“Blood? “
“YES. And they know when your birthday is! Because your parents are the one who gave birth to you, they’ll know which day you were born! Sadly, I don’t even know mine…”
Suddenly I thought about something I forgot to ask the magic cube to transform into. A chocolate birthday cake with candles on top quickly appeared before me.
“What is it, Flower??” Robot asked.
“It’s a birthday cake and these are candles. You blow them out, make a wish and whatever you wish for will come true.”
“Have you ever tried it before?”
“No. But I think about it all the time. At first, I wanted to make a wish to have a family, but then I realized that it may never happen, maybe I’ll have a family of my own when I grow up. So, I kept thinking and thinking… and then I finally realized what I really wanted the most was to have someone who has feelings for me.”
“What kind of feelings?”
“Someone that cares about me, someone that loves me, someone that will never give up on me. I always moved around, so it was difficult to make friends. I guess I just want to have someone who needs me and makes me feel that my life is important to them.” I lowered my head and stared at the cake.
“So I guess you’re right, Robot. I don’t need a family. I just need some friends like you, someone that will always be there for me.” I thought about Caterpillar, it was only three days in here, but three years had already passed out there. I wondered if he was still waiting for me?
“Flower.”
“Yes?”
“My teacher told me the answer is usually the thing you want the most.”
“My teacher told me the same.”
“Don’t you think you just found the answer!?”
“You mean friends? But they have shapes!”
“No. Not friends.”
“Not friends? Then what is it?”
It’s feelings, feelings are shapeless.
I blew out the candles.
“You’re… cuter than that… Robot…”
10
Goodbye
I was born an orphan and that was all I knew, so I naturally thought that every kid on Earth was like me. We all grew up in a place called an orphanage and waited for some adult to take us home.
Then one day, I learned two new words “Parents” and “Family”, I asked an older boy in my orphanage what those words meant, he explained it to me. Instead of feeling sad and miserable, I was actually shocked. It was then I realized that I wasn’t like the rest of the kids, I was different. So I asked the older boy what it felt like to have parents and a family since he had one before.
“I can’t tell you what it feels like because you won’t understand. But once you have it and it’s taken away from you, all you’ll ever feel is pain and sadness because you can’t have it anymore.”
Robot and I walked hand in hand to the final exam room. Even though its hand was rock hard and icy cold I knew I would miss it once we went our separate ways.
D and Robot’s teacher were standing together at the exit. Robot’s teacher looked just like it but had a lot more nodes and its colors were not as bright.
“I’m so glad to see you two become such good friends. There are always few that try to eat each other.”
Robot and I looked at each other for a moment, and then we both started laughing.
“Say goodbye to your friend, Key Holder.” D patted my shoulder.
“Now?? Okay?” I reluctantly gave Robot a big hug, because I didn’t want to leave my new friend.
“Will I see you again?” I lifted up my head and stared into its three big eyes.
“We will. I’ll miss you, Flower. You’re my first friend without nodes! I wish I could be your family because I know you really want one.”
“Hahahaha. Robot, you’re so sweet! But it’s good enough to have a friend who will miss me! You have already made my wish come true!”
I gave Robot one last hug and we started going our separate ways. I usually hated saying goodbye because I knew I would never see or hear from any of them again. But this time was different somehow. I didn’t know where or when but I truly believed that we would meet again.
“Congratulations, Key Holder, you have passed all the tests.” D said with pride.
“But… but I haven’t told you my answer yet!” I said, with confusion in my eyes.
“Do you believe your answer is correct?”
“I… I think so.”
“Then you got it.”
“You don’t need to know?”
“It’s a test that can have multiple answers.”
“What do you mean? There are different answers for this test?”
“Every question can have different correct answers. It depends on how you think about it and how you work with it. Sometimes, a wrong answer could be right and a right answer could be wrong. And other times, just as long as you believe an answer is correct, then it’s correct no matter what.”
“But that shapeless thing… I don’t think there can be any other correct answers, right?”
“Well, the shapeless thing you found might not exist outside your world.”
“Really? That’s kind of sad. It’s something we all live for!”
“They might have something else that’s just as amazing and shapeless too.”
“Wow, I wonder what that could be?”
“Well? I think it’s time for you to go now. Do you still have that Magic Cube with you?”
“Here you go.” I placed it in D’s hand. The cube transformed into a twig and he then placed it back in my hand.
“Please give it to the first person you see when you get out.”
“The first person? I think it will be…”
“Just give it to the person.” He stopped me from finishing my sentence.
“Goodbye D, I’ll see you again, right?” I turned back, waving my hand.
“I’ll be around even when you can’t see me.”
I smiled.
“Blue Pearl!”
I ran over and gave her a hug. She was already there waiting from me at the entrance, smoking her pipe as usual. How did she know I would be back today!?
“You have grown taller, Beanie.” She gently patted my head.
Wow, yes, I was almost as same height as Blue Pearl. Last time we talked I still had to look up at her, but not anymore. Oh and my hair also grown so much longer. But hey, if I grown bigger how come my clothes and shoes still fit? Very strange.
