by Shinn A. H.
“How can I be breathing wr —”
“Shhh,” he commanded. “Close your eyes.”
Kellie shut her eyes firmly, feeling insecure.
“Slowly fill your lungs entirely with air through your nose,” Zurich instructed — she took a deep breath — “then breath out slowly through your mouth” — she expelled the air from her lungs — “and continue until I tell you to cease.”
She could hear his steps moving around her as she breathed deeply in and out, hoping she was doing it right. His voice softened as he said, “Imagine your lungs filling with air as it expands, and then deflating as all the air is released. Concentrate.”
Kellie wondered why she was doing these breathing exercises. She also wondered what he was going to tell her to do next.
“Concentrate,” Zurich said again, as if he knew her mind was roaming. “Just think about your breathing. Nothing else.”
After a few minutes, Kellie thought solely on her breathing, and when he had her open her eyes, she noticed her posture changed: her back was straight, shoulders were back, and eyes were level.
“Good,” said Zurich, appearing satisfied. “Very good. Taking control of your mind and body takes years, but this is a start. Now, air is a very powerful element. Air supports my large body as I fly through the skies; strong winds can destroy a whole town. Air is invisible, but its force is not. I want you to breathe in the air with your nose and let it out with your mouth with a battle cry. Begin when you are ready.”
Kellie filled her chest with air through her nose as she brought up her hands. Then she made a striking motion with a shout, exhaling through her mouth.
“No, no, no,” said Zurich. “Focus. The air you breath manifests into the physical representation of your chi that should explode out of you! Try again.”
Kellie’s heart rate was speeding up and she felt nervous. I can do this, she tried to convince herself. She closed her eyes. Standing in the middle of the tranquil pasture, she relaxed her body and breathed in and out a few times. She felt her lungs inflate as she took a big breath, forcing her chest to expand out to its maximum capacity. Then as she let out the air, she roared, “EEYAH,” with all her might and chopped in the direction of trees a football field away. When she opened her eyes, she could have sworn she saw a cluster of branches sway.
Zurich flapped his wings in elation. He trained her for hours more and transfigured her artistic form into a force of nature. As she moved, loose objects surrounding her flung in the air.
Having dozed off, Mulin awoke suddenly to a rock smacking her in the face Kellie had whirled with her chi. The tiger opened her eyes and stood up, the size of her orbitals doubling in disbelief. Like an orchestra conductor, Kellie directed a symphony of flowers, rocks, sticks, and any other small movable particle in the field. Mulin watched as Kellie learned to control her Air Chi.
Zurich glided over to where Mulin was observing. “She has such grace and power,” he said, “…and is a fast learner. What a wonder she will be once she learns from each one of us.” With a null response from Mulin, he asked, “Cat got your tongue?”
“Funny,” Mulin said sarcastically, but then admitted, “I am speechless.”
“That’s a first,” said Zurich, as he grinned. “We will let her rest and then it’ll be your turn.”
Words could not express how Kellie felt. Kung fu had a brand new meaning she was just barely beginning to define. The mystical animals unlocked a secret of kung fu she strongly desired to know more of. Her heart ignited with a passion she never knew to exist; she was floating on air.
After a brief moment of rehydration and nibbling on a purple banana, Mulin instructed Kellie back onto the field.
“How do you feel?” asked Mulin.
“Excited, but very tired.”
“Good, because when you are fighting for others or for your own life, you will be extremely tired.” She walked up to Kellie, her nose almost touching hers, and said, “You must be able to keep your energy going and be able to muster up even more when required.”
“How do you do that?”
“It comes from within…from your heart and soul. Now, what was the most painful thing you have experienced?”
Kellie knew right away what that was. Her sentiment must have been obvious: the brawny tiger tenderly said, “Tell me.” Her usual arrogant attitude disappeared and she openly exposed her gentle nature. “Please, Bao Yu, share it with me.”
Zurich closely observed the lesson and listened fixedly.
