[ WP ] A real life psychic , broke and in need of money , decides to get $ 1 million from James Randi , who 's offering money for proof of the paranormal .

Electricity bill, one hundred and fifty seven dollars and twenty nine cents. 
 
 Rent, six hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 Credit Card bill, one thousand two hundred dollars. 
 
 The ability to see the future? Worthless. 
 
 There were some things that money could not buy, but for everything else, there was cold hard cash. Cold hard cash that Jake did not have. He looked at the pile of bills on his desk. They were sorted into three piles bills he could not pay, urgent bills he could not pay, and bills that were about to go into collections that he could not pay. This last pile was getting distressingly larger by the day. 
 
 He kinda wished that being able to see the future worked as well as they said it did in movies. Everything always seemed so clear, so relevant, so up to the minute. However, fuzzy dreams about bill collectors, getting more bad news, and seeing random people in pain was not what it was cracked up to be. It did not help that when he was not having a prophetic dream, he had nightmares. it was enough to make a man never want to go to sleep again. The sleeping pills never worked, they just kept him out as the nightmares tormented him, unable to escape. 
 
 He put the last bill on the pile, figuring how much he owed. Working minimum wage at a burger joint part time made him not nearly enough money no matter how he split it. 
 
 He was tired, it was four in the morning. However, his insomnia was still with him. So he decided to go for a walk and get away from all of the depressing bills. He began to walk down the street, even the drunks were at home asleep at this time. He kept walking, not really knowing where he was going. 
 
 As he passed a row of TVs showing mind numbing late night tv, something caught his eye. Some guy was blathering off on how easy it was to get a million dollars if you really had psychic powers. Jake scoffed, the man clearly did not know what he was talking about. Pretty much no one really knew what they were talking about. Sometimes, he wondered if he was the only one. On the other hand it would be nice to get a million dollars. If he had a million dollars, most of his problems would go away. He started to formulate a plan. 
 
 
 ~~ 
 
 James looked at the man sitting across from him. He was out of place in the office. The office was a nice place, well appointed, expensive, clean. His suit probably cost more then the man sitting across from him made in a year. `` You are?'' he asked. 
 
 `` umm... my name is... Jake. And... um... er... no, I do n't work for state farm. I... um...'' 
 
 James was nothing if not patient. `` And you?'' He asked. 
 
 `` Well, uh... I wanted to know what the standard of proof is for the money.'' 
 
 James raised an eye brow. `` For the psychic money? Are you a psychic?'' 
 
 The guy seemed taken a bit aback by his directness. `` Uh... am I a psychic...'' He seemed shifty, like he was trying to slip a fast one. James did not like it, Jake seemed untrustworthy. `` I guess... but on the reward money, what do I have to do to get it?'' 
 
 James hated having his time wasted, this was quickly becoming one. `` Very simple. We are going to tailor it to your ability. For example, if you can see the future, then we'll get you to predict the next few weeks stock market numbers without any information about the stock market.'' 
 
 `` Oh.'' James said, looking dejected. `` uh... thanks for your time.'' He stood to leave. 
 
 `` Why the glum face?'' James asked, sensing something was wrong here. He was not like the rest of the Psychics who were so confident in their abilities. He seemed almost to not want to share his ability. Normally he might have dismissed it. However, something told him that he needed to investigate farther. Even if the guy seemed shifty, he felt that he had been telling the truth when he said he was psychic. 
 
 `` Nothing, um... I'm just not going to pass your er... test.'' Jake said. 
 
 `` Why not?'' James asked, standing with him. 
 
 `` Well, ugh, this is stupid.'' He seemed frustrated. `` I do n't predict like specific numbers. I just see things happening when I sleep. Sometimes they happen.'' 
 
 `` Can you give me a better example, like what you dreamed last night?'' James asked. 
 
 `` uh... erm.. sure. I saw a pretty Asian lady in a red dress jump off a weird shaped building.'' 
 
 `` How weird?'' 
 
