Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bryon Severns
Zen Dragon
Ch 1
reincarnated, but I became a spirit bound to the realm of earth, while a lucky
To understand my death you must first know how I lived. The path I
chose was set early in life because it was in my spirit to be a fighter. When I
try to recall what I looked like in my human life I remember seeing scars on
the back of my hands. Life was a constant battle and I joined the fray as a
kid. The name I chose for myself was Rad. It was supposed to mean ‘light,’
I won’t tell you about my years of martial arts training, but one thing
that always bothered me was the way Rex competed against me and tried to
many masters and learned many styles. When I started my own martial arts
school I stayed away from Rex. Rather than act like a master I tried to act
like a friend to the students. I would teach them even if they didn’t have
money to pay me. My school was like a big family. All the students learned
to be friends with each other and that was more important than learning how
to fight. Kids joined to learn martial arts, but they kept coming every day
What troubled me lately was that Rex started a martial arts school too
Soon I lost most of my paying students to him. Rex must have planned it this
way.
earned trust they had a chance to join the inner circle. If they joined, then
there was no turning back and no leaving the school. They were in for life.
Then they learned secrets and earned privileges, but in return they served the
teacher as the most dedicated servants. They helped teach classes and ran the
school’s business. They also performed secret missions which gave them
class.
nickname, but he hadn’t decided on one yet. He liked the way “Seth”
rhymed with “death” and it sounded cool when he called himself “Seth the
Samurai.” Some of us called him Samurai, but that name hasn’t stuck. He
wanted to be a samurai since he was little, but one night I had to give him a
mask.
told me that he was under a lot of pressure to join his older brother’s gang.
School. Lately, he was getting harassed with death threats. He told me about
his problems, so I assured him, “Don’t worry. You joined Dragon School
and we will protect you.” All he had to do was give me the names of the
When it was late at night and everyone else had gone home after the
last class, I locked the doors and I gave Seth his pre-mission briefing.
“Gangs only respect people they fear. You have to find the boys who
threatened Whip and make them so scared they leave Whip alone. You don’t
have to kill anyone. Just make them afraid of our Dragon School. Whatever
you do, don’t insult them. According to gang pride they have to kill anyone
who insults them to maintain their own respect. They may be a bunch of
kids, but there is a reason they call themselves the K-town Killers.
Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” He bowed with his right fist against the palm of his left
hand.
totally bullet proof. Kevlar will stop a pistol bullet, but not a riffle bullet.
You understand?”
he took off his shirt, put on the vest and then covered it with his oversized,
baggy Korn T-shirt. He was like most of my students in his choice of Metal
his favorite bands. I didn’t require the students to wear martial arts outfits
because the kids said that gi uniforms were gay looking Of course, there
Seth was arrogant, acted carefree and fearless. Still, he was a fast
“Don’t let anyone see who you are.” I held out a black knit ski mask.
“You have to wear it,” I said and held it closer to him. “You want to
be an honorable samurai, but this is a secret mission. You don’t get credit
I explained, “If they see your face then they can drive by your house
I don’t care if I die, but I don’t want anything to happen to my mother and
sister.”
His extra large black T-shirt covered the body armor and matched his
black Vans and baggy black jeans. His pants had holes in random places and
dangling strands at the bottom of the dragging hems. He would blend in with
the mass of teenagers who dignified their anti-fashion with the latest jeans
that require dragging on the ground to achieve the look of a skate boarder
who earned skill the hard way, with many scrapes on the concrete. Even his
socks were black, but you wouldn’t get to see his socks unless he was
kicking you in the face. His usual style looked like a ninja, but he said it was
the Goth look. I suppose ninja’s don’t paint their fingernails black. His
shoulder length straight hair was dark brown and he let it hang free,
I gave him a pair of thin black leather gloves. “Wear these so you
The new gloves didn’t match his ragged look, but I didn’t have any
He took a long sword from the wall collection. His first choice was a
katana with a three-handed black handle grip. It had a black tsuba guard with
a dragon flying in a circle to protect the hand. The sheath was black plastic
with a black shoulder sling. He pulled the sword out and admired the black
Seth sheathed the sword, put his arm through the sling and let the
“Too long. You need a short sword to hide under your clothes.” I
“But I like this one.” He reached up over his shoulder with his right
hand and drew the sword. In one motion he cut the air in a fast arc, and I
imagined a head falling from a severed body. His hand returned to the ready
position above his right shoulder with the blade held high and back.
stubborn, but after a second he traded the katana for a black wakizashi with
shoulder strap.
“Yes,” I said. “But you aren’t going to take it to school, are you?”
but this time he laughed to relieve anxiety. This would be his first secret
“Yeah,” I said. “Most people would rather die than give a presentation
in public.”
Seth grinned. “Well, after this then maybe I’ll be ready to show off
my skills in public.”
have guns.”
range.
I said, “Make sure you figure out where you can ditch your weapons
before you see cops. Once they’re after you it’s hard to think rationally.”
things.”
away, but I decided not to ask. I had more lecturing to give him, “I’ve never
had a gun shot at me, but I’ve been told that it seems like slow motion while
it happens. When it’s over you’ll be shaking with adrenalin…if you’re still
alive. It will be hard to think rationally, but try to control your emotions, or
lives.”
“Yes, sir,” Seth bowed. “See you tomorrow Mister Rad.” He adjusted
the ski mask to look like a regular knit hat, turned, and walked quietly to the
door.
After the door closed behind him, I changed my clothes, put on baggy
jeans, an extra large black T-shirt with a picture of the band Drowning Pool,
and a black knit cap. Then I grabbed a cheap ninjaken from the wall and
slung it over my back. The reason I chose a ten dollar sword was because I
had already ditched weapons in the past to avoid getting busted by the cops.
A samurai may carry a jewel studded katana, but a ninja prefers to carry a
disposable blade. To hide the sword I put on a dark blue jean jacket. In the
The street lights made it hard to see the stars. I headed west toward
the trailer parks and junk yards. After a while I found Seth riding his
skateboard. His ski mask was rolled up to look like a regular knit hat. He
looked like a normal teenager except he was out by himself. That was the
part that made him look suspicious. Of course, cops think all teenagers are
suspicious.
him.
I may be old enough to drive a car, but I can still ride a board.
Seth went into a little corner store, so I waited behind a tree. It seemed
like a long time until he came out again. Then I followed at a distance.
It didn’t make sense that he was headed back east into the better part
of town. As I thought about it, I began to think that Seth wasn’t acting like
binoculars. He had Seth’s black jacket and black knit hat, but his face was
not Seth’s.
looked around and then went inside. No Seth. He must have known he was
The rest of the night I worried about Seth. I couldn’t find him, so I
went home. He was on a dangerous mission and he was truly on his own. I
couldn’t sleep that night. All I could do was meditate and try to calm my
mind. When I got tired of sitting ,I had to lay down and practice calm
breathing.
I’m not religious, but I prayed for Seth…just in case there’s a God
who cares.
Night was for the serious martial arts classes, but my teenage students
usually couldn’t afford to pay. It was the grade school kids that had parents
willing and able to pay for martial arts classes. So, day classes were
I wanted to pay my own bills. So, I spent half the day playing tricks on the
little kids.
disguised with a medical face mask, glasses, and a cap. I walked through the
front door of the Dragon School and approached a little boy who was
playing alone.
“Hey, kid.”
The little boy with short brown hair looked up at me with his pale blue
eyes. “What?”
hospital.”
because he was supposed to take two steps back as soon as he saw a strange
man. It didn’t matter if it was a ski mask or a medical face mask. If he didn’t
“We must go right now!” I reached out my hand to his shoulder and
A girl saw me and yelled, “Stranger Danger!” All the kids stopped
Then the boy knocked my hand off of his shoulder and jumped back.
a woman who was sitting in the waiting area. He acted sincerely afraid.
“Help me! I don’t know that man and he tried to take me outside.”
Then I walked to another kid and said, “Little boy, your mom is hurt
really bad and you need to come in the ambulance right now.” I reached for
That boy squirmed out of my hand and ran across the room yelling,
All the kids ran to the few moms who were in the waiting area. The
moms just stared at me with unknowing concern. The moms seemed like
excitedly insisted that their moms call 911 about the Stranger Danger. One
of the kids said, “Mom, that man isn’t a real ambulance man. You need to
When I saw a mom take out her cell phone and flip it open, I decided
to end the test. I took off my medical mask and said, “It’s me, Mister Rad. I
was testing you to see if you would let yourself get kidnapped.”
One girl said, “We were going to call the cops on you.”
The boy with pale blue eyes said, “I didn’t recognize you Mister Rad.
I was going to punch you in the balls if you came after me.”
Then I said, “You all did a good job.” I smiled proudly. “None of you
were going to let yourselves get kidnapped.” Then I asked, “What kind of
These classes were important for little kids because I taught them how
to escape from strangers and kidnappers. The first half hour I taught them to
bite, elbow, scream, and run. Then I pretended to be a bad man and chased
them around the room. They thought that was the greatest game ever. It was
enemy, and the awareness of deception made me wary of trusting people too
easily. Occasionally, I tested the students to see if they would fall for tricks
fighter, FBI agent or other trusted figure. The authority lure was one of the
ways kids could get kidnapped. Some little kids were so trusting of strangers
considered it my job to test my students and make sure they don’t fall for the
deadly lures.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking ninjas always dressed in black. Black
clothes were the normal uniform for students at my school because it seemed
to be the favorite color of the youth counter culture. It also seemed to be the
color of rebels in general. Bikers had black leather jackets. Teens had black
tee shirts and painted their nails black. The original ninjas were part of the
lower class in ancient Japan, and you could say they were rebels against the
order to enter samurai castles. It was all part of the deception. Teaching
these lessons to little kids meant turning frightening reality into fun games.
the kids. They squealed and ran away full speed. Some giggled loudly when
they escaped and taunted me with, “You can’t catch me.” I chased the kids
all around the gym. We all had plenty of exercise and when I grabbed kids, I
got elbowed, kicked, bit, and head-butted until I let go. Then I chased them
again and again to give each one a chance to practice escape techniques on
me.
After I was too tired to chase the kids, I yelled, “Break! Time for Tiny
Dragons class.” Then we all stood at attention so I could teach them specific
Then I realized there was a new girl in class that would be puzzled by
the names.
I looked at the new girl and explained, “We all have fake names, so
Fire held very hard and pulled Undertaker into a bear hug. “Gotcha!” She
said.
Fire let go of Undertaker. It looked more like she pushed him down.
She was part Native American and part black. She had previously told me
that she spent the summers with her uncle on the reservation in Oklahoma.
She was wild, rowdy, and strong. When she played, the other kids usually
ended up crying and running away from her. Martial arts class was the one
place she could play rough and not be hated. It was the only place she had
friends. She smiled and reached her hand out to help Undertaker stand up
again. He didn’t take her hand. Instead he did a back roll and stood up in
ready stance with his feet apart, knees bent, and hands up near his chest.
I gave them a command, “Fire, just hold Undertaker’s shirt and don’t
Fire stepped toward Undertaker and grabbed his shirt with her right
hand. Undertaker used his right hand to fake punch her face and then reach
over and grab the top of her right hand which was clenching his shirt. With
both hands he twisted her hand and dropped his weight by bending his
knees. As he swung his right leg back and spun around clockwise, Fire was
pulled face first in a clockwise spiral. Undertaker pulled her close to his left
side with his left armpit leaning on her right shoulder to force her lower.
Since she couldn’t step over his left leg, she tripped and fell to the ground.
called?”
