*Farsight

Intro: I came up with the title for this first. I was trying to remember the name FARSCAPE (which is a series I really like). I wanted it to be a seer without being a typical seer.

I scheduled this to post this morning at 6:00. I don't know what was wrong but it didn't post and it should have. This is the second time this week it's happened. I will try and not let it happen again but if you come and the new post isn't up you can always check eayounker.com if you don't find it here.

Every Monday Joseph had lunch with his twin brother Derek.

"It's time for a change," Derek said between sips of coffee. "I'm tired of being a bank teller."

"What would you do next?" Joseph drank chocolate milk. He'd given up coffee since making a deal with one of the inmates he worked with. The worst part of his job as a cook at the state penitentiary was making the morning coffee for the inmates.

"I'm thinking investing."

"Maybe you should think about moving out of the financial district." Joseph said. He wanted to add that Derek should try keeping a job longer than two years but that was an argument waiting to happen.

"Maybe you should join me. Image what we could do—"

Joseph stood his milk only half gone but his stomach churned and he couldn't finish it. A couple walked towards them and both brothers watched. They had a pale white haze around them. The white would only grow stronger the longer they lived.

"I give them two weeks before they start declining," Derek said.

Joseph tried to ignore his brother. He was glad there wasn't a black aura around them they still looked as they did at their lowest point. They had a haunted look to their eyes. It was the same look he saw on everyone's face.

"Excuse us, but could you tell us where the courthouse is?"

Joseph directed them and wished them congratulations on their marriage.

"Which one do you think is going to cause it?" Derek asked. "Will they get a divorce?"

Joseph shook his head.

"You should have seen the watch and jewels. No wonder they don't stay prosperous much longer."

"I have to get back to work. I'll see you next week."

As Joseph walked away he heard Derek scoff at another passerby. Joseph paused and used the hand mirror he always kept in his pocket. His brother looked good. His clothes were stylish and he moved as if king of the world. Reflections did not lie. Reflections showed time as it moved and eliminated his farsight. As far as he knew it was the same for his brother.

Back at the penitentiary, Joseph fell into his routine and started prepping food for lunch. The inmates assigned to him trailed in and took up their usual tasks. As part of his training Joseph learned about each inmate. From the information he gathered most of what he saw to be true. He tried not to be biased but experience taught him it was often futile to help those who hadn't reached their lowest. It wasn't that he didn't want to help them but there were so many others who needed his time. He was trying with one though. Marko.

"Why ya down?" Marko asked. Marko was doing time for armed robbery. The robbery was to support his drug addiction. The aura around him was black and his face was splattered with blood, his eyes stuck in a wide horrified expression. "Ya met with ya brother. He's a bad drug."

"Please don't talk about him like that," Joseph said. Any day would be Marko's lowest. It was a waiting game. "He means well."

"Ya say that about everyone."

"I have to." Joseph used the only knife in the kitchen to slice ham. He used the reflection in cupboards to look at the man. Marko smiled easily and he looked like the kid next door. "The only way to survive is to be positive."

"Is this another life lesson?" Marko asked.

"Yep, so pay attention. Everyone has high points and everyone has low points. You have to think that everyone is working on reaching their full potential."

Marko glanced over at the security guards lounging against the counter on the other side of the room. "What about me? Am I working towards my full potential?"

"You're getting there." Joseph turned to look at the man standing next to him.

Marko's hand closed around Joseph's. Marko pried the knife away and and turned it. The knife moved at a slow pace but the pain came in a blink. Even as Joseph collapsed he grabbed Marko's hand.

"Now you can move forward. Become a better man." Joseph's head fell to the side and he saw Marko lean close, his face splattered with blood. His eyes wide.