Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Po Lin Temple, Hong Kong
Christian studied the monk with suspicion while he talked to Ah Lung in a low voice. The man was staring at him from a distance, eyes narrowed and the tilted smile gave him goosebumps. He refused to step inside the temple while Ah Lung claimed him to be the superstitious one. After a long moment, he waved vigorously for Christian to enter.
“Just the get the fuck inside!” he snapped after the tenth denied request.
He reluctantly entered “What is so important that I have to come in here?” stuffing his hands in his jean pockets, he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling he had deep inside. Since the day he was young, he hated going to temples and was glad his mother was never into that stuff.
“Go ahead Master.” Ah Lung softened his voice for the old and wise monk.
His steps were strong but he looked fragile, almost as though he would break apart if someone were to push him. He stepped around Christian, studying his features and built. The monk returned to Ah Lung with a satisfied smile “Strong, driven and determined, he will go very far.”
“So you will give us the map?!” the overly excited male asked, the dollar signs were hidden under the eyes.
“No. Only him.” the monk said firmly causing his smile to fade “I will give it to those who are destined to be there.” Reaching under the sleeves of his cloak, he pulled out a faded paper with a map drawn by hand. Smiling as he handed it to Christian “Only the right people will see it.”
Ah Lung arched his neck over the monk’s shoulder to take a peak at the map that Christian unfolded but he could not see anything “It’s blank.” He claimed.
The eerie feeling returned as he lowered his eyes into the map, his heart thumping as he felt himself being pulled into the picture of the mountain and a castle on top. The ocean waves came to life in his eyes as they crashed against the shore. He was drawn into a creature in the distance, it look liked a bird as it’s wings flapped closer and closer until he could see it’s red and yellow eyes, the beak was sharper than a knife as he opened his sharp jaws showing a green tongue and a darker throat ready to swallow it’s prey. Its wings looked shiny as it blinded his eyes when he looked at it directly. If he concentrated, he could hear it’s shriek sound like call, but even then Christian could not tear his eyes from the beast until it came closer and so close that it practically jumped off the paper as he quickly dropped it to the ground.
He had broke down into a cold sweat as he stepped back trying to catch his breath “What…what the hell was …that?” he pointed angrily.
“What? What did you see?” Ah Lung asked eagerly “Was it the treasure?”
The monk smiled as he knew he had found one of the destined ones “You saw it.”
Christian shook his head in denial “No, I didn’t see anything.” He turned to Ah Lung “I’m getting the fuck out of here!” turning on his heels he walked out hurriedly.
“Wait! Christian!” he reached to the floor and picked up the map “Thanks Master.” He said hastily while chasing after his friend “Wait! Fuck! What the hell is the matter with you?” he barked when he caught up to him.
“I’m not going.” Christian changed his mind.
“What? You promised me that you would do this. I thought you want out?” Ah Lung was confused by his quick change of heart.
His eyes traveled to the paper in his hands “And what the hell are you taking that with you? Give it back to him!” he snapped, pushing the paper away from him.
Ah Lung sighed, “Look, you saw something that I didn’t see. So it means you are meant for this journey, you have to go. Like the old monk said, its destiny.” Folding the map, he placed it inside Christian’s jean pocket “Don’t fight it.” He didn’t know what he got himself into but Christian eventually nodded “That’s my boy!” Ah Lung draped an arm around his shoulders as he led him down the path “After you find the treasure, we’ll be living in a pool of money and you won’t have to steal another shop again…”
His words had faded when Christian glanced behind his shoulder and noticed the monk was staring directly at him from the temple. The smile could be seen from a far distance and only fed onto his growing fear.
*********
It was a perfect day for a family day outside at a park. Alex, Kevin and her parents were dressed coolly as they entered the water animal park “Where should we go first?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Let’s go see the birds.” He suggested.
“That sounds great.” Mrs. So nodded in agreement.
They traveled with the help of their maps into the bird area. A large fish net like fence was covered throughout the entire area to keep the birds from getting away “Wow, look at that one!!” Alex yelped like a little girl in a candy store as she patted Kevin’s back roughly.
He twitched painfully “I’m standing right here, Alex, you don’t have to yell.”
“I’m just excited!” she argued with a large grin “Ooh, that one’s pretty.”
“This bird is called a Toucan bird, popular from it’s curved beak, he is very kind by nature…” the girl looked to be in her early twenties but seemed to be a professional when it came to birds. She explained to the audience each bird and what’s its specialty was. The dimple could be seen from a few feet away as she nodded to the group with a huge grin “Would anyone like to hold it?” the small bird sat on her arm comfortably but it seemed no one dared to volunteer.
“I’ll do it!” Alex raised her hand proudly.
Kevin raised his brows at her “Are you sure?” she shrugged carelessly and walked towards the girl with a smile. He quickly followed her.
“What’s your name?” the girl asked.
“Alexis.” Her eyes glued to the colorful bird “Can he say my name?”
She laughed at the ignorance and innocence she brought out “No, it’s not a parrot. But it looks like it, just a little bigger. Now Alexis, I’m going to let him climb onto your arm and leave some bird food on your palm and you can watch how he eats. He actually open the sunflower seeds before he eats the inside.” The girl in khaki with the name tag that read Tammy advised while she laid her arm parallel to Alex’s. The bird climbed on with ease while the audience clapped their hands in awe.