“Good.” I clapped. “Of course, you can always escape by just running
away, but if a bully is grabbing you at school, you don’t want people to think
“No, Sir.” The kids answered. They all stood around me in alert
attention. This kind of discipline was rare. Usually they act hyper and seem
myself…maybe I need to change my normal routine and tire them out with
the chasing game at the start of the class. That way they will be huffing,
puffing, and sweating instead of goofing off with sugar powered energy.
“If a bully is messing with you and you know he doesn’t intend to kill
you or kidnap you, then your best reaction might be to put him a restraining
lock and hold him until he gives up. Ask the bully if he wants to be friends.
When he agrees to be friends then you can let him go. Now everybody stand
in a line. I’m going to pair you up and let you all practice using restraint
techniques.”
net from an equipment shelf. I grinned wide as I yelled, “Evasion time!” All
the little kids screamed with excitement and began running wild in the gym.
I chased them and swung the net above my head like a ninja cowboy. Then I
cast the net through the air and narrowly missed Fire. She squealed with glee
and taunted, “Ha, ha, missed me!” We continued the game until the end of
the hour.
I think I was more exhausted than the kids. I was huffing for air while
the kids happily trotted out the door with their mothers.
I loved teaching kids, but I got worn out before the end of the day, yet
I still had more classes ahead of me. I don’t know what kept me going all
While the grade school kids were showing up, I wondered about
Whip. He hadn’t shown up yet. It had been a week since I sent Seth out on a
protection mission and I haven’t seen him. I had called Seth’s cell phone a
Time for another class, so my worries had to be shelved. Life goes on.
These kids were aged six through twelve. They lined up by rank with
the white belts last. This gave the less experienced students a chance to see
stood four foot tall in the ready stance with his feet apart and his knees bent
slightly. It made me happy to see the eagerness in his face. He lived for
martial arts, and he enjoyed leading the lower belts and showing the best
possible form. The friendliness radiating from his face was like sunshine, so
I couldn’t imagine him ever getting in fights for any reason other than just
fall.”
I said, “Let’s pretend you are at school and someone pushes you from
“Go!” I commanded.
The girl behind Dagger pushed him forward and he fell head first. His
hands hit the mat and he rolled and popped up in a ready stance, feet apart,
knees bent and hands up in front of his chest. He then continued rolls
without being pushed. After he finished his circuit around the gym, he lined
Then the one who pushed him, a girl called Mace, stepped forward
and assumed the ready stance. Her face carried a dead serious look. Her
tanned skin had a few freckles and her straight shoulder length hair was dyed
black with white tips and natural-brown roots. The color of her eyes were
slit pupils. A boy pushed her from behind, and she fell forward with a roll
After the last white belt student finished rolls, Dagger stepped forward
Dagger turned and faced Mace. When he nodded, she raised her hands
and shoved against his chest very hard. He fell back and rolled so that he
I interrupted the class. “Break! You don’t need to push so hard if the
person doesn’t have a brown belt. Okay? Be easy on the lower belts when
Then Dagger continued back rolls, and Mace turned around so that
she could get pushed for her turn. Back rolls were practiced by the entire
class, and then I told them to do side rolls without a push. I could tell that
as you can while you roll. Otherwise you will get dizzy.”
became excited when I stood in the middle of the floor and held a long staff
out like a horizontal obstacle for them to jump over. They leaped over the
challenge. After one round I held the staff higher and they had to make
greater effort to jump over the staff. The skinny students seemed to have no
trouble jumping over the stick, but the heavy students asked me to lower it a
bit. For the long dive rolls, I placed kick pads on the floor with a spacing of
I said, “Try to jump over both of these pads. If everyone makes it, I
Dagger jumped over the first pad, cleared the second pad easily and
ready stance.
Mace was also an excellent jumper. She was about four and a half feet
tall and wore a red belt. I think she was about ready to promote to a brown
belt since her skills were very good. I was happy to have girls in the
advanced ranks since there were not enough females in martial arts. Some
day Mace could be a champion fighter and I wondered if she might compete
professionally. I was even hoping she would try out for movies. I wanted to
tell her there was a shortage of action females in Hollywood. I knew Mace
could show them how to kick butt on the big screen or maybe on TV.
However, I didn’t want to tempt her with this idea until she finished her
Then she might regret being a martial arts star without having completed a
black belt. That would be a hollow feeling lacking closure, dignity, and a
sense of accomplishment.
After the dive rolls were finished, I said, “Okay Junior Dragons. Line
I took a rubber practice knife from the shelf and pretended to stab
elbow over my shoulder and landed an elbow strike against the side of my
head.
“Pain is my friend,” I said. “It tells me you are doing a good job.”
As I was saying this, he bent my knife arm at the elbow and locked
my arm into a figure four hold. Then he raised my knife arm up and over
until I was arched backward, totally off balance and under his control.
I dropped the fake knife, but he didn’t let my arm out of the lock.
I ordered, “Break!”
Then I dangled my arm and said, “It’s okay, I’ll just shake it off.”
around too much in class, but it was fun for me and I figured the kids were
entertained.
I said, “If that defense was a bit too complicated, you can use a
different technique. Mace, can you show us a simple defense against a knife
attack?”
With my right hand I picked up the rubber knife and lunged at her
belly with the fake blade. Mace stepped to her right and grabbed my wrist
with her left hand and pretended to jab her right index finger into my throat.
spiral, with me off balance. This caused me to trip over her feet and fall on
my back. She kept my knife arm trapped in her hands. Then she pretended to
kick my head as she stepped over me. When she laid on the ground and
crossed her legs, my right arm became trapped in her grasp. Then she arched
her back and I felt the pressure hyper extending my right elbow.
“Drop the knife!” She commanded. She gave a slight tug on my wrist
she popped up, she was in a ready stance, holding the knife down and behind
her.
“Right.”
I took some rubber knives from the shelf and handed them out.
I took some writing pens from the desk and handed them to the
students who didn’t have rubber knives. “Everyone put your knife or pen in
your pocket and imagine you are at a deserted park or some place where
I put a pen in my pocket and said, “If you have a pen, you have a
weapon.”
I whipped out the pen and took off its cap. I held the pen out and
waived it menacingly. “It may be just a ball point pen, but it’s sharp enough
I elaborated the scenario, “What if he’s catching up and you know you
Mace said, “When he gets close, then give him a back kick and keep
running.”
Dagger said, “Pull out your pen and face him. Shout, ‘STAY BACK!’
and show him some moves so he knows he could get hurt if he tries to get
close to you.”
I said, “I like the back kick idea, but I have actually done the face off
thing. Bullies like to chase, but if you stand up to them, they usually back
off.” I put the pen in my pocket. “One time a big dog chased me. I ran for a
while and realized I couldn’t out run the dog. So, I turned and faced the dog
with my pen drawn. The dog stopped. It barked and growled ferociously, but
Then I growled like a ferocious dog and chased the students so they
person could only go full throttle for two minutes or less. Pacing myself was
something I still had not mastered. I remembered the times when Sifu Zi
because I got into the role playing and went all out. The kids thought it was
funny, but I know I was showing them a bad example. On the other hand,
they had to use all their ability to keep away from me. At least we all got
plenty of exercise.
After class I went into my back office, which was also the room where
Before the next class I had time to heat some teriyaki chicken in the
microwave. I ate alone and tried to figure out how to keep from going out of
business. I thought about the fancy Red Dragon gym that Rex had in the nice
neighborhood a few miles east of here. He must have gone into debt to build
that gym, but at least he had paying students. Maybe parents didn’t like the
looks of my shabby building or the location near junk yards, used car lots,
liquor stores and topless bars. It was not the sort of place I would prefer, but
it was all I could afford. Well, actually, I couldn’t afford it here either. The
mortgage was not too bad, but I still had to pay a lot for taxes, insurance,
to cut expenses, but that really meant I had to stop paying one of the bills. If
I canceled the phone then I couldn’t tell people how to find the gym, and I
would miss too many opportunities to sign up new students. If I canceled the
cable internet, then I couldn’t keep up the myspace page for my martial arts
school. That would also mean fewer new students. If I could stop paying
that? People who don’t pay taxes go to jail. Businesses that don’t have
insurance go bankrupt if they get sued. It was no wonder that Rex went into
didn’t care about making money. I just wanted to keep my Dragon School
going.
changed the music. In the day the stereo played a soft Asian-sounding
music to calm the little children, but the teenagers put in their own CDs and
played death metal, alternative rock, and anything except soft music. They
like to get in an active mood after sitting in chairs all day at public school. I
dropped my paper plate and plastic fork into the garbage basket, wiped my
mouth on my sleeve and went into the gym to socialize a few minutes before
class. A teenage girl with short brown hair and an oversized black tee shirt
Her nickname came from wing chun kung fu. It was a kind of block
using minimal force to deflect a punch by pushing the wrist forward and
turning the palm up. This protected oneself and gave one the “upper hand”
since the defender’s hand finished above the attackers arm. If one trapped an
opponent’s punch with a tansao, then the opponent’s face was open to a
block. She must have gotten the idea from reading Black Belt Magazine or
the internet.
“I’m fine.”
“We could have a fund raiser.” She offered. A smile grew on her face.
“We could throw a party in the gym and charge cover at the door.”
who were standing near the door. All the boys were taller than Tansao and
they stood with folded arms, but her presence was immediately noticed and
they all bowed to her with the respectful fist against palm. Everybody wore
baggy jeans and oversized black T-shirts. Some of their shirts had bright
colored pictures of dragons. One shirt had a white Chinese character that I
recognized to mean ‘dragon.’ All of these were acceptable here, but I did sell
would raise a little money, but not enough to pay all the bills.
fitting athletic clothes that hid her figure. Her clothes probably were
I walked to her with a warm smile and I greeted her with a firm hand
“I’m Jennifer.”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “I’m just curious. What kind do you teach here?”
“Globalized?”
words are from the original languages, but not too many. The techniques
come from all the martial arts in the world, especially the effective moves,
the ones that aren’t too hard to learn. Practical techniques are taught as
simple as possible. That way you can learn self defense quickly and easily.
But it’s globalized because the skills learned are from all the martial arts.”
“Oh, what if someone just wants to learn kung fu?” She asked.
“What kind of kung fu? There’s wing chun, mantis style, tiger style,
crane style, five animal style, tai chi chuan, qi gong, drunken monk style,
“Oh.” She came out with a question that she must have had from the
want to learn self defense against teenagers that bother you, then this school
is probably the best. If you want to learn how to defend against a rapist or a
jealous ex-boyfriend, then this school would be good for you. However, if
you want to learn a traditional art form so that you can call yourself a wing
chun master, then you should go to a kung fu school that specializes in that
art.”
“Oh.” She glanced around the gym. “How do I know if your martial
in muay tai fighting matches. That is like kick boxing, but with elbow and
vale tudo. The idea is to learn skills effective in the real world. If my
advanced students want to teach the fighting arts and open their own Dragon
School, then they need a black belt. To get a black belt they have to prove
their skills in sport fights like the UFC. Of course, there are other fighting
arts that exist for special reasons. Ninjutsu was used by assassins who relied
on deception to kill their targets. They acted like humble servants, gained
entry into a samurai castle, worked to earn the trust of the staff until they
were in the presence of the boss samurai, and then used trickery to kill him.
relaxed. Then the ninja had to evade the guards to escape the castle. So, the
essence of ninjutsu is all about deception and evasion. If a bad guy tries to
rob you, would you jump into a karate stance and hope he doesn’t shoot
you? Or would you pretend to give him your wallet and then grab his gun?
Tricking the bad guy isn’t cheating, it’s ninjutsu. Judo evolved from old and
brutal jujutsu as a more humane self defense. Aikido is even more gentle.