“It has been three years out here, Beanie.”
“I know! But it only feels like… three days to me! I don’t feel any different!”
“Hahaha. You don’t want to know how old I am. But let me tell you, every day when I wake up I feel like a newborn. Human beings place such importance on appearance and age. It does nothing but make people feel sad that they no longer look a certain way or are as young as they would like to be. You’re as old as you feel, as long as you can maintain that youthful attitude then you can stay young forever. Our souls never age.”
I nodded.
“So dear, tell me, how was your trip?”
“I passed all the tests!” I smiled proudly. “And I also made a friend!”
“That’s wonderful.”
“And I had a Teacher… oh wait, I almost forgot…”
I opened my fist but the twig D gave me was gone. My jaw dropped.
“Oh No! Where is it!?” I began looking around frantically.
“What are you looking for, Beanie?”
“My teacher gave me this twig. He wanted me to give it to you!” I started to panic, fearing that I lost it.
“Your Teacher?... Oh!? Don’t worry, Beanie. Stop looking for it.”
“NO! It must be something very important!”
“It’s something I can’t have here, that’s why I can’t see it.” Blue Pearl said softly.
“What do you mean?” I stared at her. “But I saw it! It
was a twig!”
“It carried the thing your Teacher wanted you to show me. But it’s invisible.”
“So you know what it is? Is it an invisible message or something?” I frowned.
“Yes, maybe…” Blue Pearl stared off in the distance.
I was very excited to see Caterpillar. When I opened the door, he was sitting in the corner packing. He quickly turned around and stood up. He had grown much taller, put on more weight and looked stronger now. We just stared at each other in silence for a moment. Surprisingly, it was awkward and definitely not what I expected.
“So, how’s your nose, Caterpillar?” I said, breaking the silence.
“My nose?” He touched his nose, looking confused.
“When I last saw you, you got a bloody nose from slipping in the bathtub.”
“Oh that,” He laughed, clearly still a little embarrassed even after all this time. “Last time after I said goodnight, you disappeared for three years.”
I chuckled.
“I’m sorry Caterpillar.” I went over and hugged him.
“Well, at least now I finally know where my sister disappeared to for three years.”
After talking a bit longer, we sat down and had a great lunch together. It was nice to have some hot food other than those stale biscuits. I was feeling very relaxed and content until Blue Pearl told us to get ready to head back to Laketuh Lake.
“Can I stay one more night? I just came back! Can’t I spend more time with you, Blue Pearl?” I begged.
“I wish you could, but you don’t have much time.”
I sighed.
“But I don’t even know what I suppose do when I back to the Laketuh Lake. Like how to open that gate? And what to do if those monsters come back?”
“Beanie, did you know what was going to happen before you came here?”
I shook my head.
“But you already figured them out, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
“If you have any questions just ask the universe.” Blue Pearl pointed to the sky.
“But the universe is out there!” I looked up. “How can I communicate with it?”
“It’s also inside of you.” Blue Pearl pointed to my heart. “The universe is a great listener and teacher. You just have to listen to it carefully.”
It sounded ridiculous to me.
“Also, I have been promised that there won’t be bad weather until you two reach Laketuh Lake. So don’t fool around on the way back, remember time is limited.”
That also sounded ridiculous to me.
“And Beanie, if you meet your Teacher again, please return the twig to him for me. “
“How!? I don’t even have it anymore!” I exclaimed.
“Just show him your hand, hahahahaha.” Blue Pearl laughed, while I scratched my head.
“GOODBYE, BLUE PEARL!”
Caterpillar and I kept turning back and waving. Blue Pearl smiled and waved back. She was standing outside of her stone house surrounded by snow capped mountains, green grass and colorful flowers. Her pipe was in her hand as she gracefully exhaled smoke into the warm air. Blue Pearl looked like she truly belonged in this beautiful scenery. She was old and frail, but I swore for one moment I saw a young and vibrant girl dancing in the fields with her long hair waving in the wind.
The weather was fantastic just as Blue Pearl said it would be, but we didn’t waste any time playing around like last time. The pieces of bread and juice she prepared for us gave us the energy to push forward. We stopped at Mr. Jen’s house but no one was there. A note with three cups of tea was left on the table. The note read,
Kids,
Welcome back! I’m sure you had a great journey to TUH Valley, I wish could hear all about it. Unfortunately, I had to leave, because it was time.
Let’s cheers.
P.S. Thanks for passing my message to Blue Pearl. I got the greeting back from her, I’m very happy.
Mr. Jen
Caterpillar and I drank the tea quietly. When we placed the empty cups back on the table the third cup, which no one had touched was empty as well.
“Goodbye, Mr. Jen. We couldn’t have made this trip without you. It has been a great journey so far.”
We walked for days and days until we finally reached Laketuh Lake. The sun was setting when we arrived. It was a beautiful sunset, a sunset that reminded me when I first saw this lake. A sunset where Caterpillar and I watched Popcorn disappeared with those two monsters.
