as lazy fortune cookie wisdom. She was a graphic designer, a woman of grids, kerning, and hexadecimal colors. Life was cause and effect, not the mood of distant planets.

She looked at the clock. Midnight. A new year. horoscope

The older Elara didn’t speak. She just pointed to the book in the real Elara’s hands. Elara had never believed in horoscopes

A soft knock. She opened the door.

Her own face stared back. But behind her reflection, in the dim light of her apartment, stood a second Elara. Older. Calmer. Smiling. The reflection held a quill pen and a fresh leather journal. a woman of grids