Ning and I decided we needed
a break after our latest encounter with Lady Arabella II, so we approached Head
Nun and told her we would like to take some rest in the nearby botanical
gardens.
“We don’t want to endanger
you or the other nuns, Head Nun,” I said.
“Who knows, some next of kin of The Black Rose might suddenly show up
again!”
Head Nun replied, “We shall
be ready, not to worry. However, if you
feel you need to get away for a while, you may go with my blessings.”
So I packed my meager
possessions (namely my golden star and blue blanket) and set off with Ning to
the botanical gardens. We explored the
gardens for a suitable nook which we could use as our temporary abode and came
across some rocks which not only provided shade from the sun but also shelter
from the rain. There was a bubbling
brook nearby and lots of pretty flowers and shady trees.
 |
| "Aah, this is the life!" |
“Aah, this is the life,” said
Ning as he threw himself down on the grass.
We both love the great outdoors and we spent the next few days in these
idyllic surroundings, rolling in the grass, sniffing the flowers and chasing
the butterflies. There were a number of
monkeys around but they were not too friendly and didn’t come close to us. Just as well as we didn’t want company. Head Nun had packed for us a bagful of cat
food which would last us at least two weeks and we were very happy with it
One night as we lay under the
stars, we suddenly saw a bright star coming towards us.
“It must be Lao Tze,” I cried
excitedly. It was indeed Lao Tze and he
came zooming in to where we lay.
“Lao Tze! How wonderful to see you! What brings you here? Ning asked.
He smiled and said, “I am a
bearer of good news, my friends. I am
happy to inform you that Lady Arabella II will not trouble you any more. Remember that day when the bear hurled her
over the tree tops? Well, she landed in
a remote island in the middle of the ocean.
There happens to be a Buddhist monastery there and the monks took her in
and gave her food and shelter. Now she
is learning meditation and Buddhist prayers and listens to dharma talks. You won’t believe the change in her!”
“Wow! That’s really hard to believe, Lao Tze,” I
said.
“I’ve been to the island two
or three times to check on her. Of
course she can’t see me! I myself am surprised at her interest and sincerity
to learn about Buddhism. Well, I have to
go now, take care, my friends! Remember,
Da, if you need any help, just call me even though you may not have your star
with you.”
Lao Tze then vanished into
the night on his star.
“What a relief! Now we can sleep soundly every night, Da,”
said Ning.
Somehow I didn’t feel as
confident as Ning – I could still feel some uneasiness in my bones – but I
didn’t want to spoil or holiday, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
On our last night at the gardens, we went to sleep early. It was an unusually quiet night – no crickets or night owls – just the soft babbling of the brook. We were about to fall asleep when we became aware of a bright light– it seemed to come from the sky, so we peeped out from the rocks and saw to our surprise, a bright light slowly cruising across the sky.
Ning immediately jumped up
and yelled, “It’s a UFO!”
“A what?”
“UFO – Unidentified Flying
Object!” he cried, jumping up and down excitedly.
I told him we had better keep
out of sight just in case we had unfriendly visitors. We watched as the light
slowly flew past us and disappeared into the night.
“It’s gone,” said Ning. “Wait till I tell the others what we have
just seen!”
It was then that I felt again
that uneasy feeling gnawing at my bones.
 |
| UFO sighting |
“Ning, I’ve been having this uneasy feeling for days and I felt it again when I saw that UFO,” I said, “I may be wrong, but I smell something dangerous.”
I didn’t want to argue any
further with him, so we both went back to sleep. I had a terrible nightmare that night about UFO's and aliens coming to destroy us.
Had we really seen the last of The Black Rose and her clan? A question I wish I knew I had the answer to.
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