Never Ending Love - Pt.2

The next morning, Lao Lo said he had to go to the village to do some errands.  We didn't feel like following him, so we went for a walk in the forest instead.

It was a beautiful morning.  The air was light and crisp, the birds were chirping away in the trees.  We even saw some fish jumping in the river.  Ning was absorbed in his own thoughts, so was I.  It was sometime before we realised that we had walked deep into the forest, a part unknown to us.

"Looks like we're lost, Ning," I said, looking around.

"Oh, I don't think so.  We'll just turn around and go back the way we came." said Ning, confidently.

We turned back and to our surprise,  came upon the ruins of an old house.  It looked like an old mansion that was once owned by some rich people.  There was a flight of stairs going up the side and leading to the house.

"We didn't pass this way just now," I observed.  Ning was quite baffled too.

We stood looking at the house, then without warning, the sky suddenly darkened and everything became still.  There was not a breath of wind nor a chirp in the trees.

"I don't like this," I said to Ning.  "Let's go...."  All of a sudden, there was a strong gust of wind and we saw to our amazement the figure of a girl standing or rather floating on the steps.  She was very pretty and was dressed in an elaborate costume.  I could feel the hair on my back stand on end.

Ning stared at her, spellbound, then whispered, "D-Da, don't you recognise her?  She's ... she's the girl in Lao Lo's photo ..." his voice trailed away.  I looked again, yes, he was right.  Our first instinct was to run as fast as we could but we just couldn't move.  Our legs stuck fast to the ground as though someone had glued them there.  It was then that she spoke ...

"Don't be afraid.  I shall not harm you.  I think you know who I am.  I just want you to carry a message from me to my beloved Ah Kum."

Ning and I looked at each other, unable to speak.  She continued, "I have waited a long, long time for this moment.  You see, where I now live, I can only come down to earth once in twenty earth years and this is the day."

She paused and sighed.  "This is the house I used to live in," she said, wistfully looking around.  "I had such happy memories here when my beloved came to visit me.  Please, will you help me?  Just tell my beloved that I still love him and my love for him will never end.  That's all I ask from you...."

Ning was first to recover.  "But .. but why don't you appear to him and tell him yourself?"  Just like Ning, always practical minded.

"If I appear to him, the shock will be too great.  He's old now and he may become very ill.  Please, will you convey my message of love to him?" she pleaded. 

"Yes, we will," said Ning, looking less afraid now.  The girl smiled gratefully, then slipped a ring from her finger and tossed it to us.

"Take this ring, my beloved gave it to me, it will be proof of my identity.  Now I must go.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart ...."  With that, she slowly vanished.

For a while, both Ning and I sat there, transfixed.  As what had happened dawned on us, we turned on our heels and fled!  She may not have harmed us but still, a ghost is a ghost! We didn't stop running until we reached Lao Lo's hut.  Lao Lo came out and looked at us in astonishment.

"What happened to you two?" he said.  "You both look like you've seen a ghost!"

"We did!"

Lao Lo laughed.  "You must be joking!  Ghosts don't appear in the day time!"

We didn't know how to tell him, then the girl's ring fell from Ning's grasp.  Lao Lo picked it up and we saw the blood drain from his face.

"Where ... where did you get this?"  he whispered.

We told him what had happened.  Lao Lo sat down and tears trickled down his cheeks.  "She still loves me," he whispered again and again.

We had a quiet dinner that night.  Ning and I went to bed early but Lao Lo sat on the porch for some time, gazing up at the sky.

The next morning, we found that Lao Lo was still sleeping on the porch. We gently woke him up and were relieved that he was his usual self again. Ning drew me aside and said, "Look, I'm worried he will go to the haunted house in search of his old love.  How are we going to stop him?  He may hurt himself."

As though he had read our thoughts, Lao Lo said, "I know you're both worried about me going to the old house. Well, you needn't be, the house was pulled down years ago, what you saw was something supernatural - an apparition.  Now, shall we go fishing?"

 We went fishing and it was the best catch Lao Lo had ever made in the last few days.
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"It's the girl in Lao Lo's photo!"