March 2026 SOLC–Day 20
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C. bounced up to me first thing this morning, a smile spread across her face. She thrust her hands in front of her.

“Mrs. Hogan, pick a number!”

I looked down to see a cootie catcher, also known as a fortune teller. My smile widened.

“Oh! These are fun,” I said, “I made these when I was young, too!”

“Pick a number!” she said again, bouncing up and down.

“Okay! Okay!” I laughed. “I’ll go with…three.”

She worked the cootie catcher three times and then stopped.

“Ok, now choose a color.”

I carefully scanned my color choices, and after a long pause, I chose teal.

She took her hands out of the cootie catcher and carefully pulled back the flap to reveal:

“You reach your dreams!” she exclaimed happily.

“Oh!” I said. “That’s a great fortune to get, and a nice way to start the day.”

She bopped over to her seat, and I walked away feeling pretty good about that fortune–especially since the last two times I’d gotten a Chinese fortune cookie, my cookie had been empty. Seriously. No fortune. Twice.In.A.Row. I had felt like I was in a Twilight Zone episode. So, obviously, an optimistic fortune this morning really felt like a win.

It felt even better when C. later confided that one of the other fortunes stated, “You will be sucked into a black hole.”

Phew! Close call!