Swallowing the mass that formed in her throat, she began to tell Mulin her inner most sadness with difficulty. “Well, I don’t know who my parents are and um…I don’t know who I am, really. Kids and their parents stare at Master Chen and me at school all the time. The other kids don’t tease me, but I know they talk about me…. They say I live with a Chinaman. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful to have him and all the monks in my life, but…I just want to know who my parents are…and why they left me.” Kellie could feel her eyes moistening and the lump growing in her throat.
The corners of Mulin’s pale green eyes drooped empathetically. “Emotions generate a lot of energy inside a person,” she said. “Pain that you carry with you can be a source of your chi. This is called Emotive Chi, the chi that helps you to produce your energy. You must learn to take control of your emotions; otherwise, it may either hinder your skills…or take them to a dangerous level. Most important, be cautious of building your chi from anger. Generating your chi from anger — I am warning you — is self-destructive. You may lose yourself if it happens. You have already seen it with Hagos. All his energy now is built and sustained through his rage and hate. When you fight, you must fight with passion and purpose, which can be motivated by pain. For now, use your personal pain. Later, you will learn to fight using the pain you feel for others, for those who are oppressed or those who cannot defend themselves.”
Kellie’s eyes widened. Fight for others? She quickly remembered hitting Derek when she was sticking up for Jory. Could she mean that?
“Now, remember your pain.”
Kellie stared out at the cherry blossoms and her mind went back to Mom’s Day, the day when all the mothers were invited to school and given flowers to wear. Kellie was the only one without a mom. She remembered going to the bathroom and crying where no one could see her and throwing the corsage she made in the garbage can.
“Do not suppress what is building inside of your heart. Use your Air Chi and feel your Emotive Chi. When you are ready — strike.”
Kellie sucked air down her trachea. She relived the sadness she felt when she was alone in the bathroom stall, and then threw a double heel palm in front of her with a yell. This time, the branches did not sway; instead, one large stem came crashing down. She couldn’t believe it! Her motions materialized into an energy that moved matter.
“Bravo, bravo!” Zurich shouted, flailing his wings. “And with such precision!”
“Did I do that?”
Mulin nodded.
“That was unbelievable!” said Kellie with verve. “I felt it! I felt my Emotive Chi! I can’t believe this!”
“Again,” Mulin said, with contained pleasure.
Kellie’s lesson carried on for several more hours. By the end of it, many fallen branches and flowers were scattered around the training field.
Since there was no darkness in Spring Meadows and it was always a perfect day, Kellie had no idea how long she trained. Exhaustion set in and every muscle wobbled. Just as she was going to ask for another break, Zurich outstretched his wings and rustled his feathers. “We are finished,” he said. “It is time to make our way to Taiping Monastery.”
ellie climbed onto Zurich’s back and squeezed her knees into his sides. She clutched his soft feathers so tightly, she worried that they might pull out or he would complain. Neither happened. Mulin stayed back to search for Hagos and Master Zheng.
As Zurich took off, Kellie trembled. They elevated higher and higher
and the trees below got smaller and smaller. As the flight steadied, the gust of air cooled her nervous, sweaty face. The crane glided through the atmosphere so smoothly, her racing heart began to slow. She relaxed her white knuckles and began to enjoy the feeling of flying; it was rather freeing.
Closing her eyes and accepting the wind blaze through her, Kellie felt Zurich shift downward and aim toward the ground. As they made their descent, Kellie saw that he was landing in front of the entrance to the forest. When she slid off him, her legs buckled as she regained her balance, walking on earth again.
“Thank you, Zurich,” said Kellie, “…for everything.”
He nodded at her and said, “Stay here with the monks. I will help Mulin locate Hagos.”
He lengthened his wings and flew off.
Kellie sprinted to the monastery. So much time had passed, she worried what was happening. As she made her steps onto monastery grounds, something didn’t feel right. Looking all around and listening hard for any evidence of human presence, she realized she might be the only one there. After poking her head in the House of Meditation and seeing that it was mostly packed up and deserted, Kellie ran up the pathway to the monks’ quarters, opening every door to every room. Not a single person was found.
