We're in the middle of the Hungry Ghost Month and our temple has been rather busy with devotees coming to pray to their departed loved ones in the columbarium - I call it "The Palace of Angels" or "The Palace" in short. It houses about 100 niches for the ashes of devotees who had departed from this world and it is the most eerie place during this month. I try to avoid it as much as I can but it isn't always possible especially when we are requested to chant prayers there.
One morning, after finishing prayers in The Palace, I was about to leave when I heard a "Pssst" behind me. Thinking it was one of the nuns, I turned round to look and to my dismay, I saw that it was Humpty Dumpty (HD) and Pumpkin Head (PH). Oh no, I thought to myself, what do those two spooks want now? I thought they were happily settled in their niche and enjoying the many food offerings people brought.
In hushed tones, they asked whether they could talk to me, so out of curiosity, I said okay. Fortunately no one can see them except myself and Head Nun, and just as well, otherwise the whole temple would be upside down.
"Aren't you happy where you are?" I asked them.
"Oh, yes, yes, we're happy," replied HD. "But there's something we think you and your Head Nun should know."
"And what's that?" I asked.
"Well," said HD. "Since we moved in, we have made friends with all the good old souls here and we talk every night. Each one would tell the story of how they died. But there's one poor old soul who cries every night and keeps the rest of us awake. We asked her what was making her so miserable and she said she hadn't seen her daughter for years since she passed away. Do you think you can help her find her daughter?"
I was flabbergasted. "Look, this is a temple, not some missing persons' agency," I said. "I'm a cat monk, not a detective, you know."
"Please, you've got to do something, they say you're a good and kindhearted soul, I'm sure you don't want to see the old lady suffer," said HD, looking pleadingly at me, battered head cocked to one side.
"It breaks my heart to hear her cry every night." said PH, brushing a tear from his pumpkin cheek.
They had me cornered and I just couldn't refuse them.
"Alright, alright," I said wearily. "I will speak to Head Nun but no promises!"
The two spooks were delighted and happily floated back to their niche. After they had gone, I regretted having told them I would help, they meant well but surely it's none of their business? All this while, the old souls in The Palace had never given us any trouble. They had all died at a grand old age and were content to rest in peace. Were HD and PH playing a joke on me?
This is also the time of year when Head Nun is very busy and I certainly don't want to trouble her.
After thinking about it, I decided to tell Ah Ying. I know she has a lot of contacts and maybe she can help. She went to the old lady's niche and noted down her name, then she said she would come back to me as soon as she had some info.
Ah Ying came to the temple some two weeks later. She had managed to trace one of the old lady's relatives who told her that the daughter had gone overseas to work. It wasn't that she had forgotten about her mother, she didn't have the money to buy a plane ticket back home.
Sometimes I think Ah Ying should open her own private detective agency as she's so efficient in investigating. She has often said she wants to help people and she actually found a kind and generous devotee who offered to pay for the daughter's plane fare and the girl was able to fly home to "see" her mother!
So once again, my story has a happy ending. The girl came to the temple to pay respects to her mother and both mother and daughter were happily reunited.
So HD and PH were not pulling my leg and congratulated me on a job well done, though I told them that Ah Ying should be the one to receive their praise.
"I hope you guys will mind your own business from now on," I said. "We have nearly 100 souls in The Palace and we can't possibly solve all their problems."
The two spooks looked at each other and said solemnly, "We promise."
"So I guess the old lady is no longer crying?" I asked HD.
"Well, no," answered HD. "But now she's so happy, she laughs and sings every night and none of us can get any sleep!"
Well, that's life at The Palace.
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