We were of course very excited to hear his news and were delighted when he gave Ning and I presents from China. Ning received a warm blanket for rainy days while my present was an enchanting little jade statue of the Buddha.
After dinner one evening, we sat outside the hut while Lao Lo told us stories of his sojourn in China. He had met up with old relatives and friends in his hometown and they had taken him out for meals and shopping. He had also toured the country extensively and showed us the pictures he had taken at the Great Wall of China and other places.
One evening as we sat and talked, we noticed that Lao Lo had suddenly become quiet and he in fact looked a trifle worried. "Is anything the matter?" Ning asked. He looked up with a start, then shook his head and said, "Nothing. Just thinking ..." Somehow I felt he was hiding something but Ning didn't press him any further and so we left it at that.
After a few days' rest to get over his jet lag, Lao Lo was back at the river fishing. He had bought himself a dandy new hat to shade himself from the sun and as usual, he and Ning made a good catch. That evening, we sat round a small fire while Lao Lo grilled the fish. It was a quiet night with a gentle breeze blowing. Somewhere far away an owl hooted. Then suddenly we saw a reddish glow in the sky.
"Wonder what that could be ...." murmured Ning. The glow was coming closer and closer to us and we saw to our amazement that it was a huge golden bird! It had shimmering gold and orange wings, a golden beak and a long tail that swished from side to side. It zoomed down from the sky and hovered above the roof of Lao Lo's hut.
"What on earth is that?" exclaimed Ning. "I've never seen such a creature before!"
I saw Lao Lo stiffen, then he said quietly, "It has come for me."
"What?" we gasped.
"That, my friends, is the Phoenix of Doom," said Lao Lo, as he looked at the bird. "When I was in China, I had a dream that it would come for me soon and it has. I"m afraid my time is up, my friends."
Ning and I stood transfixed, our brains numb from shock on hearing what he had just said. Only then did we realise why Lao Lo had looked rather disturbed a few nights ago. Lao Lo continued with a calmness that I had never seen before.
"I shall have to bid you two goodbye, my dearest friends. I have lived a good seventy and five years on this planet and it's time for me to take my leave. Ning, as I mentioned before, this hut and all my possessions shall belong to you when I'm gone. I shall miss you both dearly but please don't feel sad, it has to happen. Goodbye, my dears!" he said as he hugged us one final time. Then he walked slowly towards the waiting Phoenix. He climbed up onto its back and it flew off into the night, even before we could move or say anything.
"I can't believe it," gasped Ning, when we at last recovered from the shock. "This must be a bad dream ..."
But it wasn't a dream. Lao Lo had gone and he was never coming back.
It had been a week since Lao Lo disappeared. The shock of his sudden departure still remained with us and it was hard to accept what had happened. The Phoenix of Doom had taken Lao Lo and there was nothing we could do about it. Ning was so stricken by grief that he would not eat or sleep. He sat by the river all day long where Lao Lo used to fish and wept. I tried my best to console him but he wouldn't listen to me. "Just leave me alone," he sobbed tearfully.
Fortunately no one came by the river or else we would have had a hard time trying to explain Lao Lo's disappearance. Who would believe us? I had never felt so miserable - I hated to see my best friend in such a sorrowful state but I could do nothing to help him. He refused to be helped.
I hadn't been sleeping well myself and one night, I decided to join Ning who was lying on the porch staring at the night sky. "You should try and get some sleep, Ning," I said softly. He ignored me. I sighed and was about to go back inside the hut when I saw Ning suddenly sit up.
"Look!" he cried, pointing to the sky. I looked and saw again that reddish glow that had appeared in the sky when Lao Lo was taken away. We watched in terror as it descended slowly. Of course our first thought was that the phoenix had come for one of us or maybe the both of us but we were so terrified we just stood there, frozen. Then we saw the bird land and to our astonishment, we saw Lao Lo jump off its back and run towards us!
"Lao Lo, Lao Lo," yelled Ning, running towards him. They fell into each other's arms, tears running down their faces. Then the phoenix, which had been watching this tearful reunion, spoke.
"We have been observing what went on since we took Lao Lo. We are deeply touched by the sincere love and loyalty the one called Ning has for him, so we have decided to give him a new lease of life, but bear in mind that it cannot be forever. Nothing is permanent and he will have to return to us one day." With that, it quietly flew off.
We were stunned but overjoyed to have Lao Lo back. After he had collected himself, Lao Lo told us a most fantastic tale. He said the phoenix had brought him to a wonderful land, beautiful beyond his wildest dreams. It was inhabited by people same as him but they radiated a youthfulness and vitality which he had never seen before. It certainly looked like he was in some heavenly realm and everything was extremely beautiful and peaceful except for continuous rain since his arrival. One day, the phoenix appeared and told him that it was taking him back to earth. Puzzled, Lao Lo asked why and it replied,"See this rain? It's the tears shed by Ning since you left him. Because of his inconsolable sorrow, we have decided to return you to earth."
It was an incredible story. How Ning's tears could have reached Heaven (presumably it was Heaven), I can't imagine but then, anything is possible in this strange, ephemeral world that we live in.
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