She’d seen it hundreds of times as she passed it on the street. It was a little storefront with a sign saying simply Chiromancy. This time, though,her steps slowed as she approached the window. What would be the harm in seeking out a fortune-teller; more to the point, a palm-reader?

There was enough of the unknown in her life that she wished to peer into tomorrow. Perhaps it would relieve some of her stress or give her a new lease on life! Heaven knew she needed something; something to steer her in the right direction. But with the way everything was going, that would take a miracle. Even at Christmas, the season of miracles, she doubted one would appear to her, of all people. God, if He did exist, had more important things to do.

Clink. A little round piece of something rolled up against her boot. It was funny she even felt it. She bent down and retrieved it. It was a token, something like you would get at a carnival or party. She turn the gold piece over in her hand. One side was gold and the other held the image of a manger scene. A manger scene? She peered more closely, trying to imagine what sort of person or gathering it came from; then looked around to see if someone had dropped it. There wasn’t a pedestrian to be seen, but a scraggly dog trotted near her; abandoned from the looks of him.

She called to him with a click of her tongue and he came near enough for her to reach out and pet him. Her palm would be dirty now, and she wondered what the palm-reader would think. The dog nuzzled closer and licked her hand. Then he trotted a few steps down the street, looking back, as if inviting her to follow him. Her gaze alternated between the storefront and the dog. She really wished for direction; direction a fortune-teller might be able to give her! But the dog came back and nudged her knee for a pet. She absently reached down and gave him one. He nudged her again, and she patted him. He rolled onto his back and she gave him a good tummy rub. Her hand slowed as she felt his heartbeat.

And it was that heartbeat that spoke to her. If God had created even the heart of a scraggly dog and kept it beating day in and day out, did he care for small things as well as big, important things? And she was more than a dog, wasn’t she? She turned the coin over in her hand and studied the manger scene. How in the world had it rolled to hit her boot? Where did it come from? Did God know her heartbeat?

A new thought occurred to her as she followed her new friend down the street. She still wanted to know what her future held. But maybe it wasn’t to be found in the palm of her hand.