Kevin watched with carefulness but he soon relaxed when Alex threw him a large grin, she was easily amused. Smiling finally, he watched as the bird carefully ate the sunflower seeds with his beak biting open the cover first. Alex stared at the bird with admiration but a flash happened before her eyes and the bird’s round black eyes were replaced with a red eye and even more yellow pupil. It grew abruptly as its claw dug into her arm, her smile faded as its beak grew sharper by the second. It opened its mouth and shrieked in terror.
“AHH!!” Alex screeched as she whipped her arm making the bird fall but it quickly flew to Tammy’s shoulder.
“Alex!” Kevin cried in surprise after Alex panicked and rushed away “I’m sorry.” He apologized to the trainer who was as concerned as he was. Her parents were off wandering around the bird section and didn’t see Alex running off. He found her sitting on a bench under a shaded tree, her hands covering her face “Alex.” He said more calmly “What happened?”
She pulled her hands away showing her teary face, her hands shaky as she tried to calm them by sitting on them “I saw something…”
He knelt down in front of her “What did you see?”
She shook her head, it was ridiculous and even more absurd when she said it in her head “No…nevermind. It was nothing. I think I’ve been watching too many horror movies lately. I’m okay.” She smiled before taking a deep breath.
“Are you sure?” he asked with uncertainty “You looked really frightened back there.”
“I did?” she asked nonchalantly “I’m okay now. Let’s go see other animals.”
“Miss!” Tammy called from the entrance to the bird zone. She waved to her co-worker “I’m on a break.” She rushed towards the two of them “Are you okay? Did the bird hurt you?” she asked worriedly.
Alex shook her head with a smile despite her reddened eyes “I’m okay.”
“I can’t help but feel responsible.” Tammy said sincerely “How about I take you to the next dolphin show? I will take you two backstage and you can feed the animals yourself.” She offered.
“That sounds like fun.” Kevin raised his brows at Alex who was returning back to her old self “Don’t be a party pooper!” she rolled her eyes at her friend. She was giddy again as they left towards the water section. They entered through the back way where Tammy took them.
“This is where the training begins.” She pointed to the large and deep pool where four dolphins swam together “They are probably the most friendly creatures of the sea.” She smiled while bending over to pet one that popped its head out of the water.
“Tammy!” a young guy dressed in a wet suit approached them “You’re on you’re break?”
She nodded “Yeah. Ah Kin, this is Alexis and…I didn’t catch your name.”
“Kevin.” He nodded while shaking the trainer’s hand.
“Nice to meet you. This is perfect, we were going to look for a volunteer from the audience. You two will be great.” He grinned.
“Sounds fun!” Alex nodded before hearing the plan.
They were to act like a normal couple sitting in the audience while Ah Kin would randomly choose them. He would take them on stage and get them up close to the dolphin. One of them was going to accidentally fall into the waters while a dolphin takes them up on the stage to safety. The audience would be in shock but will soon find out that it was part of the scam.
Alex and Kevin sat a few benches up to make it not so obvious “You have to be the one that falls in the water.” She whispered.
“Why?” he asked curiously.
“Cause I can’t swim.” She replied with a giggle.
The show started and as planned they were randomly chosen from the audience to get up close and personal with the dolphin. The trainer gave Kevin and Alex each a fish and showed them how to feed the friendly animal. Alex saw the fourth dolphin by himself as she moved in front of Kevin to toss him the fish when the trainer bent over and knocked her into the water.
The first reaction was cold and she flared her arms under the water in a panic. The audience’s reaction was perfect as they gasped in unison. The trainer overreacted “Stay calm, the dolphins will get you out!”
Kevin was in shock as he stood there frozen. Tammy noticed something different from him “Is something wrong?” she rushed up from behind the stage.
“She…she can’t swim…” he stuttered, shaky finger pointing.
Without thinking, she jumped into the tank and swam around looking for Alex. She had fainted and a dolphin was holding her up from it’s back. Tammy reached for her hand as she pulled her up to the stage. The trainer was informed by Kevin as he quickly helped Alex to her feet, her eyes were closed “Miss…Miss, are you okay?”
Tammy climbed onto the stage as she took over “Call for help.” She pushed onto Alex’s stomach and she quickly spat up the excess water, her eyes red from being exposed in the water “Wait! She’s okay.” She stopped Ah Kin.
“Alex…” Kevin helped her on her feet while she caught up with her breathing.
By this time the audience had been in total shock to have witnessed a near death experience. Alex knew the park would lose its customers if they believed it to be true. She quickly reached for the microphone from Ah Gin “Ladies and Gentleman that was our show! Did we trick you?” a big sigh of relief waved through the shocked people as some laughed it off while some were still clutching to their hearts.
“Lets give a big hand to the actors!” Tammy knew what she was trying to do as she played the part to perfection. The place exploded with applause for the carefully crafted sequence. The show continued while Kevin and Alex were taken backstage to clean up. Tammy found her a dry khaki uniform her size “That was commending what you did out there.”
Alex shrugged slightly “It’s nothing. I didn’t want the park to be shut down for a slipup like that.”
“Normal people would have sued us.” Tammy concluded.
Kevin laughed, “She’s not normal.” Alex wrinkled her nose in disagreement while he continued “I mean, what kind of normal person that can’t swim, falls into the water and gets out but still has the mentality to smile and play along? I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s normal.”
Tammy joined in with the laughter “I can’t argue with that.” Alex couldn’t keep her straight face as she too began laughing at the near death situation.