Kung fu has many styles and they each have qualities of artistic form and
spiritual communion with nature. That is why they call their arts things like
crane style, tiger style, mantis style, and other animal styles. Tai chi is a
form of standing meditation that makes you feel like you are using invisible
energy, collecting it into a ball and moving it around and finally using it to
connect yourself spiritually between the earth and the sky. Tai chi also looks
like fighting in slow motion, so it makes a person feel strong and that
figured they were trying to find a way to raise money to support the gym.
youths who might otherwise have nothing to do but get into trouble with
month?”
“I have to pay my own car insurance and gas,” she said with a hint of
“I’ll tell you what. Since there aren’t enough girls in the teenage
classes, you probably should get a discount. You need to talk to the senior
“Okay.” She said, but she just stood and looked shyly at the office.
“Right.”
I told her about the nicknames here, “In this school we all go by an
“I could be Jag! That sounds cool.” She perked up with pride over her
new identity.
The teens all bowed to Jag and then they took turns shaking hands
with her and giving her their individual nicknames. I could tell she was
These days most kids were rude to each other as if it were cool to act like
they didn’t need friends. It was wrong to trade insults, form small cliques,
and alienate the ones who might otherwise want to be friends. For teenagers
friendship is one of the most important things in life. That was why I taught
friends.” It made me happy to see old students making friends with the new
skills.
was filled with the repeated lyrics, “Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the
bodies hit the floor…” Everybody heard the music and stopped chatting.
They lined up in the middle of the gym floor with arm’s length spacing and
about his nickname and why he borrowed his name from a famous Japanese
sword fighter. In ancient Japan Miyamoto Musashi was so highly skilled that
he sometimes used a wooden sword to defeat other fighters armed with steel
and led the class in leg stretches. When they were finished with the stretches,
sit ups, and push ups, I told them to line up for rolls. After that I paired the
teaching and the newer students learned new techniques with the benefit of
one-on-one instruction. After half an hour I told the class to line up and then
I taught them knife, gun, and stick disarm techniques. I told them to practice
me.
possible…like you are acting in a movie, but use self control and don’t
actually hurt your partner. If you were in a life-threatening attack, you would
know it’s okay to smash the bad guy, but in here you just growl, yell, and
pretend to do serious damage. For example, if you throw your partner on the
floor, then stomp next to his head and yell, ‘STAY DOWN!’ Just be careful
The class became much louder with yells and growls from some of the
students. Soon, all the students got used to the idea of making a lot of noise.
I waited for them to come to attention and then said, “Good job.”
“You all showed lots of dragon spirit. I’m proud of you. Let’s circle
up for academy tenets. Afterwards you can stay later if anyone wants to
spar.”
beautiful day and I wanted to enjoy the morning peace. Instead there was a
bustling commotion with teenagers tearing down the school sign above the
entrance.
man with long bleach blonde hair that clashed with his brown eyebrows and
dark goatee.
were working so hard for the sake of a practical joke on me. It wouldn’t be
the first time. The best thing I could do would be to play it cool. If I
overreacted, they would have too many laughs and be encouraged to get
more carried away next time. The best defense against practical jokes was to
act like I didn’t care and then punish them with sit ups, lots and lots of sit
mess.
I could tell by his eyes that he was having a hard time not telling me.
They must have conspired last night and now they were putting their secret
plan into action. Long was unable to hold back his laughter. He began to
chuckle, but soon he sounded like a mad scientist laughing with amazement
over his own wicked brilliance. He was slender and about six feet tall. His
voice was deep and he looked like he could be in his late twenties since he
had so much facial hair, but his immaturity showed that he was only
“We’ll see.” I played it cool and continued to eat my cereal. One thing
screaming in rage, cussing and throwing a fit would make the students lose
all respect for me, so I restrained myself and tried to focus on the sound of
birds singing in the morning and pretended not to hear the sound of breaking
glass as teenagers tore the sign apart. An old red truck pulled into the
parking lot and the teenagers crowded around the bed of the truck, pointing
and whispering.
and a cute face in spite of a few teen pimples walked away from the truck
She left me to help the other teens in their big project. When she got
to the truck, Longsword put his arm around her. They were a cute couple. I
was happy for them, but somehow it bothered me that love came so easily
wasn’t as nice as a house, but I liked having lots of young people around all
the time, so living in a tiny room in the back of a martial arts gym was a
perfect home for me. If I had a job that was respectable according to
hadn’t had a girlfriend in years. I wasn’t lonely, but I felt like I was
incomplete. Somehow, the hole in my heart was sucking the goodness out of
life. It didn’t help for me to see teenagers falling in love and beaming with
joy. Okay, I decided, someday I will find myself a woman…when I’m ready.
So far I didn’t even know how to keep what I had from falling apart. I hoped
Of course, they could go to a different martial arts school, like Rex’s Red
Dragon School, and I could get a real job, but I didn’t want to slave away
my life doing something I didn’t enjoy. The dangerous risks of martial arts
were acceptable, but I didn’t like trying to make people pay their monthly
bill. When I tried working as a truck driver one time, I had plenty of money
but no friends. Now that I taught martial arts I had plenty of friends, but no
money. I liked working with people. Maybe I should have been a doctor or
somebody who takes care of people. It would have been nice, but somehow
my life didn’t follow that path. Maybe I should have planned my future
was rich and famous, the group of excited teens knocked on my door and
Long said, “When you see the new sign, don’t jump to conclusions.
“All right. Let’s check it out.” I stepped outside and turned to look up
rectangular piece of white plastic. It looked nice, but the word ‘Temple’
“But…”
explain.”
Tansao put a hand on my left shoulder and spoke with an eager voice.
“You know how we are always having trouble paying the bills? We figured
out that it can save a lot of money if the school didn’t pay taxes. Income tax
and property tax, it’s too much. The school never even makes a profit. Most
of the students don’t pay their membership dues anyway. It’s like people just
organization.”
Sabre said, “As a church the school won’t have to pay taxes. Just
Tansao was proud, “You won’t have to close the gym! We just
changed the name to Dragon Temple and BANG all your problems are
solved.”
They all assured me it was not a joke, but they were laughing.
“If it’s not a joke, then why are you all laughing.”
Tansao stifled her laughs enough to explain, “It’s not a joke on you,
“Why?” I asked.
boasted.
“What religion?”
place called Dragon Temple. They’re going to think we’re a bunch of satanic
freaks.”
“Don’t worry,” Tansao said, “We’ll keep the gym going. Have faith in
us.”
Long said, “It’s about time we got started with Muay Thai practice.
Musashi picked up two hammers and put them into a tool bag.
She jogged to the truck and talked to somebody inside. A little while
later the truck door opened and I saw the worlds largest leg swing out. A
monster of a young man stepped onto the pavement and his truck raised up a
thick like a bear and he was tall as a grisly. She led him by the arm toward
me. I felt a tingling up my spine and a twisting in my gut. This guy looked
scary. His face was not right. His eyes were not the same size. His nose was
bent to one side. His ears were not the same size and they were mangled. I
could tell he was a wrestler from his “cauliflower” ears. One of his eyebrows
raised higher than the other. Even his hairline was uneven with one side
higher like slanted bangs. He seemed shy, but when Tansao introduced him
to me, I cringed at the sight of his crooked teeth. She said, “This is Ted.”
I acted like I was happy to meet him even though my instincts told me
Then Tansao winked at Ted and she bowed to me. Ted also bowed to
She said excitedly, “He is going to check us out today. Maybe he will
join.”
“Godzilla?” Then I covered my mouth with one hand. “Oops, did I say that
out loud?”
Tansao didn’t give me a bad look. Instead she grinned, at him. “How
agree with anything she said to him as long as she was smiling.
Tansao explained the gym to Boomba. She said, “We cross train on
the weekends. Kong just came back from Thailand and he’s been teaching us
muay thai. That way we know what we are doing when we go to Dallas and
enter the ‘smokers’. That’s what they call thai fighting matches, ‘smokers’.
Later we’ll get some training from Max in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He’s been
going to b-j-j classes during the week and teaches us on the weekend.”
I motioned for Tansao to come talk with me in private. I took her into
She gave me the look I didn’t want, “You don’t think we should teach
violence. Teaching him would be like giving a loaded gun to someone with a
bad temper.”
the store in his truck. I think he deserves a chance. If we don’t give him a
chance, then who will? Without us he might turn bitter and dangerous. With
“I don’t want to argue. I’m just telling you how it is. If you’re friends
with a guy like that, then you’re responsible for him. You can’t just tell him
to go away if you change your mind later. He won’t handle rejection very
well.”
“He’s my friend,” She said stubbornly. “I like him and if you give him
“You may think of him as a friend, but he is a boy and he likes you. I
can tell, so don’t be surprised if he keeps other guys away from you. Since
you’re the one he likes, it’s up to you to decide what to do, but if you want
to keep him as a friend and make him one of us, then he’s your
responsibility.”
Boomba. She was smiling by the time she led him to join the rest of the
students who were practicing muay thai in the middle of the gym.
Part of their muay thai practice included clinch drills in which the students
tried to grab each other’s head and pull it down for a knee strike. Nobody
Tansao stood on a chair so that she could reach up to his head with her
hands. I think he was enjoying the attention from her. Everybody was very
respectful to him, but she treated him like her new best friend. I wondered
how long she could keep that up. She had a history of finding stray boys and
bringing them into her world, only to reject them later when they talked to
other girls.
Boomba wanted something so much that it tortured him. His want was
more important than any of his actual needs. He would give up breathing air
gravity he would fly off of the earth and into space and be without air or
anything else, but he wouldn’t think of that until it was too late because his
Needs were limited. A person could eat only so much food until
not care about them. He wanted one particular girl and no other would ever
to her. He said that women were always complaining about men that don’t
love enough. He believed that his love was the greatest love ever and wanted
I said, “Don’t.”
small room when he was in a desperate emotional state. I felt like telling him
what he wanted to hear. Instead I told him the truth. My survival instinct
thing.
you, right?”
“Yes.”
into his chest. His body language was clearly showing his insecurity. He
“Then you have to learn how to make women want you.” I declared.
He objected, “But I don’t care about other women. If I tell her that,
I sat back in my chair and firmly said, “NO!” I may not be a giant, but
Boomba stooped even lower. His self esteem was shrinking and his
body was collapsing around it. His meek and shaking voice asked, “What do
I do?”
I took a sheet of paper and a pen and began making a list of things for
“But you know they talk about you behind your back and make fun of
you, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
attitude. You must practice smiling and acting like everything will work out
with a happy ending. If things go terribly wrong you must act like there is
always a way to get through it and think of ways to encourage others to have
hope. You must pretend to believe in yourself until you actually do believe
ANYTHING!”
“Again,” I ordered.
I crossed my legs and got comfortable. It was alpha behavior, but not
“Good.” I clapped. “You tell yourself that every time you wake up.
Before you go to class. Before you do homework. Before you work out. And
especially before you go to bed. Make sure you use the hand gesture. It
looks like you are pulling the chain to sound a horn on a semi-truck. You let
the world see you doing that as you say, ‘I can do anything’ and people will
believe it is true. After you say it enough time,s then it really will be true.”
“Every morning a few times and every night a few times before bed.
Keep doing that for at least a year. Even after you get Tansao, you must
continue saying it, or your spirit will weaken and you will lose her.”
“She will,” I lied. It may have been risky to encourage false hope, but
I expected his personality would improve enough to attract some other girl.
me now?”
He made his fist pull the imaginary horn and said, “I can do
the world will respect you. If you lose confidence, then you must give
you do that with conviction and persevere in your self improvement then
eventually you will have the skill to reach any goal you set.”
It seemed his eagerness for her made him cling to the tiniest hope and
I looked around and found a head band. I said, “Lean over so I can put
this on you.”
