Keith, single and in his thirties, is given a paid tarot reading session with a top psychic for his birthday. Unexpectedly, after the Lovers card is drawn, the reading produces four nines in a row, which the psychic says is a strong message from the universe. To find love, Keith must keep his eyes open for occurrences of nine.<br><br>On his way to meet up with his friend George, Keith meets George’s friend Zvika, someone he has always found unnerving. As Keith also gets to know Zvika, though, he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic man. But they are unalike, and while opposites might attract, can they live happily ever after? Is the persistent number nine a problem or a solution?

The Fool

Everything proceeded without further incident, other than my continuing to notice manifestations of nine: nine cars in a parking lot, nine blue bottles in an apartment window, that sort of thing. I wrote it all down, carrying the notebook with me. But the process became one of regularity and I continued to be agnostic in my view on these manifestations. And finally, the day of my birthday dawned, and I lay in my bed and looked out the window, seeing blue sky broken with small tufts of cloud. As I lay there, out of habit I counted the clouds framed by the window.


I froze for a moment, and then began to laugh at myself. It was so silly!


Chapter 13