Madame Ursula Marie Lane answered my ring at 11 Union Street personally. “I’m Phil Huntley,” I said. “Welcome,” she responded. “I’m Ursula Marie.” She turned and lead me through a large nondescript living room to a closed door at one side. She opened it and we entered a smaller room which smelled of an incense I had never experienced before. The room was dimly lit, almost barren of furniture. There was a table at the far end, the surface of which was covered with a dark cloth. There were two plain chairs one on the wall side and one on the room side. An object on the table was covered with a red cloth. Ursula Marie motioned to the nearby chair while she walked to the other side of the table and sat facing me. I also sat and examined the woman’s face.
Ursula Marie was middle aged, gray-haired, grim-looking. She wore glasses with lenses that made her eyes appear larger than they were. She removed the covering over the solitary object on the table revealing a large crystal ball, whose diameter I estimated at about ten inches. I could see nothing in its milky surface.
“Tell me about, your dream, Mr. Huntley,” she asked in a low, almost inaudible voice. Collecting my thoughts, I began:
“I’ve had this dream at least ten days running, Ms. Lane. In the dream, I’m looking at a computer screen. At first all is blackness, then the image of an enormous black shoe evolves gradually. There is something blue, but otherwise indistinct, protruding from its opening. The image fades and the number 150 appears on a large white card. This number fades and the number 11 takes its place. There is the sound of an auto’s engine. The dream ends there.
“This same dream has been repeated night after night with exactly the same details. There is nothing frightening about it but I feel it must mean something. My friends have said that psychic Madame Ursula Marie is gifted with knowledge of the paranormal. That’s why I called you. You live in a congested area of the city. I took a taxi. I brought an envelope with the amount you said you needed in order to explain this dream.”
Ursula Marie’s severe expression moderated to some degree as she turned her attention to the crystal ball. She stared into it for several minutes when a spark of change altered her features. There were several more moments before she started to convey her thoughts.
“There is a contest by Avalanche Soap,” she began. “You’ve heard of it; it’s been on all the channels to the point of nausea. It’s about their one-hundred fiftieth anniversary. A special crew is shuffling cash under guard from point to point throughout the country. Their promise is that the first person who speaks the exact words, “Congratulations Avalanche on your one-hundred-fiftieth” will receive a prize of one-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars. The actual money will be in a blue envelope peeking slightly over the top of a woman’s black boot.
“What does this all have to do with my dream?” I asked.
“You’ve been blessed with fore-knowledge granted to you by an unknown entity,” she responded. You’ve been given an edge in knowledge that has not been granted to many others. The prize money is nearby. You say you’ve had the dream ten days running?” I nodded.
“That may explain the number eleven,” Ursula Marie exclaimed excitedly. “Today or tomorrow may be a day of very good fortune for you. Be alert!“
All this was very exciting. I couldn’t wait to take care of the business part of the visit and to phone for a taxi. I needed to be at home as soon as possible to await the possible fulfillment of the good fortune prediction. The taxi arrived and tooted the horn. I hurried out the door and almost bumped into the taxi driver who was approaching the door. “Are you the gentleman at eleven Union?” he called out. “Eleven! Exactly right,” I said as I hurried toward the car.
The taxi was parked at the curb with its engine running. In front of it there was a police car; behind, a huge van with an antenna. No problem, the taxi would have no difficulty turning into traffic. The driver hurried to the back door of the car as I strode toward the curb. He kicked aside an item of footwear which had been carelessly cast in the driver’s path. I entered the car and the cab began its quick trek to my home. As it did so, I had an uneasy feeling that I had neglected to do something important but couldn’t quite pinpoint the details.