He complied. I put the band around his head so that it covered his left
“Your ears grow all the time, but your right ear is smaller. Wear this
head band on your left ear. The pressure from the head band will slow its
growth and let your right ear catch up in size. Maybe then your right ear will
I explained, “Women won’t admit it, but the truth is…they like guys
who have symmetry. You will look better if both sides of your face are the
same.”
“Oh.”
He complied and I taped his nose in such a way that it was pulled
eyes.”
“What?” He mumbled.
seconds, I slowly closed my left eye. “Notice how weird it looks if one of
my eyes is closed more than the other? Try to make both of your eyes open
Then I opened my left eye wide and let my right eyelid droop so that I would
look weird.
of a mirror to make sure your eyes are both opening the same amount.”
“I don’t want anyone to think I’m stupid.” He squinted into the mirror
about what their eyes do. Just keep practicing and you will get better and
better. Soon you’ll have total control over your eyes and you’ll appear
guided him out the door I told him, “Practice a positive attitude everyday by
He stopped in the door way. “Is that all I have to do to get Tansao?”
I tried to assure him with a steady gaze back into his eyes. “Do what I
said. After you have mastered this much, I will teach you some more. In the
mean time don’t tell Tansao how you feel about her. Okay?”
him get what he wanted without having to risk rejection, which is every
man’s greatest fear. He walked across the gym squinting into my mirror. I
suppose he forgot it was mine. Oh well. I’ll get it back after he masters
I went back into my room and poured myself a bowl of raisin bran,
added milk, and walked outside. It was pleasant to watch the cars drive by as
An old car with a black spray can paint job parked at the side of the
gym. Longsword and Saber got out and walked hand in hand towards me.
Longsword gave me the news, “We made up a new bow.” They both
demonstrated by bowing and crossing wrists with one palm and one fist.
Saber explained, “Instead of putting your fist against your palm, you
hand open ready for a hand shake, but you have a fist in case friendship
doesn’t work.”
bow?”
Temple.”
to differentiate ourselves.”
“Oh yeah, it’s cool.” Longsword and Saber bowed to each other.
I couldn’t do the new hand gesture since I was holding a bowl and
spoon, but I bowed to them as they showed their respect at the door of the
gym.
More students arrived while I washed my bowl and spoon in the back
room. When I came out, I saw them practicing Tai Chi as was customary for
Sunday mornings. I joined them and enjoyed the serene feeling of slow
motion. Focusing my attention on Max, the Tai Chi leader, helped clear my
After we took a break from Tai Chi I noticed a new person, a slender
woman, not a teenager. She had curly brown hair that hung down to her
I began to walk towards her and felt my heart starting to race. When
she caught my eye I looked away out of shy reflex. But my mind told me I
try another look and to hold her gaze. It felt strange to lock eyes with her,
flushed and my ears felt strangely hot. Some of my instincts told me to run
away. How could I be afraid of her? She looked friendly, but I saw her as
attractive and that made me nervous Some of the teenage girls in the class
were attractive, but I knew they were not for me so they didn’t affect me.
This woman was closer to my age. She could be a potential mate and
somehow that made me extremely self aware. Walking up to her for the first
I glanced at her body. She had a sexy form, slender, with her waist
narrower than her hips, and I already knew that I wanted her. I knew it from
the first instant that I had seen her. At the same time that my desires fired up,
This must be how Boomba felt about Tansao. Desire was a powerful
emotion. It took control of the mind and body. I had to make a big effort to
think about what to do and how to act. It was painful, yet I dared not turn
She took my hand and squeezed gently. I felt a rush of tingling from
the warmth of her hand. It radiated up my arm and filled my body with
pleasurable vibrations. I looked into her eyes and almost melted to the floor.
her gaze. It was the most wonderful experience in my life up to that point,
and then I let go of her hand. Pleasure faded quickly and I began to wonder
if she would ever think of me as more than a friend. Did she like me?
She tilted her head a little to the side. It was so cute. “I’m Lotus.”
when she was pregnant. She said she met me before I was born and I gave
telling her whatever she wanted to hear, but I didn’t know her well enough
She glanced around. “It seems everyone has cool names here.”
She put her right index finger on her lips and looked up. I stared at her
lips. I wished it was my finger touching her tender lips. Then she looked
back at me and I jerked my eyes away from her lips. I felt embarrassed and
Her warm brown eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, “Since I like tai chi,
meditation, yoga and stuff like that, then maybe I need a name that conveys
my spiritual nature.”
I normally would tell a student to pick a tough name, but I was so enchanted
by her that I gave in to her ways and supported her ideas…her will became
She beamed. “I like it.” She moved her head side to side evaluating
empowering.”
inhibited, and captivated by a desire that could not find fulfillment. The only
thing I could do was absorb the attention she gave me, and I relished her
attention as if she were a radiant angel with the power to grant my greatest
wish.
But she was not inclined to grant me any wishes. She was just a
woman and she could not turn me into the man of her dreams. I didn’t even
know if she dreamed of a man, but if she did, then I wanted it to be me.
I realized that she had just given me the power to judge her new name.
I suddenly felt somewhat stronger. If I gave her approval, it could win her
heart a little bit at a time and now was an opportunity not to be missed. It
was amazing how many thoughts raced through my mind when love began
to bloom.
I said, “Yeah, I like it, too. Etherea is a good name for you. It sounds
spiritual, and pretty, and like you are made of a spiritual substance that is
it was her way of telling me that men wanted her, but she was single and
Etherea.
was thinking about her. Too bad I had no idea when or if she would come
back.
What if she didn’t come back to the gym? Could I find her? Maybe if
I checked out the various yoga classes around town I might find her. Maybe
she was practicing Tai Chi with a different group. Maybe I could search for
“Lotus” on myspace and find her….unless she used a different name there.
The only way to keep from going crazy while waiting for her was to
keep busy with the kids. It was torture. Every moment dragged on forever.
morning time seemed to pass to slowly, now I wanted to delay the passing of
night. I wanted her to come tonight. But instead I had to continue with the
This was a fun game to get my mind lost in the moment. We each
took a plastic gun from the weapon shelf. We loaded the pistols with plastic
yellow BBs. The air-soft guns looked exactly like real pistols. They cocked
like real guns. Pulling the trigger made them shoot plastic BBs that only
around your face and protect your eyes from all angles.”
visibility conditions. You have to wear safety glasses if you want to play
air-soft games.”
numbers you can use a pad and we will pretend that you are using a bullet
proof shield.”
“Cool!” Laser grabbed a black kick-pad with his left hand and carried
it like a shield.
hiding behind chairs to evade the yellow BBs that we fired at each other. I
was ducking to avoid a lot of attacks from Tansao’s team whennoticed that
and as I was upside down I tried to shoot her. I don’t know if I got her, but I
took a lot of hits and they her team busted up laughing victoriously. Since I
was ‘out’ I went outside to cool off and waited for the next game.
haze to give the full moon a halo. The ring around the moon shined in a
cold white glow. I gazed at the moon and let my body cool down in the
“Beautify isn’t it?” Her voice was what I had been waiting for since
yesterday.
“Hi Rad.” She grinned at me and held her arms out for a hug.
come back.”
“Of course, I had to come back. I wanted to meditate with you guys.”
her flirtations. What if she acted this way all the time? Still I enjoyed the
“Well, lots of people say things they don’t mean. I’m glad you came
back.” I said.
“Me too.” She raised a finger to brush some curly brown locks away
from her right eye and tucked the hair behind her ear.
There was a gentle breeze that caused her hair to waive ever so
dare.
I kept going with small talk and did not reveal my true feelings, “So,
That was supposed to be a kind of teasing comment that might get her
to open up.
She tilted her head and kept eye contact with me. “I usually don’t go
after all. “So, you’re a night owl, huh?” I was starting to feel disappointed.
“Oh, no,” She objected. “I love getting up before the sunrise and I
Her eyes sparkled from the light of the sign above the gym that shined
It seemed to me that she was purposely making her voice sound sexy
just to flirt with me. Of course, I wanted to think that. Then I remembered
to stand upright and lean back a little to make myself more attractive to her.
I felt akward changing my posture, but she didn’t give me a strange look or
“So why don’t you go outside in the daytime?” I was curious, but
embarrassing when spoken. It was too soon to tell her that I loved the sound
of her voice.
meditation?”
hands palm up and touched her index fingers to their respective thumbs in a
moon then I was eager to join her. “That’s a great idea. Let’s see if
anybody else wants to come out here and join us under the full moon.”
I opened the door for her and I bowed to give respect to the gym. She
copied me. Then I told the students about the plan to meditate outside under
moment I became frustrated. How could I flirt with her while others were
around?
It was early spring in Texas and the fire ants were not yet crawling on
everybody was pairing up into couples….at least it looked that way. Maybe
it was the romantic power of the full moon. I sat next to Etherea and when
she smiled at me it was magical. My chest filled with vibrations that melted
meditation.
Well, maybe they focused their minds. My mind was swirling with thoughts
about Etherea, but at least I was happy. I was humming in harmony with her
that was all in my mind. Maybe she was just enjoying the group meditation.
After a minute she fell silent and the group stopped humming. She
followed her example. It was one more thing to admire about her.
Very slightly I opened my eyes a tiny bit to peak at her. Her eyes
were closed. Her eye lashes were barely visible in the moonlight, but what I
could see looked like delicate curves. She looked serenely relaxed….until
her lips curled in a smile and she opened her eyes. She knew I was watching
her and she told me so with a cute wink. I opened my eyes, but quickly she
shut her eyes all the way. I was embarrassed about watching her so I
pretended to meditate.
a smile. I smiled back. With her eyes she motioned to the others who were
deep in meditation. I turned my head to look at them. They were good kids.
Instead of doing drugs or getting drunk they were meditating under the full
knowingly at her. Silently we agreed that we were happy these kids chose to
meditate rather than participate in the many bad things that other kids did for
entertainment. Then she closed her eyes, so I closed mine and we continued
our silence for a long while. I could feel her warm presence. With my eyes
closed I could see her aura radiating warm feelings to the universe. I could
see many colors coming from her, but only briefly while shimmering in
various places. If I had to say her aura had a color I would say it was silver,
but not metallic. Hers was a radiant silver that was white in the center as if
she had a flaming core that burned very hot. Yet at the edges there were
rainbows of colors that were not overpowered by the shining white rays.
saw the auras of the students. Their auras were not brilliant, but instead they
were dim glows. Also, I noticed that they only had one color. One was
blue, one was green, one was brown and so on. They were interesting, but I
wanted to gaze into the dazzling spirit again, so I let my mind turn away
from the students and back to Etherea. Her spirit was so beautiful.
It seemed like ten minutes or more before she ended the meditation
“Thanks,” she said. “I think it is wonderful that you have such nice
students who are into spiritual arts like Tai Chi and meditation.
Etherea had a silvery white aura. Longsword had a blue aura and Saber had
the day?”
Saber asked, “You have the same disease like Anna Nicole Smith
had?”
Longsword teased her, “So, you’re like a vampire. You sleep all day
“No.” She tilted her head and winked at him. “I don’t stay out late at
But I had seen her wink at Long, so I wondered how much she liked
The teenagers asked her a lot of questions and her answers seemed to
quench their worries about her. She said she took medicine that kept her
alive, but she still felt tired frequently and sometimes she felt ill. After a
Etherea and I talked about how they must have coupled up because of
the influence of the full moon. The unspoken part was the question of
whether she and I would couple up. I didn’t feel bold enough to make a
romantic move. I didn’t even ask for her phone number or email.
Eventually she said, “Well, it’s getting late. I’ll see you later.”
Then I watched her walk to her car. As she drove away I Suddenly I
realized I was freezing cold. Shivers ran up my back and goose bumps
broke out on my arms. I quickly went inside and locked the front door.
but kept one light on so the gym would not seem too spooky. Then I went to
the back room. When I got into my bed the sheets felt cold. I used to be
I needed Etherea.