 `` Well, uh. Like this.'' He said, forming his hand into a l shape and then putting his thumbs together at a ninety degree angle. `` Like where my er.. thumbs are there is um.. like no support. It's pretty crazy.'' 
 
 James thought for a moment. Asian lady, weird L shaped buildings. His mind snapped to the [ CCTV building. ] ( http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCTV_Headquarters ) He nodded, `` Ok anything else you can tell me? Like time of day? How far out this was.'' 
 
 `` It was night. That's all I can tell you. The one's I've seen come er.. true have always happened umm.. like the night or two before it happened. uhh, Never longer.'' He shrugged. 
 
 James thought for a moment. `` Why do n't you come back inside, I think we might be able to work with this.'' He went back to his office. Jake somewhat reluctantly following him inside. 
 
 James turned off the TV in his office. `` Ok, I'm going to go into the next room and make some calls.'' He handed Jake a pen and some paper. `` I want you to write down everything you can remember about the dream you just told me about.'' 
 
 Jake nodded as James left the room. James noted the time, 8:35 in the morning Atlanta time. He did not trust this Jake, but he suspected he trusted Jake more then Jake trusted Jake. He was going to count that as a point in Jake's favor, for now. 
 
 ~~ 
 
 She was crying, the wind was cold up here on top of the CCTV building, her red dress fluttered in the wind. She was such a disappointment, she had screwed up pretty much everything in her life. Now, well, she was going to end that. She looked down at the ground, it seemed so far below. Certainly far enough below that it would kill her on impact. She swallowed, hoping that it was not going to hurt too much, and jumped. 
 
 ~~ 
 
 James put down the phone, he glanced through the window at Jake, who was talking to a detective who owed James a favor. The detective was trying to get as much information from Jake as possible. The detective knew nothing about what James had just learned. 
 
 James picked up his PADD as he stood. The pictures were just now populating onto his screen. He took a breath and stepped inside. He waved at them, with a smile, he stepped towards them. `` I'm going to give you a tablet full of women's faces. Tell us if you recognize any of them.'' He did not know himself what the girl looked like who just jumped off the building. 
 
 Jake scanned the faces, trying to remember what the face was that he saw. `` umm... kinda like this one.'' He said, keeping swiping through the pictures. `` or that one.'' He pointed to a second. He seemed flustered, annoyed that he was not seeing the girl. `` They kinda all look alike.'' He complained, standing. `` I told you I could n't do it. Sorry to waste your time.'' He headed for the door. 
 
 James stopped him, more firmly this time. `` Why do n't you finish looking at the pictures before you go?'' He suggested. Jake seemed annoyed, and then resigned. 
 
 Jake sat back down, his finger flew over the pictures before landing on one. `` Fine her.'' He said, putting his finger on one of the pictures. `` I'm going to go now.'' He said, leaving the room before anyone could stop him. There were still pictures that he had not looked at. 
 
 He disappeared out the front door, leaving them with just what he had told them so far, and the picture. James looked at the detective. `` So? What do you think?'' 
 
 The detective leaned back in his chair. `` I've gotten good enough at reading people to know how easy it is for some people to put on a fake front. You do n't get away with murder by having a face that tells me everything.'' 
 
 `` And Jake's face?'' James asked. 
 
 `` I could read pretty well, if he is lying he's a damn good liar.'' 
 
 James nodded, `` Thanks, you mind sticking around for a bit?'' The detective nodded his assent, as James picked up the phone to make one last call to his friend in Bejing. 
 
 `` So what pictures did he pick out?'' His contact asked. 
 
 `` Six, twenty seven, and forty two.'' 
 
 `` So he did not pick sixty three?'' His contact asked. 
 
 `` No.'' 
 
 `` Then I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that he did not pick out the girl who jumped off the tower.'' 
 
 `` And the bad news?'' He asked. 
 
 `` He picked out her two cousins and identical twin.'' 
 
 James dropped the phone from shock. His knees felt weak, he dropped into the chair as he hung up the phone. `` What's wrong?'' The detective asked. 
 
 `` We have our first claimant.'' 
 
 __ 
 
 First time posting here, CC appreciated.
