The Chinese Crystal Ball

AuthorHouse

Contents

Chapter 1: Manhattan.........................................7Chapter 2: Moon Light........................................13Chapter 3: Toronto...........................................21Chapter 4: Hawaii............................................29Chapter 5: Return to Toronto.................................37Chapter 6: San Juan Capistrano...............................41Chapter 7: Baja, Mexico......................................49Chapter 8: The Search........................................57Chapter 9: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.....................61Chapter 10: El Diablo........................................67Chapter 11: Mexico City......................................73Chapter 12: Retrieval........................................81Chapter 13: The Romanian Gypsy...............................87

Chapter One

It was a sunny day in Greenwich Village in New York City. John Cardomen a young Irish man in his late twenties was walking down 9th street toward Washington Square to have lunch, and relax awhile sitting on the wooden benches around the park. He was a stockbroker with a degree from Dartmouth College.

John was ready to take on the world. Life had been good to John. His red hair in a crew cut was thinning, but his health was good, and he had the energy of three men when it came to stocks and bonds. His distinct nose had a little bulb on the end, and his face always looked like he had a permanent five o'clock shadow. John was about 6ft. 2", and a descent college basketball player. He played on the Dartmouth team that went to the National finals a few years before.

It was November in New York City, and the leaves had already turned, and many had dropped to the ground. Washington Square was beautiful this time of the year with bright red and orange leaves on the trees. The air was a crisp 55 degrees, and the wind was blowing in John's face. Dogs were barking and the sounds of the city were everywhere.

As he sat at a park bench, he ate his sandwich from the local deli, drank his diet soda, and reflected on how well his life was going, particularly with his girlfriend Jodi. He decided to take an extra long walk, and go back to Broadway where he worked. He walked south for a few blocks and looking at the Chinese trinket shops, and the rummage stores along the way. As he turned to walk east toward Broadway he noticed a rummage shop that had some great blue glass vases which he enjoyed collecting. He thought to himself, "I have a little time, maybe I will just drop into this store, and see how much the blue glass vase in the window costs." So he entered the store to the ringing of bells handing over the door.

"Can I help you," an old Chinese man asked in a thick Chinese accent. John responded, "I am interested in the blue glass vase in the window. How much does it cost?" "For you Mister, only thirty five dollar," the old man responded. "Wow, thirty five dollars, that is a little steep. How about twenty-five dollars?" John replied. "No, very expensive glass from China. You pay thirty dollars?" asked the old man. "OK thirty dollars seems fair, wrap it up for me please," said John.

As he approached the cash register counter he noticed a beam of light shining from behind the counter. The light caught his eye. It looked like a glass ball of some type. John asked, "Excuse me what is that glass thing?" "Oh, it is very old from China, you no like," the old man added. "You not want it, many mysteries," the old man said. "Can I have a look at it John said?" "The old man hesitated for a minute, and then shook his head, and took a scarf off of the glass ball." When the old man put the ball on the table John noticed right away that it was a crystal ball about 12-18 inches in diameter. "Is this really a crystal ball," John asked? The old man answered, "This is very old quartz from China, perhaps hundreds of years old, no maybe thousands from the Chin dynasty." "Really," John exclaimed. "Is it really that old or are you playing me old man?" The old man laughed, "you funny, many stories about this both good and bad." "Some consider it cursed," the old man said. "The last owner sold this to me years ago when I was in China, and I was warned to keep it covered at all times or an evil spirit will come out." John was intrigued; "OK what is it going to cost me to buy it from you?" "No not for sale," said the old Man.

"How about two hundred dollars cash," John offered. "OK, I will buy both the Crystal ball, and the blue glass vase, OK?" John asked. "Yes," said the old man, "good purchase for you. Keep the ball covered from light and dust," said the old man. John replied, "I don't believe in superstitions, but I love the clear slightly green quartz ball. It will look great on my coffee table." So the sale was made, and John took his purchases and headed off to work.

When John got home that evening he took the crystal ball out, and placed it on a silver tray on top of his coffee table. It looked great there, John thought to himself. The blue vase he put in his collection cabinet along with the other blue vases he had collected.

The crystal ball sat for over a month, and no spirits or evil things ever appeared. One day in December a month later, John was watching the N.Y. Giants football team play the Dallas Cowboys football team on Television. The sun was shining brightly through the balcony glass doors passing through the crystal ball. A spectrum of different colors appeared on the wall and all over the apartment like a rainbow. John did not notice at first, but an image appeared on the wall projected by the crystal ball with the sunlight as a source. It was a vague picture of a yellow taxicab hitting what appeared to be a woman. John could not believe that this was indeed an image on the wall coming from the crystal ball. He was sure he had too many beers while watching television. The image scared him for a minute, and he thought back to the old man's gibberish about mysteries about the crystal ball. It was really weird and there must be some explanation. He dreamt about the image all night long. The image in his head would not go away in his head.

The next day was Monday, and John was to meet his girlfriend Jodi after work at Joe's Coffee Shop on 6th avenue and 32 St.. It was one of their favorite places to meet since it had coffees from around the world, and pastries that you could kill for. John and Jodi had first met at Joe's coffee shop a few years before and it has always been a special place for them since. As John was crossing 6th avenue he saw Jodi coming across the avenue from 32nd street. He waved and she waved back. She was in a cute short plaid skirt, and a red sweater with the usual ribbons she always loved to tie into her dark brown hair. It was hard to see Jodi above the crowd since she was only 5 feet tall. All the men and women around her dwarfed her. The traffic light changed on 6th avenue for all traffic to stop, and Jodi stepped off the curb with a crowd of people.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a New York City Yellow taxicab came speeding around the corner from 31st street heading south on 6th avenue. It didn't look like he was going to slow up despite the red traffic light, and all the pedestrians walking across the avenue. The yellow cab driver suddenly realized the light was red, and slammed on its breaks to avoid the pedestrians crossing the street with Jodi. The taxi driver veered the cab to the right but the cab did not stop as fast...