The next day would have been torture, but I got through it by thinking
about her. She said she would come back Wednesday night and that gave
me enough hope to smile all day. When the night came and the students
went home it was cold and lonely again. I slept in my clothes to keep warm.
until the daylight faded so that Etherea would come again. But I was
severely disappointed because she didn’t come that night. I had trouble
sleeping. I worried that she might have died mysteriously like Anna Nichole
Smith.
relieved that the students had a fundraising party. They kept me company
until three o’clock in the morning. Some of them stayed the night and slept
on mats in the gym, but it didn’t help me. I was dying for Etherea. Where
because I was finally sleeping well. Then I realized that Etherea was
cheerfully.
had party.”
“So, you’re a big time a party animal, huh?” She teased. “And to
think I complimented you for teaching your students to live healthy with
“Thanks,” She bounced lightly from foot to foot and pumped her
than me. I bet she wasn’t loosing sleep worrying about me. “Did the doctor
Only the bare essentials were here. My bed was just a couple mattresses
stacked on the floor with old green blankets and white sheets. I never
needed to show off before. Now I wished I had made the effort to make my
room look comfortable and inviting. But she didn’t show disapproval.
Instead her good mood was filling the room with positivity.
Lupus better.”
“You think so?” She said. She looked at her forearms and then
touched her face. “I thought it was the cloudy weather. It helps if I stay out
“Well,” I said, “All drugs have side effects. Maybe your antibiotics
have been encouraging. “Of course, that means when you stop taking the
“Well, then I’ll just tell the doctor to give me some more Biaxin.”
“I think so.” She frowned. “I’ll explain what happened. I think he’ll
She acted stubbornly clever, “Then I’ll tell the doctor that I have a
cold and ask for Biaxin. If he doesn’t prescribe it for me then I’ll go to a
different doctor.”
enthusiastically. “She has Lupus and her hair is falling out. Maybe it’ll help
her, too.”
She gave me a fast hug and then let me go before I had a chance to
I got a piece of paper and pen. “I have an idea. Let’s email some
medical experts and tell them. I think this might be a big discovery.”
I looked up from the paper and asked, “What’s your email?” I was happy to
have such an innocent excuse for getting her personal contact info. Even
spread the news together. How often does a person have a chance to help
millions of people?
I logged onto the internet and we sent some emails and posted on
It made me feel like a hero. I hoped she would see me as one, if that’s
There were only four of us, so it was more like a square than a circle.
We lit some candles and placed them on the floor in the center of the
gym. We turned off the lights and sat cross-legged on the floor facing each
other in a circle with the candles in the center like a campfire. Saber sat on
my left and Tansao sat on my right. Longsword sat across from me. The
candle light illuminated his face from below and created a sinister look on
his face with shadows cast upwards from his chin, cheeks, nose and
eyebrows.
The mood was gloomy because there were only four of us. Seth had
been missing for a month since he disappeared on the night of his secret
mission against the gang that called themselves the K-town Killers. Since
the news was full of stories about six deaths and the search for their killer we
were afraid to go to the police asking about Seth. Gang kids were dead and
Tansao took a photo out of her wallet and placed it among the candles.
I saw that it was a picture of Seth and I felt the burden of guilt. I should
have been there to help him. A lump formed in my throat and I felt sad for a
We all joined hands and closed our eyes. I think that we all meditated
about Seth and wished him well. Perhaps he escaped to a safe place where
he could live his life in peace. But I wanted to see him and know for certain
Saber’s hand. That was the signal to open our eyes and begin our important
business of the inner circle. When I opened my eyes I tried not to show that
I saw tears in Tansao’s eyes. I knew that she used to date Seth, but I thought
she rejected him after he flirted with other girls. Obviously, she still cared
about him.
Longsword announced that the party raised enough money to pay the
outstanding bills this month. Saber said that we needed more students to
join. She added that we could sell bottled water, sports drinks and energy
drinks to make more money. Long commented that we “ask for donations”
instead of sell stuff…..since we are a kind of church now. Saber argued that
we can still post a sign saying “$1.00” on the collection can next to the
Long and Saber gave her blank looks, but I knew he liked her. I
didn’t think she liked him yet, so I was unsure about giving an opinion on
that.
Saber added, “He’s sweet. He has been nothing but nice since we first
I said, “You seem to have claimed him as your new best friend. Is he
growing on you?”
Boomba.”
Long agreed with me, “Yeah, we don’t know him that well. He’s still
a newbee.”
him. He’s a state champion wrestler in high school and he doesn’t need any
Long teased her back, “I’ll wet my pants if you wet yours.”
Saber slapped his thigh, “Don’t flirt with her!” Then she said,
“Boomba has been coming every day and he learned a lot in the last month.
I gave partial approval, “We can promote him up a belt this month and
if he keeps learning then we can promote him again next month. As for
including him in the inner circle, I think we need to take our time and get to
know him for at least a year before we trust him with our secrets.”
in agreement on the subject. I noticed that I was the only one not using the
new hand gesture. I felt out of place and promised myself I would fit in next
time.
help.”
I explained, “Etherea and I figured out there is a drug that makes her
feel healthy, but the doctors won’t listen to her. If this drug helps her then
important.”
Long added, “We could get all the students to send emails to everyone
organization then can’t we help people like a hospital? You know, instead
protection. In the name of our Dragon Spirit religion we can give people
medicine.”
Saber said, “We are martial artists and what makes us so interested in
philosophy.”
The point is that people with Lupus are suffering and we know how to help.
Dragons. It’s what brought us together and it’s what keeps us together. It’s
crime. If we can help people protect themselves from disease that’s good,
too.”
Tansao crossed her wrists with one palm and one fist, “I agree. We
We all copied her gesture by crossing our wrists with one palm and
Tansao agreed, “You can’t wait too long or she will start thinking of
Saber added, “Etherea is the yin to your yang. She’s perfect for you.
have to make your own destiny for a change. Take action! Ask her out the
me?”
“Don’t worry about it.” They all replied. How could they all be
All of them tried to give me advice and they forgot to take turns. I
couldn’t listen to all of them at the same time while they were saying
“You can’t worry about whether she likes you.” Long said firmly.
“Just invite her out. I’ll help you plan a romantic date.”
“You have to kiss her.” Saber said. “She’s going to get frustrated
the attention, but the pressure to make a romantic move was terrifying.
Tansao said, “Don’t worry about helping the Lupus people. We’ll
figure out how to deal with that. You just focus on dating Etherea. Okay?”
“Don’t worry Mister Rad.” Saber patted my knee. “We’ll help you,
Etherea had a soft and peaceful nature, like a flower. She showed no
interest in learning to fight. She didn’t seem the slightest bit interested in
self defense. I think her life depended more on her ability to relax. That
made sense after she explained that Lupus made her vulnerable to stress so
much that it triggered episodes of illness. So, for her, meditation was a form
seemed unimportant when all I could think about was her. Maybe what I
That was what I told myself because I wanted Etherea more than
heart. That was painful and scary. I decided to do as the inner circle had
night. I said I knew of a nice restaurant on a lake. Notice that I did not ask
I was thrilled!
She didn’t come to the gym during the week, but we kept in touch by
email. Writing emails back and forth helped the time go by. Longsword
raised the convertible top and walked over a bridge to a dock with a floating
restaurant. While I was waiting for her I watched children feeding fish
under the bridge. There were so many fish at the surface that they made the
water appear to boil. Wide open mouths of carp rose out of the water with
sucking sounds as they tried to slurp crumbs of bread. These fish were not
at all picky eaters. They happily vacuumed everything the kids tossed at
them. One girl threw handfuls of fruit loops. Two boys threw handfuls of
cat food. An elderly woman dropped French fries. A man laid on his belly,
reached into the water and stuck his right index finger into an open mouth of
a fish. When it sucked his finger the man jerked his hand back and all the
kids laughed. A woman said, “Ewwwwww.” I saw the man smile because
he was happy to get so much attention. I laughed, knowing that he was a lot
I thought about Etherea and a phrase came to minde, the eyes are the
windows to the soul. I wanted her to see my eyes when she first arrived, but
when I took off my shades the sun light reflected off the water in bright
sparkles that burned my eyes like white-hot lasers. So, I put my sun glasses
back on and hoped that I would appear cool looking. I ran my fingers
through my hair for a second, but suddenly stopped. I didn’t need to act
my head and let my hair fly wild in the breeze. It was hard to act cool when
I was thinking about everything I did and wondered how I would look in her
eyes. Okay, what did I tell Boomba? Right. Don’t slouch, stand tall.
Relax, lean back. Shoulders back, feet apart, but not too wide. This was
like a martial arts stance….only the goal was to look confident, yet friendly.
like I was stubborn and defiant instead of inviting and easy going. Now my
Instinctively I put my hands in my pockets. No, that would look bad. They
say a man with his hands in his pockets is uncommunicative and passive. I
put my hands on my hips. NO! That would look authoritative and bossy.
Okay, I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the time. This was good. It
made me look like I had a purpose. I was waiting for a call and that meant I
time again. Hmmmm, maybe I looked nervous. Gotta act patient. The
phone rang.
“Okay. Bye.”
I saw a silver Mustang drive into the parking lot. I couldn’t see
through the dark tinted windows, but I figured it must be her. The rumbling
engine of the car sounded like a tiger purring as it eased into a parking
space. When she stepped out I was surprised to see her wearing a light
green T-shirt and jean shorts. For a girl who was supposed to avoid sun
light she revealed a lot of skin. Her white complexion showed the world that
she rarely went into the daylight. Doing so now made it obvious that she
was trying to make a good impression on me. It felt good to think that she
wanted me to find her attractive. Now I could stop worrying about how I
appeared to her since I was good enough for her to want me. That was why
she was looking so hot right now. Ooops, now I was getting nervous
thinking she was too hot. Must relax. Be cool. Smile, but not too much.
My heart was racing, but I tried to breathe slow and easy. That helped calm
of my life.
I watched her slender body walk gracefully across the bridge towards
me.
She wore no sun glasses so I saw her brown eyes as she stopped a few
I guess she never saw me in shorts and a T-shirt with shades before.
She opened her arms to me and we hugged for a moment. I could tell
During the hug we both said at the same time, “Good to see you.”
Then we pulled apart and stood face to face. The greeting was over.
“Yeah, I had to back track a little,” She said. “Did you wait a long
time?”
I was enjoying a long gaze into her warm brown eyes….so beautiful.
on time.”
I smiled wider. I could have waited longer for her, but I said, “I’m
glad you’re not a flaky girl that shows up an hour late or not at all.”
had the look that artists portrayed in their renditions of greek goddesses, but
“That’s right.” She grinned. “I’m glad you recognize that I’m not
flaky.”
We walked along the dock until we reached the door. I wanted to open
the door like a gentleman for her. I reached for the handle. It was a wooden
oar that was bolted across the door. I pulled the oar and held the door open
for her.
Instead of letting a host give us a table I led her through the restaurant
and out onto the patio. She may have thought this unconventional, but I
wanted to show her that I was a leader. I found a table with a large umbrella
I didn’t want to sit across the table, so I took a seat next to her, on her
right. How could I flirt with her if I sat too far away? I wanted to be within
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Blue sky, blue water, birds flying and ducks
I had the impression that she liked my choice for the location of our
date. I felt proud of myself. If everything worked out she would soon be
“I’m glad we got here so early,” She said. “Can we see the sunset
from here?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “We’re facing south right now and the
trees on the shore are blocking our view to the west. Maybe we’ll have to
“Ohhhh,” She gave me twinkling eyes with her smile. “That would be
great.”
I realized that she could not see my eyes. I took off my shades and
put them into my right pocket. Then I gazed into her eyes. I felt her gazing
into my soul. I hoped she felt the power of the connection as much as I did.