“Hello?” Kellie called. “Is anyone here?”
Only silence answered back. They were gone. Opened boxes were scattered around, but other than that, there were no signs of them. Midway up the path, she saw her room. She went inside and saw that the furniture was left, as in all the other rooms. The bare mattress sat on the bed frame and the two wooden chairs were tucked in under the table.
She took a seat and put her face in her hands, thinking. Did they move to the new monastery? Did they find Master Zheng? They would never leave without first finding him. Then a horrible thought entered her mind. What if they did find him and he wasn’t alive? That would be a reason to abandon this place immediately.
And what about Jake and Jory? They must be sick with fear, wondering what happened to her. Where were they? Kellie guessed that they would have first contacted the monks and Dr. Lee of her disappearance. If the monks knew she had been taken by a monkey, they wouldn’t have left. But what if something happened to her friends and Mr. Ho?
What am I going to do? While she was selfishly training in Spring Meadows, her friends and family were in jeopardy. Ticked off with herself, she picked up the chair and threw it against the wall. She wanted to sob, but was too numb. She stood in the middle of the room she grew up in, wavering. What was she going to do next? Filling with anger, she knew what she wanted to do: go after Hagos. He was the cause of all their plight and he needed to be stopped.
During her fit of rage, she heard her door creaking. She whipped around, ready to fight. Her tight fisted hands were up and her adrenaline spiked. She wasn’t afraid. She just trained with Mulin and Zurich and in that moment, she understood: they wanted to prepare her for Hagos.
The door continued to slowly crack open and a shadow formed on the room floor. Two heads popped in.
“Jake! Jory!” she screamed.
They rushed inside, closing the door behind them. She flung her arms around their necks, holding them as tight as possible. She let go when they choked for air.
“When did you get here?” she asked.
“How did you get here?” Jake asked, looking relieved to see her.
“How did you get away from the monkey?” asked Jory, appearing disheveled and worn-out.
“Mulin and Zurich saved me and took me to Spring Meadows….Then Zurich brought me here. They’re going to look for Hagos. What about you guys? What happened? Where is everyone?”
“We hiked here…it took us forever,” answered Jake, his sleeves rolled up and hair tousled with sweat. “We got here about twenty minutes ago. The car wouldn’t start after the crash. Mr. Ho wanted us to walk back to town with him, but we thought if we came here, the monks would help us find you…but we haven’t seen a single person. We were roaming the place when we heard a loud crash in your room.”
Jory sat down on the mattress and took off his shoes and rubbed his soles. His socks were covered in dirt and dried leaves. Noticing the broken chair, he asked, “Did you do that?”
“I — uh — was upset,” she said and changed the subject. “Where do you think they are? I can’t imagine they would’ve left without Master Zheng….How about the dining hall?”
“We checked there,” said Jake. “There’s some food in the kitchen and opened boxes all over the place. It doesn’t make sense….They’re either still here somewhere or they left in a real hurry.” Eyeing her up and down as if he just became aware of her wardrobe, he asked, “By the way, where did you get the getup?”
“It looks nice on you,” Jory said, putting back on his socks and shoes.
“Zurich and Mulin gave it to me,” she said, her voice trailing off, already feeling embarrassed, predicting what the next question was going to be.
“What were you doing in Spring Meadows this whole time?” asked Jake, his hands on his hips and his left brow raised.
“I was being trained…”
“In kung fu?” he said in surprise.
“We were worried sick about you,” said Jory. “We walked here for you —”
“I’m really sorry….I pleaded with them to help us and to bring me back, but they wouldn’t until I got my lesson.”
“They seem to pick the oddest time to teach you kung fu,” said Jake. “Well, what are we going to do now?”
“Let’s call Dr. Lee,” said Kellie. “He would know if they found Master Zheng. There’s a phone in the dining hall.”