“Let’s come back tomorrow morning. Blue Pearl said we can only go in before sunset.” Caterpillar looked at me and said.
“Okay. Should we go back to Laketuh House?”
“Umm… Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Where else can we go?”
“Come with me.”
I followed Caterpillar back into the forest and after navigating through the winding paths in near darkness we arrived at a towering tree. This tree had three enormous trunks that grew in different directions. A quaint tree house was built in between the three tree trunks and nailed securely to them. The place was covered with dusts and leaves. You could tell that no one had been there in a while. On the front windowsill there was a red plant pot with two small sunflowers blossoming from it. Caterpillar climbed in first and then helped me up.
“Where is it??”
As soon as we entered the tree house Caterpillar began searching around in the dark for something.
“I remember she usually put… Oh, found it!”
The once dark tree house was instantaneously illuminated with warm candlelight. Caterpillar held a candlestick in one hand and an extinguished match in another, the smoke gradually vanished while the smell of burning sulfur lingered in the air.
“How did you know about this place?” I looked around and asked.
“This is our secret home. Popcorn, Achilles and me. When we were packing for the orphanage they didn’t let us bring too much stuff. But Popcorn still hid a lot of things in her bag, nothing valuable but they were special to us.”
He moved the candlestick slowly to illuminate every inch of the room.
“This...” Caterpillar moved towards the wall. “is my mom’s.”
He pointed to a palm size mirror that hung on the wall. The silver flower pattern frame glittered elegantly from the candlelight.
“Mommy used to carry it wherever she went. She always said she would give it to Popcorn once she gets married.”
“And this...” Caterpillar moved to his right. “Is daddy’s. He said it was from his great grandpa.” The light illuminated a chain necklace with an old fashion police whistle at the end of it.
I walked around the tree house with Caterpillar. He eagerly explained to me the stories behind all the memorable objects in this room, most of which were covered in dust and cobwebs.
“Oh, and you see the sunflower by the window… Popcorn insisted on bringing it from our old house, because mommy loved sunflower. She used to plant a lot of them in our backyard. She said she wanted to be sunflower in her next life. Popcorn dug out a small one from the garden on the day we left, planted in that red pot and carried it everywhere we went. She took good care of it too. All this time and it’s still alive”
“I saw two blossoms.” I said.
“Isn’t that amazing? I was so surprised to see it was still alive and with two blossoms? I believe they’re mommy and Popcorn. They’re happy and together now.”
I just nodded.
“I always wondered who built this tree house.” Caterpillar quickly changed the subject.
“Popcorn found it while exploring the forest the first week here at the Laktuh House. She made Achilles and I swore not to tell anyone else. She then put all the stuff that she had been carrying with her here, and made this place into our own little home.” Caterpillar smiled. “We came here all the time. Popcorn would tidy up the place first before playing some games with me. Achilles loved to nap on the roof, and sometimes I would hear him hummi
ng, just like daddy used to do?”
We sat down together on the floor with the candlestick between us. The warm yellow light shimmered on Caterpillar’s cheek as he gazed out the window.
“Before, whenever I came here, I missed the time when we still had a home with mommy and daddy. Now, I’m here again, but this time I miss not having Popcorn and Achilles with me.” His voice grew small.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Caterpillar. But I must say I kind of envy you, because I don’t even know what it feels like it to have a family. I never had one… And I really wished I could at least have some good memories like you did. Maybe they’re not with you right now, but you can still feel them whenever you think about them, right? I remembered Blue Pearl once told me, everything we see is impermanent and everything we feel is permanent. I didn’t really get it then but I guess I do now…”
We both sighed and remained quiet for a while.
“She’s always saying something confusing, right? But the more you think about it the more sense it makes!” Caterpillar suddenly said. I nodded back.
“She’s a crazy old lady. I remembered the day you disappeared. I was crying and very upset. Blue Pearl told me you would be back in three days. So I waited and waited. On the third day when you didn’t come back, I was very angry so I yelled at her, asking where you were. She just looked at me and said, ‘Hey, kid! I said three days and it hasn’t even been a day yet! Learn some math, okay?’ ”
All I could do was laugh.
“And do you know she loves hanging upside down on a tree?” Caterpillar laughed while shaking his head.
“Isn’t that kind of dangerous for an old lady?” I exclaimed.
“Right? Every single time when I catch her doing that I would tell her to get down, but she would always say that the world looked better this way. And this one time, she actually fell from the tree. When I ran over to see if she was okay, she just casually said that she must have fallen asleep! Can you believe that?”
I gasped with my hands over my mouth
“So I helped her onto the bed. I remembered sitting next to her, angry but in tears. So she hit me with her walking stick and said she was not dead yet. And then she suddenly yelled ‘Hey kid! It’s the day you have been waiting for!’ So I was very excited, thinking that you were coming back, but guess what she said? ‘The first day is over!!’”