It was frightening and reassuring at the same time. My heart pounded and I
took action. I reached with my right hand and took her right hand from the
spot where it rested on the white plastic table. Then I put my left hand on
the back of her hand and pressed firmly like a two handed hand shake,
something I told Boomba to use with Tansao. Now I was the one who was
myself than it was to tell him to try it. Lucky for me there was no rejection.
But the moment would turn awkward if I didn’t say something soon.
I was glad she was still smiling and that she didn’t pull her hand away
from me. “I can feel your energy going up my arms, too,” I said.
She ordered water and I copied her order. Then the waiter left us
alone.
“Good news,” I said. “My students are using the internet to supply
free Biaxin to people with Lupus. They are getting enough donations to
supply a dozen or so. People have been emailing us that they are getting
amazing results. It’s really starting to get around. Emails are flooding us
with requests from people who want to try the new medicine.”
I felt defensive, but I tried to win her over with reason. “How else do
we get people to try a new medicine if their doctors won’t prescribe it for
them?”
She frowned. “I know you’re trying to help, but there are laws.
Doctors have to test the medicine to make sure it’s safe and prove that it
“But……you used it and it worked for you.” I felt like I was losing
her. If she didn’t like what I was doing how could I win her heart.
“Besides, if the drug wasn’t safe it wouldn’t be used for fighting colds.
Right?”
She relented, “I suppose so.” I was relieved that her frown relaxed.
“So, if they only get enough Biaxin for a week, like you did, then they
She was coming around. Her face softened more. “Well, I guess the
everybody about the new drug for Lupus. Soon doctors will decide to give it
jail for long…. It’s not like I’m giving them dangerous drugs. Nobody’s
She put her hand on my left arm. “But some people could have an
save people. I forgot that it might kill somebody. That would get me locked
in jail for a long time and I would be disgraced for the rest of my life. Then
couple beats. Then my heart pounded back into rhythm in emergency mode.
I stood up. “I guess I better get back to the gym and stop this whole
know you really care about me. I just don’t want you to go to jail.”
Maybe the tension of being on a first date combined with the risk of
getting caught by the law. Maybe her hand on my arm paralyzed me. I sat
there starring into her eyes…..wanting to hug her. Instead I said, “I better go
now.”
We walked in silence to her car. She opened the driver’s side door of
her silver grey mustang. I didn’t want her to leave like this, not without a
hug. I needed reassurance that she still liked me even though I screwed up.
She turned and stepped into me for a hug. As her arms wrapped
around me I flexed the muscles of my back. I felt her hands on my lats and I
hoped she noticed the strength of my body. I wrapped my arms around her
waist and held my hands together. It started as a quick hug, but when she
pulled her head away from the right side of my mine I didn’t let go of her. I
held my arms around her waist. We gazed eye to eye for a couple seconds.
I wanted to kiss her. I thought about what to say or do. Then I was
Then I reached my head to the left side of her head for a more intimate hug,
from the wonderful smell of her. Then I let her go and stepped back.
“Good night.”
walking to my car and tried to act very calm until I got into my car.
Boomba to do. “Yihaaaa!” I felt victorious and lucky to get a kiss from her.
All the way back to the gym I grinned like a maniac and sang along
with the radio. I was elated. Even though I had screwed up and was in
danger of going to jail…..I knew she liked me because she made the first
move.
In my shock I stood at the door staring. His clan was interacting with
my students like they were all good friends. How could my whole school
betray me like this? It looked like Rex was telling them what to do and how
to run things. Some of his clan were in my front office using my work
his face.
met he had tried to force me to join his street gang. Later he tried to
away from the gym so long. I should have been paying attention better.
How could I let this happen? I must have been so obsessed with Etherea that
I bowed to him using the special wrist cross with my left fist behind
my right palm. “Sifu Rex.” I paused to control my temper and keep an even
Rex mirrored my bow. “That’s cool. I like the signature bow you
guys invented.”
He was acting too nice. I couldn’t let his fake charms win me over.
With a name like that I had to find out what you were up to……and I like
it.” His grin was trying to soften me and his friendly conversation was
trying to make me feel like we were old buddies instead of enemies. I didn’t
I was not giving in to his charms. “Good. You came, you saw, now
you can leave.” I did not smile, but I held solid eye contact. But it was hard
into seeking more approval. That cycle would soon make me his servant. I
He stepped beside me and put his left arm around the back of my
shoulders. “Of course!” He leaned to my right ear and said quietly, “I’m
just glad a stud like you isn’t after my girlfriend.” He used a little pressure
over a month. The hardest part was not knowing what had happened to
“Are you kidding?” Rex chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about
heavy duty black jean jacket that covered him from the neck down. His dark
hair was long and messy. There was a light brown line in his part where the
roots showed his natural hair color. I guess he was hiding from the hair
dresser as well as the cops. I think I would feel paranoid, too, if I was him.
I bowed and opened my arms for a hug. “Seth, I’m glad you’re okay.
I was worried about you. Why didn’t you answer your cell phone?”
Seth stood up and bowed, but he stayed behind the computer, out of
view from the main gym. He waited for Rex to close the door. Then he
When he stepped back he smiled nervously and said, “I’m glad to see
you, too, Mister Rad. The reason I didn’t use my cell phone was because I
“That’s okay. I figured it was better if you laid low.” I paused. “So,
what happened? The news said there were six boys found dead in the park.
Seth’s face turned red. I felt like he was going to punch me as his
“Did the news mention those boys all had guns? Did they say how
many bullets they shot at me? How would those reporters feel if they were
can’t believe they made me look like the bad guy. I just tried to talk to those
punks. They shot me for no reason. If it wasn’t for the Kevlar vest I’d be
I tried to lighten him up, “Hey,” I smiled. “At least you finally have a
tough nick name, Samurai Slasher.” I patted him on his left shoulder. “That
Seth smiled. “Well…..if it keeps the punks off the streets at night….”
“So,” I said. “What happened that night? I followed you, but you
He stepped back into the center of the room and acted out the story.
“I was skating along and I noticed I was being followed. I thought it was
strange for a kid to wear his jeans up around his waist, so I went into the
store and watched him from a window. I thought it was some weirdo
this old jean jacket. Actually, I kinda like this jacket. It gives me the Matrix
look. Anyway, after that other guy left the store I watched to make sure the
weirdo followed him out of sight. Then I went to the park where I heard the
K-town Killers liked to hang out. It was dark when I got there, but I could
tell they were getting high and sitting on the swings at the play ground. I
didn’t wear the ski mask. I just walked up to them and tried to talk
reasonable. I said, ‘Hey, you guys are the ones messing with Carlos Lopez.
Right?’ One of them replied in a Mexican accent, ‘Ohhhh, you mean that
skinny little kid, the one that calls himself the Whip?’ That made the other
boys laugh, Seth said, then he continued the story. Another one said, ‘Yeah
man, he’s a cholo like us. So he don’t need you defending him.’”
Rex laughed so hard that Seth stopped telling his story. “Sorry, Seth.
I can’t help laughing. You’re a good story teller. Go on. Tell Rad what
happened.”
and turned around to show how the boys were coming to surround him.
“They came up close and boxed me in.” He reached his left hand to his
belly and lifted up his shirt a little. “I showed them I had a gun, but it didn’t
intimidate them. They all pulled out guns and pointed them at me. I told
them they need to leave Carlos alone because he belongs to Dragon School.
school wasn’t just for whites. One of them said I had a lot of nerve
of his gun. When he pulled the trigger his gun didn’t fire because the slide
was pushed back. Then the other guys shot me. It felt like I was getting
punched on my back and my stomach, but I knew I was getting hit with
bullets because I heard the gun shots. After that it was like I was watching
myself from a distance. I could see what happened, but I couldn’t control it.
once.”
Seth ducked as he reached his right hand up and over the back of his
right shoulder. In a split second he pulled a black sword from under his
jacket collar and sliced the air in a horizontal circle. His body made a
graceful twisting turn as he showed us his deadly move…the one that gave
him the name, the Samurai Slasher. “That was all it took. They dropped
their guns and grabbed their throats……I never heard so much disgusting
gurgling and gasping. I couldn’t take it, so I ran. After a while I realized
that I might have that image in my mind for the rest of my life. I didn’t want
“That’s when I showed up,” Rex said. “I was riding past the park on
my motorcycle and I saw the fight from a distance. I turned back, but by the
time I got there it was over. I found Seth just standing frozen like a
“Guess I’m lucky it wasn’t the cops.” His eyes were not focused on the
floor. It seemed like he was back at the park staring at the victims of his
sword.
“Then why have you been in hiding all this time?” I asked. “Did you
know where. I think it might have fallen off when I was fighting in the
park.”
Seth considered this fact for a while. “Does that mean that the cops
match up your prints and find they don’t match the ones on the guard. Rad
“Well, that’s too bad.” Rex turned away from me and patted Seth on
the shoulder. “Slasher, you got lucky this time. Now that you’re off the
“I can’t believe it.” I was still in denial about the trouble I was in.
Rex turned back to face me. He gave me a hard look, “Well, you
were responsible for whatever he did when you sent him out. If the cops
arrest you then we expect you to protect the rest of our secrets. If you blab
we’ll know.”
racing. I needed to figure out how to deal with this situation. What would I
Rex and Seth started to the door. They were about to leave when I
remembered why I ended the date with Etherea and rushed back to the gym.
said.
stuff anyway. We’re Dragons. We’d rather be fighting than playing medic.”
“So, what was going on when I showed up?” I asked as I laid back on
my bed.
Rex grinned. “We figured if we could get away with breaking the law
in the name of religious freedom then we might as well do what we like. So,
He nodded.
I stood up and spoke loud and firm, “You can’t do that. That’s
draw me into a fight. He had always been trying to beat me, but I never
both his hands to the side like he was brushing away the law. “Anything we
and the free exercise thereof.” He abruptly turned and walked into the gym.
“Hey everybody, look who’s here. It’s the Samurai Slasher.” He led Seth
over a month.
I followed them with a furious pace. “Hey Rex, this is my gym! You
automatic reaction from years of training that saved me. As his body turned
and his right hand came up I bent my knees and swiveled on the balls of my
feet. My body pivoted and turned with the blow. His right palm struck the
left side of my face and spun my head horizontally to my right. This was his
favorite finishing move, the right cross palm. He called it the XP-KO, but it
was more deadly than a KO. In boxing a cross punch spins the opponent’s
head and the sudden twisting action causes trauma to the brain stem. Since
the brain stem is what makes a person conscious, trauma to the brain stem
However, Rex’s cross palm strike was worse because his palm griped the
face better than a fist and he delivered more twisting action to the
opponent’s head. I knew how deadly that move was because I saw him use
it on a man who tried to rob us with a knife. The robber never knew what hit
I was dazed as I turned back to face Rex. “You tried to kill me!”
about human life that he would try to kill me. He SHOULDN’T treat me
with disrespect in my own gym. He should NOT act like the boss of my
gym! I felt the anger boiling up inside me and I couldn’t hold back the
pressure. I flew into a rage. “If you want to kill me then why don’t we fight
it out with swords?!” I ran to the wall and grabbed a katana. “Come on, let’s
do it right now!” I screamed. I ran at him full speed and slashed the air with
the sword, but I stopped with the blade inches away from his neck. “What
the hell is wrong with you?” I yelled. You wanna kill me? Let’s fight! I’m
ready!”
“I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!!!!” Then I waited for him to
react. I expected him to grab my arms and try to fight for control of the
sword.
Instead he flatly stated, “If you can’t control your temper then you
can’t be a leader.”
