Strangely enough, Bo seemed to have read her mind. “Boyfriend or not, I will always be your friend and stand by your side,” he said. “Thank you for saving me from my imprisonment at the banyan tree.” While she was momentarily intrigued by his ability to know her thoughts, his next statement piqued her interest.
“Imprisonment? I saved you? But how? I couldn’t even save myself, how could I have saved you?” Tara was flummoxed, not making heads or tails of what was going on.
Bo began to explain, but not before taking a long breath. “The Banshee Queen of the Banana Tree wanted to marry me, but I turned her down. Eventually, she imprisoned me at the Banyan tree through an evil curse. When you uttered ‘Guan Yin’ under the banyan tree, her curse was torn asunder, liberating me from a thousand years of imprisonment.”
Tara was left agape. The strange occurrences that unfolded over the last few hours came back to her, as she was no longer trapped in the jungle and her life was no longer in danger. She remembered the women she saw while going to the Emerald Hill, the old man on the rocking chair, the monkey with the golden headband, the unending forest, the big spider, and most importantly, the mysterious man sitting with her. She reached out her hand and touched him, to check whether she was hallucinating. Thinking about his story, she was astounded that the mere name of Guan Yin could have such tremendous power to liberate Bo from his thousand years of imprisonment. Recounting everything she had experienced and watching Bo’s golden aura, she started to think, being alive is indeed a miracle!
Fascinated by Bo’s personal encounter, Tara suddenly guessed why she was lost in the forest. “Maybe the banshee queen trapped me in the forest,” Tara snapped with a thin peevish voice.
“No, it’s the Common Pulai tree spirit. It was attracted to your necklace.”
“How do you know? Are you a mind reader?” Tara was surprised with a frown, as Bo knew how she was lost without her telling him about it.
Clang! Thump! Bang!
A loud commotion came from outside the room. Bo’s eyes became vigilant and alert.
“Where are we now?” Tara asked. He didn’t reply. Instead, he held Tara’s hand and said urgently, “Let’s get out of here.”
He opened the wooden door and treaded out into the dungeon of the castle. The whole place was pitch-dark; the only light was the white glow emitting from Bo’s body. He gave a wave of his right hand and the medieval wall sconces lit up.
Tara let out a loud shriek at what she saw. The dungeon’s path was paved with rotting animal carcasses, which were strewn all over. Maggots were wriggling in and out of the carcasses, feeding on the dead bodies. The sight of the dead animals and the putrid stench of carcasses was so overpowering that Tara vomited on the ground.
Bo placed his right hand on her back, sending energy to soothe her queasiness. She instantly felt much better.
Bo sensed that something was lurking in the dark. His body became more erect and he calmly passed his conical bamboo hat to Tara. “Put on my bamboo hat and stand in that corner. This hat will make you invisible. Don’t remove the hat no matter what.”
An even more pungent odor came wafting in the air. A giant cockroach and many smaller cockroaches stepped out from the shadows. The big one stood up, waving its pair of long antennae everywhere. Its mandibles clicked in a belligerent manner, ready to attack.
Tara broke into a cold sweat. Her heart palpitated like a galloping horse when she came face to face with the giant cockroach.
Bo took out his long, bamboo flute and transformed it into a sword. He stood firmly and brandished his coffee-colored flute, ready to face the giant cockroach.
The giant cockroach lunged its long antenna swiftly and mercilessly at Bo. He dodged the cockroach just in time. With a graceful swish, he swiped his sword at the cockroach, crashing its end into the head of the cockroach. It let out an ear-piercing shrill and retreated into the darkness.
Once the cockroach was out of sight, Tara ran toward Bo. The dungeon had three doors; left, middle and right. Bo paused a moment, listened to his heart, and said, “We will take the middle one.”
“But that’s where the cockroach retreated into!” Tara retorted.
“The left door leads to a whirlpool, and the right door leads to a dead end; the middle one is the only way for us to escape.”
As they bolted out of the middle door, they were greeted with even more fetid animal carcasses strewn across the floor, making the narrow passageway difficult to navigate. The stench was even more unbearably malodorous.
Hisss….Hisss….A giant king cobra slithered into view.
