Yay, it's the mid-autumn festival once again! Despite the lockdown, the humans have not forgotten this festival and devotees have been very kind in presenting the temple with boxes of mooncake, much to our delight. On the night of the festival, we sat down in the kitchen after prayers for a feast. I don't eat much but joined in for the fun and "togetherness" as the nuns tried the various types of mooncake and enjoyed themselves.
"Isn't she beautiful?" sighed APK. "You know, Vege Cat, since I was 10 years old, I've been dreaming of seeing her in the moon. I would sit up the whole night looking at the moon and trying to catch a glimpse of her. Call me silly but up to now, I still have this dream."
What she said made me suddenly think of some six or seven years ago when I was whisked to the moon; it's like a dream now and sometimes I think it was a figment of my imagination. I thought it wiser not to mention it.
"Vege Cat," whispered APK, interrupting my thoughts. "Do you think Head Nun will allow me to sit in the garden for a while before going to bed? I want so much to look at the moon."
"Why don't you ask her, APK?" I said. She did ask and at first, Head Nun was reluctant to grant her request but seeing APK's eagerness, she relented and said she could have only half an hour in the garden, no more. "Vege Cat, you go with her and make sure she doesn't overstay."
So there we were sitting on a bench in Head Nun's garden, looking up at the moon. At first some clouds obscured it from our view but later, it emerged and shone brightly, scattering her silver rays all around us. APK didn't say much but looked so happy and contented as she gazed up at the moon.
"We had better go in now, APK," I said, when the half hour was up. "We don't want to be on the wrong side of Head Nun."
APK sighed and reluctantly got up, then suddenly, out of nowhere, something dropped on her head and fell to the ground. Even in the failing light, we could see it gleaming on the grass.
APK picked it up and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, it looks like someone's hairpin!"
"How strange," I said, looking around. "There's no one here except us. Where could it have come from?"
APK was studying the hairpin closely. "Vege Cat, it's made of solid gold and has a phoenix with green jade eyes. I'm sure I've seen it somewhere before....."
We decided to take it into the kitchen for a closer look. We found the kitchen empty and it looked like all the nuns had retired to bed early.
"Look, they've left us some mooncakes," said APK pointing to the box on the table. She went over to get it, then gasped, "OMG, Vege Cat, come and look!"
"Don't you see, Vege Cat," cried APK excitedly holding up the box. "The hairpin ... it's the same as the one Chang-e is wearing in the picture .... I knew I had seen it somewhere before ....!"
I looked at the hairpin in her hand and the one on the box and they were indeed identical.
"But ... but where did this hairpin come from?" I gasped.
"From ... from the moon?" she whispered, her hands trembling.
For the next few minutes, both of us sat at the table, stunned.
"APK," I said at last. "Are you saying that Chang-e dropped her hairpin from the moon as a gift for you?"
APK looked at me, her eyes round as saucers. "I would like to think so," she whispered.
We both decided that it would be better if we didn't tell anyone of what had happened, nobody would believe us anyway, least of all Head Nun, so APK kept the hairpin in a secret hiding place, which she also kept a secret from me.
A week later, it mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again.
Had Chang-e in a moment of compassion given APK her hairpin to fulfil the longing and dreams of a young nun? I guess we shall never know.
HAPPY MID AUTUMN FESTIVAL EVERYONE!
No comments:
Post a Comment