I was stunned. Suddenly I realized that this was all a setup. He knew
I would fly off the handle and wouldn’t kill him. He knew I would
“It’s not yours anymore,” He said firmly. “You were going broke and
couldn’t pay the bills. That’s why the students turned the gym into a temple.
My face turned red. I knew I was loosing, but I couldn’t give up. “I
Rex argued, “This Temple is for them, not you,” He waived his hand
around pointing at the teenagers. “They need a true leader. They don’t need
whole world and now I was rejected and alone. It gave me a hurt feeling that
emptied out my core like a giant needle draining the blood from my heart.
Suddenly the hurting was replaced by anger until I burst out in violent rage.
I threw the sword at the wall. The point chipped a piece of concrete loose
and the sword fell to the mat. I screamed ferrociously, “Fine! If nobody
Nobody tried to consol me. The fight was over and I hadn’t been physically
beaten. He didn’t need to hit me any more because the real battle was for
won. I felt like a loser and I couldn’t stand the shame, so I ran outside and
The black Miata screamed through the rpms every time I shifted
gears. I didn’t pay attention to the red line. I was too angry to care if I
ruined the engine. I wanted to call Etherea, but I was afraid to talk to her in
this mental state. Instead I drove to the lake and listened to the radio with
the convertible top down. I sat there in the night wondering how long would
it take to get over the bad feelings that made me want to break everything I
owned.
In this bitter state of mind I couldn’t stand the party music or the hip
hop. They made me feel like I was the only looser not having a good time
that night. But I found a station on the radio playing a song that validated
still love you?” It made me think about Rex. If I hated him so much then
why didn’t I kill him? We trained so many years together that I felt some
kind of responsibility for him. So many times I tried to be his friend and so
me furious.
feel like walking, so I got out of the car and followed the sidewalk next to
the lake. The further I got away from the parking lot the darker it became. I
found a bench shaded from the street lights and I sat in the darkness.
Reflections of distant lights rose and fell on the black surface of the lake.
Tiny breakers sloshed on the shore, but it would take more than white noise
Memories of Sifu Zi came back to me. I remembered the time that his
school was diminishing and he said it was because the Gracies dominated
the UFC. All the kids wanted to learn Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Kung Fu
The Brazillians said they accepted any challenger of any style in unarmed
combat. They were used to fighting no-holds barred and they called it Vale
Tudo. The Gracies themselves didn’t want to fight old Master Zi, but one of
BJJ school. I rode along with them on a boat into international waters so
they could duel without being under the jurisdiction of law. I had so much
respect for Sifu Zi that I expected him to win easily. He seemed confident in
didn’t have a chance to punch or kick before his opponent grabbed him. It
looked like they were hugging each other for a moment and then Sifu Zi was
trapped in a head lock. Later I was told that it was called a “guillotine
choke.” Soon there was no more struggling, but Sifu Zi was still held in the
choke hold. It must have been two minutes before he was released. The
Brazilian guy had a worried look on his face. He put his fingers on Sifu’s
neck to check for a pulse. “No pulse,” he said. The realization of death
suddenly came over all of us and we crowded around Sifu’s limp body.
After doing an excellent job of killing my Sifu, the BJJ guy worked just as
hard to revive him. When he was tired of doing CPR then I took over.
When I got tired then one of the other Brazilian guys took over. We took
turns giving CPR to Sifu until the boat reached port and then Sifu Zi was
was glad to find him alive, but he was different. He told me about the
peaceful feeling of floating above the fight and then entering a dark tunnel.
At the other end of the tunnel was a bright light. He could hear a voice
calling him, but he didn’t see who it was. He wanted to go to the light, but
that he never wanted to fight again. Instead he spent the rest of his life
There were a few lessons I learned from that duel. One thing I never
forgot was seeing the Brazilian fighter lose his pride as he faced the horror
of death. His victory was quickly turned to shame. Another thing I never
forgot was how easy it was to lose against unfamiliar skills. That was why I
studied BJJ myself as well as other styles and I made my students study
every martial art available. But the biggest thing that changed me was that I
became afraid of death. I wasn’t afraid of dying myself, but I didn’t want to
what Sifu Zi meant when he said, “Your training will never end until you
lose your taste for blood or your fear of death.” Hmmmm, I still didn’t
understand the part about “taste for blood.” I didn’t have that, did I?
I stood up and continued walking around the park. This was not the
same park where Seth killed the six gang kids. That was in a bad
neighborhood. This park was my favorite place to relax. This was where I
spent many evenings watching the sunset dance on the water. Only now it
was dark and getting cold. I felt the heavy ache of tiredness sinking into my
body. As I walked back to my car I realized that it was too small to for me
to sleep. The seats would not recline in a Miata. I had to figure out how to
with Rex. I enjoyed picking out a small tent, a sleeping bag and a flash
light. Then I drove to Veteran’s park and followed a trail into the woods.
This park was like a wilderness. Some teenagers hid at the fringes of the
woods. They laughed loudly as they passed around a pipe. I passed them
and walked deep into the woods looking for a place to pitch my tent. I
There was nobody around, but I had a haunting feeling like I was being
pitched my tent I felt truly alone. The only comfort I had was snuggling
inside my new sleeping bag with the tent zipped shut and the flash light in
my right hand. I listened hard for footsteps because I was afraid some jerks
might try to trash my tent with me in it. But I heard only crickets until I fell
asleep.
The next thing I heard was birds chirping. I opened my eyes to the
morning light and felt better. Camping was great. Why haven’t I done this
in so many years?
light filtered through the green canopy. Melodies of birds lifted my spirit
while I folded up my tent and squeezed it into its tiny nylon bag. My
stomach was growling, but it woke me up and got my body moving. I had
between today and any other morning was that I walked through the woods
cars drive by. I was alone, but I didn’t feel lonely this morning.
My cell phone rang. I reached into my pocket and was thrilled to see
breakfast.”
“I’m on my way right now. You know the one on Little Road?”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
talk with me on the phone it might mean that she liked me, but if she really
liked me then she would meet me in person to talk. The danger of letting a
to say in person. That would make a her think there was no chemistry. Best
shirt that was form fitting. You might think that I liked to seeing her sexy
figure, but it made me more nervous to see her looking so hot. I didn’t want
As I stepped into her hug I said, “Good to see you again Etherea.” I
let her go after a brief hug. But I was planning for another hug later. Later
I would walk her to her car after breakfast and give her a longer hug
“It’s good to see you again, too.” She smiled as she looked directly
into my right eye and then into my left eye. I was glad that I was not
wearing sun glasses because I felt like she was looking into my soul and I
“That’s a great idea.” She grinned at me. “I’m glad you’re willing to
Her obvious flirtation made me nervous. I had not made any moves
on her and I felt pressure to take the relationship to the next level…..holding
hands. I just needed to get close to her and get comfortable being close.
I put my left hand on her lower back as if to guide her into the
sides of the table. After Etherea sat down I picked up the silverware from
my spot and moved it to her side of the table. “I’ll sit next to you,” I said.
I sat next to her on the padded bench seat. “Sure you will.” I turned
to face her and looked into her warm brown eyes. “See? No problem.”
and I didn’t want her to pick up on the jitters I was trying to stifle. Fear was
the most contagious emotion and nervousness was a kind of fear, a social
fear. In this case, sexual tension was so high that I was on the verge of a full
scale anxiety attack. The only thing that steadied me was remembering that
I read the details. “We can order one slice of bacon for you and one
wondered what to say. I wished there was a magic line to get her started
with the talking. How could I figure out what she liked to talk about?
“I was just wondering how to get a conversation going. Then you said
the magic words, “What are you thinking?” Suddenly I regretted saying
social skills.
“Maybe that is why women don’t usually get into fights.” I offered.
“That’s part of it. But boys like to fight and it doesn’t take much to
I picked up a red crayon and drew on the kid place mat. “Well, some
“Did I say the flower was for you?” I was trying to be a challenge. It
would be too easy for her to lose respect for me if I put her on a pedestal and
worshiped her like the goddess I saw in her. “Are you a good girl?” I asked
this qualifier to get her to make an effort to prove that she was good enough
for me. That way she wouldn’t be wondering if I was good enough for her.
“Okay…..if you say so.” I began do draw a smiley face with a stick-
She made a fake pouty face. “Don’t you think I’m good?”
“Yeah, but……” I began do draw another smiley face, one with long
curly hair and long girly eye lashes. “There are three billion women on this
enigma and you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life trying to figure me
out.”
I liked the idea of spending the rest of my life with her. “I hope that
it’s always this fun trying to figure you out.” I drew a smile with girly lips
on the girl face and drew a stick-arm from her to the flower. “There you go.
I was very glad she thought I was sweet. It’s ironic that I had to tease
her and challenge her to get her to call me sweet. I might keep going like
this with more teasing, but I was afraid a tease might too easily twist into an
be good at this.
I realized that I had been thinking silently for too long and it might be
feeling awkward for her. I said, “You’re welcome.” I was running out of
ideas to keep the conversation going and that made me nervous again.
She filled the silence with questions. “So, what else do you do
much money to brag about. “It keeps me busy. You should see how much
energy the little kids have. They run around non stop and I can barely teach
them self defense. But that’s okay, I guess. The only problem is they have
“I like time alone,” She said. “As a teacher I spend all day with
children and I love them, but they wear me out. I need time alone to
recharge my batteries.”
said. “But you spend all day trying to make them sit still and I spend all day
She winked her right eye slowly. “It’s because you have more yang
I leaned close until our shoulders touched, “We would make a great
She touched my right forearm with her left hand and said, “We could
I thought she was giving me double entendre. Maybe she was trying
to get me thinking about her taking charge in the bedroom. Very flirty of
her. It seemed she knew what I was thinking as she gazed into my eyes, so I
stuffed French toast with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and an extra plate.
The French toast was filled with crème and it was topped with whipped
crème, cut strawberries and red sauce. It was on a small plate separate from
Etherea used a knive to divide the eggs and scoot them onto an extra
“You’re welcome.”
Christian, but they usually didn’t say prayers in a restaurant. I liked her so
much I would have joined her in any religious ritual. I was glad that her idea
of a meal ritual was to take my right hand in her left hand. She faced
forward and closed her eyes. So did I. We sat silent for a few seconds. It
was enough time for me to imagine an eternity with her holding my hand. I
would be happy always. Then she let go of my hand and I opened my eyes.
She smiled at me and I smiled back. Then she looked at her plate. With her
right hand she picked up her fork and carefully stabbed some scrambled
eggs.
was afraid to tell her I was almost bankrupt. Even if I went back to Dragon
Temple and made amends I suspect that Etherea would not want to live
there. She probably was feeling the instinct to nest in a place more suitable,
would have to get a different job.” I felt embarrassed, but I acted like I was
okay with myself. I took a piece of bacon and ate half of it in one bite.
“But you get by?” She smiled and prodded me with her eyes.
chew, so I knew she wanted details about me. I would have preferred to
wait until we were intimate before telling too much. The more I talk the
hated the idea of working at a boring job in some cubicle. For a while I sold
cars until I had enough to buy an old commercial building. I lived in a back
room in the warehouse to save money and Itried to build up a martial arts
She picked up a piece of bacon with the finger and thumb of her right
a big deductible.
I remembered that she had Lupus and suddenly realized why this
“Mine doesn’t cover it.” She looked ahead as if staring at nothing and
said, “I thought I was getting a good job when I went into teaching, but if
my Lupus develops into organ damage…..” She stared into the distance--
I wasn’t sure what to say on the matter, but this topic was making her
depressed. So, I changed the subject to get back to being flirty. I stabbed a
strawberry with my fork and held it a foot away from her face. “How about
desert?” She opened her mouth and I carefully placed the treat between her
teeth. I saw her eyes sparkle at me as she bit down enough to pull the
mouth.
without exposing the food in my mouth. It’s amazing how her presence
appropriately.