“Oh my…,” Tara gasped. Petrified, her eyes involuntarily locked into the hypnotizing gaze of the king cobra.
“Don’t look at the cobra!" hollered Bo. He pushed Tara to the side, disengaging her from the hypnotizing gaze.
The king cobra struck hard and fast, lunging toward Bo in an attempt to plunge its fangs into him. He darted out of the way, dodging the attack by an inch.
Bo swung his sword and took a mighty slash at the cobra. The cobra was hurt by the assault, but it did not give up. It launched a salvo of strikes at Bo in retaliation.
Tara stood straight, without making any movements, as though she was paralyzed by fear.
The next moment, Bo split himself into multiple bodies and launched simultaneous attacks at the giant king cobra. The cobra seemed to have adamantine scales that were impervious to Bo’s sword attacks.
He decided to change his strategy. Transforming his sword back to the bamboo flute, he started blowing a mesmerizing tune. The king cobra was unable to control itself as it was enthralled by the hypnotic melody. Soon, the cobra was put into a snooze.
They continued walking through the dark passageway until they reached a majestic grand staircase with an ornate wooden balustrade. This grand staircase led to the cavernous Main Hall, which was brightly lit with a magnificent crystal chandelier full of candles.
With the arrival of Winter Solstice, the Main Hall was cheerfully decorated in celebration of the Yule festival.
A giant fir tree was decorated with an assortment of ornaments such as red and green baubles, silver bells, candy canes, tinsels, and on top of it was a huge yellow star. A mountain of presents in various shapes and sizes were placed beneath the fir tree. Tara looked around, confused. She recognized all this from the human world.
The burning fireplace was crackling delightfully. Above the fireplace was a huge banner with the words “Have A Magical Yuletide Celebration.” There were also a cuckoo clock, a wreath, and many humongous green and red striped socks.
A mélange of orchestral musical instruments such as the strings (violin and cello), woodwinds (flute, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone), brass (trumpet, trombone and tuba), and percussions (drums, cymbal, triangle, piano and harp) floated through the air. Music was spontaneously played from the instruments. Tara felt right at home, though she knew she was miles away from her place, in reality.
A smorgasbord of mouth-watering delicacies and desserts, colorful candies and cookies, was displayed on a large rectangular table. Donuts, macarons, and tarts, fruit cakes and cupcakes, pies and puddings, gingerbread and chocolates were all pleasing to the eye.
Only then did she notice the hundreds of children talking to each other in the cavernous hall. The girls wore fancy fairy dresses and the boys were dressed up in elf costumes. While some were enjoying the delectable delicacies, the boisterous ones were playing tag, chasing one another in the middle of the hall.
The moment the cuckoo clock struck midnight, the children skedaddled to the giant fir trees, scrambling to get the largest presents. A pandemonium erupted when a scuffle broke out among the children. Once the children unboxed the presents, they started to compare their toys, bickering and squalling loudly.
“Hey, that’s my fire truck!”
“No, it’s mine! How dare you steal my toy! I opened the present first!”
A group of girls rounded up a curly-haired girl w
ho got the biggest and loveliest doll ever. Jealous of her, they pulled her hair and smeared her fairy dress before forcefully snatching the doll away from her.
A blond boy tugged a ball away from another red-haired boy and ran off toward the fireplace. But he slipped and fell after accidentally stepping on some Crème brûlée lying on the floor. The ball landed in the fireplace and exploded, sending our flickering tongues of flames and sparks everywhere. The largest spark, however, landed on the giant fir tree, setting it on fire.
In a twinkling of an eye, fire engulfed the noble fir tree like a great ravenous monster devouring everything in its way, belching out black, billowing smoke.
“Oh no! The castle is on fire!” Tara cried when she saw that the monstrous tongues of flames from the fireplace ravenously licked and engulfed the entire fir tree. “We must save the children!”
Tara looked at the precious children and did not want them to sustain any injuries. Meanwhile, Bo had been scanning the entire room to hatch an exit plan.
"There is only one way out – the tiny door over there," Bo said as he pointed to the small and narrow wooden door. “We will have to leave this place through that door and then lure the children out after that.”
