Fast Fiction

With the power of her mind, Leanne changed her future

Ican’t believe it,’ moaned Leanne. ‘I’ve broken my diet – again.’

She popped another hot chip into her mouth.

‘I guess my heart isn’t really committed to losing weight.’

‘Then stop trying,’ her friend Suzie said. ‘You look great as you are anyway.’

‘Thanks, Suze. I really appreciate that. The truth is, Roger keeps bugging me about it, always reminding me how I was two sizes smaller when we rst met.’ ‘Charming!’

Leanne shrugged.

‘Guess he thinks he’s being helpful. But dieting is hard work. It’s impossible to give up all that yummy food – cakes, cheese, chocolate… and hot chips,’ she said, reaching for another one. ‘I’m a lost cause.’

‘No, you’re not. You just need some positive thinking.’

‘Ha!’ Leanne scoffed. ‘If only it was that easy.’

‘It is! Look…’ Suzie said, pulling a magazine out of her bag.

‘This article is all about visualisation. The idea is, if you really want something, you put a photo that represents what you want somewhere you can see it every day. And through the power of positive thinking and laws of attraction, it will happen,’ Suzie explained, excitedly.

‘One woman in this article had always wanted to live by the sea. So she cut out a picture of a place with an ocean view. Every day, she’d visualise herself living there. Guess what, a year later she won lotto and is now living in her dream unit by the sea.’

‘That’s amazing,’ said Leanne. ‘Here, give me that.’

She took the magazine and icked through the pages. Leanne stopped at a photo of actor Chris Hemsworth standing next to his slim wife, Elsa Pataky. ‘Can I keep this picture?’ ‘Go for it,’ said Suzie. ‘And remember – it’s the power of positive thinking. You attract what you want in life. Your heart has to really want it.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I want this all right,’ Leanne said as she tore out the picture.

When she got home, Leanne put the photo of the actors on the fridge door. Funny how all her magnets were plastic food items – fruit, cupcakes and sundaes. She’d have to buy new ones to keep her motivated.

‘What’s with the celebrity picture?’ Roger asked, as he took a drink out of the fridge, later that day.

‘I’m trying something a bit different to be inspired to change things.’

Leanne didn’t want to go into the positive thinking aspect. She knew he’d laugh and she de nitely didn’t need his negativity.

‘About time,’ said Roger. ‘But I won’t expect miracles.’

For the next few weeks, every time Leanne went to the fridge she stared at the picture.

A month later, she went to meet Suzie at a cafe.

‘How’s things?’ Suzie asked. ‘Wonderful, I feel great.’ ‘So you lost weight?’ Leanne could see doubt in her friend’s eyes.

‘Not a kilo,’ she admitted.

‘I’m sorry,’ sighed Suzie. ‘So visualising didn’t work.’ ‘Oh, but it did.’

‘You haven’t lost any weight, though,’ Suzie said.

‘No, but Roger and I have broken up. He wasn’t right for me. I have a new boyfriend, Ethan. I met him at the shops when I went to buy new fridge magnets.’

‘That’s great. What’s he like?’

‘See for yourself. That’s him walking towards us.’

Leanne smiled when she saw Suzie’s shocked face. ‘He’s…,’ Suzie stammered. Leanne laughed.

‘It turns out it wasn’t losing weight I was wishing for,’ she said, waving at a gorgeous man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Chris Hemsworth. ●

She knew he’d laugh and didn’t need his negativity