I Finally Found My Fortune

Fortune cookie maker at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

I've never been one to save the little pieces of paper from my fortune cookies. I don't tack them to the refrigerator or pin them on my wall. They're not floating around in my wallet or at the bottom of my purse. Until now.

I finally found my fortune; the one I'm sure was destined for me. All the others have been too generic:

You will always be surrounded by friends.

Money cannot guarantee happiness

Blah, blah blah

But the other night I went to P.F. Chang's with my co-workers. After the meal, we got our bill and seven fortune cookies. My friend Martin held them out to me and I started to take one, but he pulled them back and started scrambling them all up again. Then he held it out again, and like Charlie Brown, I reached for my fortune cookie. He grabbed them away again and mixed them up.

"Martin, you're messing them all up! Now I may not be getting the fortune I was supposed to get!" I protested.

So he held them out again and I chose my fortune. I pulled out my tiny slip of paper and sucked in my breath. This fortune was mine! We went around the table, reading them aloud. Theirs were all very generic and could have applied to anyone. But mine was surely meant for me. It said:

You are a lover of words. You will write a book someday.

I had written a book and was working on revising it! With that fortune tucked into my wallet, I went home and fixed it up a little more and sent it off to an agent. She responded quickly. She'd like to see more.