“What? Are you kidding me?!” Tara could not imagine how they were going to fit through such a small doorway as the door was tiny compared to the grandeur of the medieval castle.
The thick, acrid smell of the smoke made Tara cough. The children remained so obsessed with their toys that they were oblivious to the encroaching fire.
Bo directed Tara to follow him, but she seemed reluctant. Looking at the children with glinted eyes, she did not have the heart to leave them in this room that was slowly heating up like an oven.
“Trust me, we will get them,” Bo said, seemingly reading her mind again.
She nodded and both of them skittered to the small door, but they were thwarted by a grotesque gargoyle who guarded the door. It flapped its massive wings, flew up in the air, and roared, “No one is to leave this castle without my permission!”
By now, Tara knew both of their roles. Tara’s job was to stay out of trouble’s way while Bo handled the trouble himself. As Tara was made invisible by the bamboo hat, she knew the only way she could help Bo was to step back to the corner of the room so that he had enough space to fight off the gargoyle.
Bo was fearless in the face of any sinister-looking ghouls or monsters. He brandished his sword, jumped up into the air in one lithe movement, and took a quick swipe at the gargoyle.
The gargoyle opened its mouth and blew out fire at Bo, who protected himself by spinning rapidly like a tornado, deflecting the fire. The gargoyle flapped its wings in an attempt to protect itself. But the deflected fire burnt through the gargoyle’s wings. The wings that once gave it the ability to fly now hung limply at its sides.
In a fit of fury, the gargoyle blasted Bo with a few more fireballs which became weaker in strength. Bo took out his calabash bottle and opened it, sending spouts of flowing water that encircled the gargoyle and extinguished the fire.
The gargoyle, being allergic to pure water, shuddered violently before exploding into a shower of dust. A motley swarm of poisonous crawly critters – snakes, centipedes, scorpions, spiders, mosquitoes, and hornets – scurried out from its black heart.
Having vanquished the magical gargoyle, Bo stepped through the tiny door and Tara followed him.
Outside the castle was a vast expanse of land covered in white. Snowflakes were pirouetting like dancing ballerinas while the chilly gust of wind made Tara shiver.
“Wear this cloak to keep you warm,” Bo magically conjured a grey woolen cloak and wrapped it around Tara. She was grateful and touched by Bo’s sensitivity.
He stood facing the snow-covered ground, placed his right hand on top of his left hand and flung open his arms widely. Then he instantaneously conjured hundreds of sleighs pulled by three types of animals: the blue sleigh was pulled by goats, the red sleigh by reindeers, and the yellow sleigh by yaks. An array of colorful gifts and toys were inside the sleighs, ready for the children to grab and play.
He also conjured a special, slightly larger sleigh pulled by the most enchantingly magical white unicorn that shimmered like sparkling diamonds in the snow.
Jaw-dropped, Tara could not restrain her astonishment as she witnessed these miraculous transformations performed by Bo.
“Go take a back seat in the sleigh pulled by the white unicorn and wait for me there,” said Bo. “I will help the children escape from the burning castle.”
She trudged along the ground covered by a thick layer of snow toward the unicorn-driven sleigh. When she reached the sleigh, she was bowled over by the grandeur of the white, diamond-studded sleigh hitched to the magnificent unicorn, its fur glistening in the morning sunlight.
The white sleigh had two seats, one in front and one in the back. As Tara stepped into the back seat of the sleigh, a glass shield automatically covered the top of the sleigh, just like an open-top convertible car. The luxurious brown chesterfield leather seat was spacious and comfy. The interior was warm and cozy, so she took off Bo’s bamboo hat and the woolen cloak and put them aside.
In front of the seat was a round marble table ready with a buffet of some of her favorite local delights back home in Singapore: Hainanese chicken rice, Char Kuey Teow, Bak Chok Mee, and fried Hokkien prawn noodle.
Looking at the mouth-watering food made her stomach growl with hunger. Famished, she wanted to dig into the meal, but she was hesitant.
Should I wait for Bo? Then, she heard Bo’s voice in her mind, “Don’t worry about me, Tara. Please help yourself to the food, it’s all for you.” She was shell-shocked. This was the first time she experienced the power of telepathy.
