"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "I could come along and help you but you must first train yourself to be a first class archer. You cannot afford to miss your target."
I nodded, hardly able to speak.
"Let us not waste any more time, my friends,
Follow me and to my planet I shall guide you then."
said Blue Wings. She assured us that her planet was very much like Earth and there was no cause for worry.
I got onto Lao Tze's starship and off we zoomed, following closely behind Blue Wings. After a long and uneventful journey, we finally landed at the Planet of the White Winged Cats. Blue Wings explained that the monster usually made its appearance at sunset when it was hungry at a place called Sunset Valley, a barren piece of desert land surrounded by hills. We immediately went to see the Valley so that we could plan our strategy. Lao Tze decided that since the monster was of a gigantic size, it would be better to station ourselves on top of one of the hills and shoot from there.
So after some rest, Blue Wings introduced us to her fellow cats. One of them by the name of Blue Arrow was an expert archer and without wasting any time, I began my first lesson. The bow was very heavy and I struggled hard to hold it up. Stringing the arrow was even more difficult! After a while, my arms ached, big beads of sweat drenched my head and body and I was ready to give up. Blue Arrow laughed and said that after a few more lessons, I would be as good as he! He spent the next few days teaching me and after a while, I began to feel more confident. Fortunately there was no sign of the monster since our arrival, so I thanked the Lord Buddha whom I felt had very kindly given me time to master the art of archery.
It was then that Blue Wings delivered the "bad" news. She said they had only enough gold to make four golden arrows, which meant I had only one chance to make a slip! If I failed to aim the remaining three accurately, the monster would continue to terrorise them and probably kill them all. It was the most distressing news I had heard and I broke out in a cold sweat.
"Don't worry, Da," said Lao Tze assuringly. "I will help you. I shall stand on your back while you shoot and guide you." I nodded dumbly.
After further training, Blue Arrow felt that I was ready. Lao Tze and I went up on the hill the following sunset and waited for the monster to appear. It was a long wait and I began to doubt whether it would appear, maybe it had been tipped off by someone ....then all of a sudden, we heard a terrific roar and there it was! I gasped in awe as it came into sight. It must have been as high as a 40-storey skyscraper! It had a dirty black body with a long spiky tail, red claws and a pair of red wings on its back.
"Get ready," yelled Lao Tze. With trembling hands and a pounding heart, I raised my bow and arrow. "OK, steady now, wait till it comes a little closer...ok, NOW shoot!" The first golden arrow went flying into the air and flew past the monster's ear!
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Nevermind, get ready to shoot again ..." said Lao Tze.
Meantime the monster had seen us and started advancing towards us.
"OK, shoot!" yelled Lao Tze. The second golden arrow left the bow with a loud twang and to my joy and relief, it landed straight in the monster's heart. It gave a loud roar but that didn't stop him. He kept coming at us.
"Shoot!"shouted Lao Tze. Twang and the third arrow flew straight to the monster's heart, right next to the first one. "Well done!" cried Lao Tze.
Now the monster was really mad. Rearing its head and stamping its feet, it roared louder than before. It must have been in pain because it stumbled but still kept coming at us.
"Alright, the last arrow now," said Lao Tze.
Hands still trembling, I took a deep breath, aimed and bingo! The monster let out another fearsome roar, tottered and fell with a loud thump on the ground. It writhed for a while in pain, then it was still. Then, before our horrified eyes, it started disintegrating and soon only a huge pile of black dust was left on the ground.
"You did it!" cried Lao Tze, hugging me. I was too stunned to say anything. Meantime, Blue Wings and her friends came out from hiding, carried us down the hill and congratulated us. There was much joy, much tears of relief and gratitude.
"How can we ever thank you, my friends,
Without you this planet would have come to an end.
So please rejoice and stay with us
For you must now surely need some rest."
said Blue Wings.
"I only want to go home," I whispered wearily to Lao Tze. He nodded understandingly and explained to Blue Wings that we had to go back. The white cats were disappointed of course but did not detain us. I was delighted when Blue Wings presented me with a new set of bow and arrows as a parting gift.
Soon we were on our way. I settled down in Lao Tze's starship and fell asleep as we flew through the heavens. When I awoke, feeling more refreshed, I said to Lao Tze in a burst of pride, "You know, Lao Tze, I shot rather well, don't you think? Archery must be my hidden talent!"
Lao Tze smiled but said nothing. I looked at him and said, "Lao Tze, you're hiding something from me. What is it?"
"Oh? What makes you think so?." he replied.
"Please!" I persisted.
"Well, alright. If you must know, the last three shots you fired missed the monster completely."
"What? But .. but.. you and I saw the arrows go straight to his heart." I cried, mystified.
"Yes, I ..er ...shall I say, re-routed them for you," said Lao Tze.
"You mean ... you mean ...oh..." As the truth dawned, my ego was immediately shattered and I was overcome by sudden depression. I wasn't such a great archer after all.
"Don't worry too much about it," said Lao Tze, laughing. "The white cats don't know and in their eyes, you're still very much a hero!"
"But it's not right - I'm a hero under false pretences!" I protested. "Let's go back and tell them the truth."
Lao Tze shook his head. "Let's just let things be, my friend. You did your best, the monster is destroyed and that's what counts."
I remained silent, still feeling crestfallen. I saw the shining new bow and arrows that Blue Wings had given me.
I slowly picked them up and threw them out of Lao Tze's spaceship.
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