“Good plan,” said Jake, rubbing his stomach. “We left our stuff there.”
The three of them strode briskly, semi-running. Jory hopped from one leg to the other, complaining of his sore feet. Halfway there, a low rumble echoed from the distance. The rumbling got louder, and as they turned toward the source of the reverberation, they faced Shenmi Forest. The trees in front of the wooded area quivered, sending a chill down Kellie’s back. Then what they witnessed left them speechless! The monks were running out of the forest and hundreds of monkeys came charging after them.
“What should we do?” Jake cracked.
“I-I have a plan!” Jory replied.
“We’re outnumbered!” cried Jake.
“Come on! Let’s go!” said Jory, waving his arms as he ran ahead of them. Kellie and Jake switched glances as they followed.
Jory led them into the dining hall and straight into the kitchen.
“We have something those monkeys don’t have,” he said, gathering all the sticky buns that were packed in crates.
Jake picked one up, opened his mouth, and asked, “What’s that?”
Jory grabbed it out of his hand before he took a bite and replied, “Human intelligence….We’ll need every single one.” He picked up his bag that was sitting on the floor and took out a medication bottle (Kellie saw her bag tilted against the wall; they must have brought it up for her from Mr. Ho’s car). Holding a plastic vial up to his friends, he said, “Pain killers…a necessary item for a survival kit. I borrowed it from my parents’ medicine cabinet.” He read the auxiliary label on the side of the prescription vial: “Warning: May Cause Drowsiness.”
“This isn’t time to play pharmacist!” Jake said, as he and Kellie stared at Jory, not comprehending.
“I’m gonna lace the sticky buns with the drugs and strategically place them around for the monkeys.”
“Clever!” Kellie squealed as she helped him shove pills into the buns.
“Wait!” said Jory. “If it’s in a liquid form, it’ll absorb faster. Thus, it’ll take effect quicker!”
Jake slapped his own head. “We don’t have time to set up a pharmaceutical lab!”
“You’re right,” he agreed.
They continued to spike the small round breads until they ran out of tablets and then stuffed their bags to the top with them. Carefully
sneaking out of the dining hall, they placed the food where the monkeys would find them.
Quietly, waiting out of sight, they listened to what sounded like a combat zone. Kellie felt antsy and couldn’t just hide there.
“We have to do something,” she said desperately.
“There’s like a hundred of them,” said Jake, holding her arm to keep her from jumping into action.
“The sticky buns will slow some of them down,” said Jory. “Look!” He pointed his finger across the way.
They saw one monkey, then two, and then three picking up and sniffing the buns. Soon, there were many and they started gulping down the laced temptations. The monkeys took the bait! After they swallowed their unexpected treat, the animals dispersed.
“What now?” Jake whispered.
“We have to wait until the drug takes effect,” answered Jory. His face lit up and he said, “I have another idea! Give me your GPS, Jake.” With a confused frown, Jake took it out of his bag and handed it to him. Jory tiptoed impulsively across the path into one of the monk’s rooms and Kellie and Jake hastily went after him. Jory set the small black box on the table, switched it on, and cranked up the volume. “Let’s go,” he whispered. They quietly dashed out of the room and hid behind a building.
“Initializing,” a computerized female voice spoke. “Where would you like to go?”
A bunch of monkeys sauntered curiously to the source of the monotone speech. They disappeared into the small room and more and more monkeys gathered inside. After Jory counted about thirty monkeys, he ran like a mad man toward the door.
“NOW!” he yelled, as he slammed the door shut. Jake grabbed a wooden plank nearby and secured the barrier.
“Yeah!” shouted Jake and high-fived Jory. “That was cool!”
The monkeys banged at the door, howling, but they were trapped inside.
Kellie was listening to the howling from the monks instead and couldn’t stay passive from the fracas any longer.
“I have to help them!” she whispered loudly and edged nearer to the screaming, staying hidden behind buildings and statues; Jake and Jory’s short celebration came to a halt and they followed her.