Oh my goodness! How did he know that I am a foodie craving for all these local delights? Impressed, Tara knew Bo was no ordinary human. What befuddled her was how he knew so much about her favorite dishes when she had never mentioned them to him before?
With the green light from Bo, Tara went ahead to drink a cup of water with lemon slices to quench her thirst. Then she took a bite of all dishes served in porcelain, rooster-painted bowls and plates. With a pair of bamboo chopsticks, she tried the piping hot Char Kuey Teow, a popular stir-fried rice noodle in sweet and savory black soy sauce, together with eggs, cockles, Chinese sausages, bean sprouts, and Chinese chives. The sweet savory noodles, juicy cockles, and the crunchy bean sprout were heart-warming for her; it was as if she was back home in Singapore.
Next, she tried the Penang assam laksa. The sweet, sour, and spicy flavours of the tangy Assam (tamarind) and umami shrimp paste broth, together with shredded ikan kembung (mackerel), sliced cucumber, onions, mint, and the pineapple cubes in rice noodles, brought back fond childhood memories of her late mother and grandparents in Penang.
She tasted all the dishes but could not finish everything. After the savory main dishes, she craved for some dessert. When she thought of having chendol with durian ice cream, the food miraculously appeared in front of her.
Chendol is a popular dessert in Singapore. It has shaved ice, green rice flour jelly, adzuki beans, coconut milk and gula melaka. Eating the yummy chendol was comforting and it made her feel at home. But her meal was suddenly interrupted.
“Woof! Woof!” An emaciated stray dog came up to the sleigh wagging its tail and begging for food outside her sleigh.
“Oh dear, the dog must be starving,” said Tara empathetically. She scooped a generous serving of the leftover chicken rice into an empty plate for the dog.
“Have some food here,” said Tara, putting the plate on the floor. She wanted the glass shield to open so the dog could enter. Before she even opened her mouth to give verbal instructions, the glass shield opened in response to her thought. Since when did I have the power of telepathy? Tara wondered.
The dog jumped into the sleigh, wagging its tail and drooling. “Here you go. All yours.” Tara smiled with contentment, knowing
that the dog would not go hungry. The dog was so famished that it gobbled up everything on the plate. Then she passed the rest of the Char Kuey Teow, Bak Chok Mee, and fried Hokkien prawn noodles to the dog. Within minutes, all the food was gulped down and gone.
“Come, sit beside me,” Tara was so delighted to have a Man’s best friend to accompany her.
Despite its skinny and sallow appearance, the dog seemed smart and agile. It resembled the native Japanese dog breed, Shiba Inu.
“What’s your name? How about we call you Coco? Do you like it?” Tara asked as she stroked the neck of the dog with both her hands. Wagging its tail, the dog tried to lick her face with an expression of love.
“You like the name, don’t you? Okay Coco, we are buddies now,” Tara chortled. “More food for your tummy.” Tara was thrilled to have shared her meal with her newfound friend.
Meanwhile, Bo had transformed into Santa Clause with a bushy white beard and a red, pointy hat. He took out his bamboo flute and started playing a mesmerizing tune. The children were attracted to the melodious tune and came scuttling helter-skelter out of the tiny door, shoving and jostling each other to escape the castle in no time.
Once they were out of the castle, they picked the sleigh of their liking. Each sleigh could only accommodate one child. Some chose the blue sleigh pulled by a goat, some preferred the red sleigh pulled by a reindeer, and some were fond of the yellow sleigh pulled by a white yak.
The moment they hopped onto the sleigh, the seat belts were automatically fastened, and the glass shields were activated to cover the top of the sleigh. Seven presents of different shapes and sizes were ready on the rectangular table in front of the seats. Children shrieked with excitement while unboxing the presents and playing with their favorite toys.
As the last child ran out from the miniature door, the castle exploded. Choking clouds of noxious smoke billowed in the sky.
Bo settled into the driver’s seat of the white unicorn-driven sleigh. “Are you ready?” He said as he flicked the reins to get the sleigh flying. All the sleighs automatically followed the lead of the white unicorn.
Tara Zenyora : and the Seven-Jeweled Lighthouse Page 5