We continued this for a while, but when I took a long time trying to
cut the crème-stuffed waffle with my fork she began feeding herself. I knew
I said, “After we finish our waffle, let’s go to the park by the lake.”
door. I held her right hand as she climbed into the passenger seat. Then I
reached back and pulled the seat belt forward for her to grab more easily.
When she was buckled I carefully closed the door. As I walked around to
the driver’s side I saw her lean over and unlock my door.
I said, “Thanks,” as I got in. Then I unlocked the convertible roof and
We drove to the park in style with the wind blowing in our hair.
At least it was nice for me. I was riding with an attractive woman in
my car.
At the traffic light I saw that she was holding her hair down with her
hands. I realized the wind might be a problem for her long hair. “Would
you like some sun glasses? It will keep your hair from whipping in your
eyes. I have short hair. But sometimes I let it grow too long and it stings
I opened the glove box and handed her the sunglasses I kept there. “It
should be called a ‘sunglasses box,’” I said. “Who keeps gloves in the glove
box?”
“I do.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, I keep ‘em behind the seat. My gloves are too
I scavenged around my car looking for something to tie her hair into a
pony tail. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything for your hair.”
“It’s okay,” She said. “You’re probably not used to having a girl
I was surprises she thought that. Since I drive a convertible she might
have assumed that I was a womanizer, but of course I was too nervous for
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine…..I’ll just hold my hair with my
hand.”
I reached behind her seat and pulled out a visor. “This has velcro.
It’s adjustable.”
She tried it on and made some adjustments. “It’s green,” she said.
I stared at her blankly, not understanding. How could she think that
the visor was green? Was she joking? “You mean the visor? It’s red.”
“Oh, the light.” I had to turn away from her and pay attention to my
driving. So much for giving her the impression that I was smart. I hoped
that she considered it a compliment that her face made me forget the rest of
the world.
At the lake we walked around the park on the paved trail next to the
water. I wanted to hold her hand and I think she wanted me to reach for her
and faced the same direction looking out over the lake. I had nothing to say,
but I watched her hair moving in the gentle breeze. I liked the way the
sunlight gave some of her curls an amber glow. Slowly I reached my right
hand up to a dazzling lock of her hair and touched it with my finger and
thumb. She didn’t move or protest in any way. I caressed more of her hair
using all my fingers and still she did not object. Then I slowly leaned
toward her face and I saw her lean towards me with her lips ready for a kiss.
I closed my eyes and felt our lips touching. This time it was not over too
the fingers of my right hand up her neck and gently clenched a fistful of her
hair and she reacted by kissing me harder. Then I let her go and leaned back
togetherness. From then on I felt it was always okay to reach for her hand
She replied with a wide smile, “I feel happy with you, too.”
I wanted to stay with her at the lake forever, but I received a frantic
In one ear I heard Tansao crying and trying to explain what happened.
In the other ear I heard Etherea asking ‘what happened.’ I had trouble
I held the phone a foot away from my ear to talk, “Tansao said
something terrible is happening at the Temple. It’s life or death serious and
they need us.” I handed the phone to Etherea. “You talk to her. Maybe you
can calm her down enough so she can explain what’s going on.”
tried to restrain my driving, but I couldn’t help going extra fast. The old
black smoke towering above our destination. Three helicopters were circled
the area. Sirens howled from racing fire trucks. Police cars ignored my
holding back the Miata and let the car run free. Etherea reached her left
hand for the dash to brace her self. I could tell she was scared, so I slowed
lot. It had four wooden legs that held a wooden platform about thirty feet
above the ground. Black smoke was billowing from orange flames under the
platform. It looked like petroleum fuel was burning the tower’s supporting
structures. I was in awe until I saw two human figures on top of the
The tires screeched as I slid the car to a stop and ran on foot into the
The closer I got to the tower the harder it was to see the figures on top
of the wooden tower. So, I climbed on top of an old truck that was parked
on the street. When the smoke blew away I saw two people dressed in white
Rad!”
“We were building an altar for the White Dragon,” She said. “When
Boomba saw me helping Seth he came unglued. I never saw Boomba get
angry before. He acted so fierce. Seth got defensive and told him to get
lost. He said that he liked me before Boomba ever met me. Boomba
drew his sword. Boomba acted like he was leaving, but then he grabbed a
long two-by-four and attacked Seth. They were going to kill each other.
Then Rex told them to stop. He said they could fight after the altar was
was okay with that. But then they climbed up the Dragon Altar and started
fighting with weapons. You have to stop them before someone gets killed.”
I didn’t think before I spoke, “If they’re fighting over you then you’re
the only one who can stop it..” My eyes were magically drawn to the action
“What?!”
I said, “If you say you like Boomba then Seth will get mad, but he
will lose the will to fight. If you say you like Seth then Boomba will
continue his rampage until he kills everyone keeping him from you.”
She wailed louder, “But I can’t choose either one of them.” She broke
I watched the combat taking place on top of the tower. The giant
repeatedly thrusted a sharp pole at the little guy who reacted by jumping
sword was slicing too close. Instinctively I yelled, “Boomba, watch out!
cheering the fighters. Eventually, it seemed that Boomba was hurt or tired
because he backed off. Then he turned the pole broadside and threw it. Seth
hesitated. He couldn’t evade left or right because the pole came at him
sideways. Instead he blocked with his forearms. While Seth was reeling
from the blow Boomba began climbing down the rope. It was tied to a
wooden beam rising above one corner of the platform. The other end of the
rope was tied to the Dragon Temple building. Seth picked up his sword and
the rope with his massive body bending the rope halfway to the ground.
Seth slashed the rope with his long curved sword. Boomba fell about fifteen
feet and landed face down with his arms and legs spread out—not the right
way to fall. It looked like Boomba was dead. I yelled, “Somebody help
him!” To my surprise Boomba rolled over and sat up. I felt incredible relief
that he was okay. Then movement drew my eyes back to Seth. He backed
away from the edge of the platform and pointed his sword to the sky,
holding the handle with both hands over his head. He looked like a Samurai
preparing to strike. Flames engulfed most of the ladder on the side of the
burning altar. I wondered how he would get down. The fire trucks finally
began spraying water on the fire, but the water made the smoke much worse.
I could barely see Seth on the tower. Then the crowd gasped when Seth ran
and leaped into the air. He made a suicide dive with his sword….straight
coming at him from the sky. I never saw such a big guy move so fast as
when he rolled to avoid the sword. There was a horrible thud when Seth hit
technicians swarmed over Seth. After a few minutes I saw fingers pointing
The police held me face down on the street and told me they had
loaded guns pointed at my head. I wasn’t resisting, but they were forceful
and rough. They must have been pumped up with adrenaline from watching
the deadly fight. Now they were using their adrenaline on me and everyone
else. All the pointing and arresting looked like a witch hunt. I wondered if
they were arresting all the members of the Temple. I figured they were
going to blame this whole thing on me. When I tried to explain that I didn’t
have anything to do with it they told me that I had the right to remain silent.
They recited the Miranda rights so I shut up. From the back of a cop car I
saw tears running down Etherea’s face. A lump formed in my throat. I was
choking on self pity and shame even though I was innocent. I should have
felt bad for Seth, but all I could think about was how I needed to be with
Etherea. Would they lock me up in jail for a long time? Would they send
me to prison? It seemed my life was over when I had just tasted the sweet
love I had always wanted. Now I was a prisoner with a view of the pain that
Would they let me out before she forgets her feelings for me? Would they
The cop car took me away, but suddenly I couldn’t help laughing
when I saw Rex sitting in the back of a cop car. I hope they lock him up for
life.
At the jail they took away my clothes and all my personal things
including the keys to my car, my wallet with my driver’s license, bank card
and credit cards. They took away my identity and gave me an orange
jumpsuit. I felt like a criminal in the outfit they made me wear. I felt dirty
when they rolled my fingers in ink and took my prints. I felt hopeless and
guilty when they photographed me in a mug shot. The system processed and
expect or how to get an attorney. My energy was gone and I had nothing to
do, so I laid on the narrow bed on the bottom bunk and cried into the cold
The tears dried up, but I still felt sorry for myself. I missed Etherea
Since I couldn’t cry any more I just rested on my back and let
thoughts swirl in my head. The conspiracy began to make sense. Rex had
planned it to happen this way. He knew the cops would come and arrest
everybody. That’s why he had the students build a big wooden altar and set
the news.
bars and turned on a tiny TV. Every news channel showed scenes of the
flaming tower. They showed clips of the duel over and over with various
mystery. They offered theories about how the duel started and why there
was a tower and why it was on fire. Then I saw Rex on TV. He explained
the burning tower was a Dragon Shrine. It was set on fire on purpose to
honor the “White Dragon Spirit.” He said that most fighters like all kinds of
culture, but that Seth prefered Japanese culture and considered himself a
Samurai. Seth was the Dragon Temple’s first “Kami” which means “Spirit”
in Japanese. He said that in the Dragon religion the warriors who died in
hero spirits. In honor of Kami Seth he said that anyone who claimed to be a
Dragon must wear a Kami sword everywhere they go, even in public, even if
Dragon must risk getting arrested because the Dragon High Cleric was
arrested and still in jail for practicing the Dragon religion. He said that
Dragons will continue burning Dragon Shrines with sacrificial combat every
I figured Rex was happy to get his face on TV, but why would he say I was
figured it was better to let me take the blame while he ran the show.
Jail guards led me out of my cell and gave me back my clothes. They
and had to walk across town to my car. What kind of justice was this?
I started walking. Maybe I should have been angry, but I was happy
to be free and outside. I loved the air even though it was tainted by the smell
of car exhaust. A minute here on the street was much more enjoyable after
An old red truck pulled over on the side of the road in front of me. I
couldn’t see through the dark tinted windows, but when the doors opened I
was up to, but he didn’t act like he would attack. He stopped in front of me
and with both hands and held up the sword horizontally as he bowed to me.
At first I thought it was a peace offering, so I bowed and accepted the sword.
Then I noticed that he also wore a sword and I remembered that he said all
Dragons must wear a Kami sword. As I looped the strap over my head and
sword in public made me feel powerful. It was a much better feeling than
the helplessness I felt in jail. Then he gave me a hug. I don’t know why I
He said, “I’m so glad your out, man.” I felt his hands patting my
back. My resistance broke down and I felt tears streaming down my face. It
was good to have Rex treat me like a friend. He said, “Come on, Boomba’s
“Okay.” I climbed into the old truck and sat between Boomba and
Rex. We asked Boomba about the fight and we talked about what happened
to Seth. We all agreed that women were trouble, but they were worth it.
Boomba was happy to have Tansao all to himself now, but he was still
Funny how life works out this way. After hitting rock bottom it was
We were rivals for most of our lives. Now Rex and I were friends.
At the Temple there was a charred tower still standing in the parking
lot. Rex said that we would tear it down tomorrow, but tonight we would
They were the combined teens from both schools and they all watched me,
“We all die.” I waited a few seconds for that truth to sink in. “Most
people are in denial of this fact…..until they see death coming and they
appropriate. “Does anyone admire an old man who begged the doctor for
something to keep him alive a few more months?” Nobody spoke up.
away, but we were amazed by Seth because he charged boldly into death.”
I looked at Tansao. She had tears streaming down her face. “Tansao,
She pulled a thin wallet out of a back pocket of her jeans. As she
walked to me she removed a small photo from her wallet. She bowed as she
handed the photo to me. I bowed as I accepted the picture. Then she walked
I walked slowly along the mirrored wall to the back corner. There
was a white painted statue in the form of a serpentine dragon. Its open
mouth was shoulder high and facing the center of the room. I set the picture
upright in the dragon’s mouth and it was held in place by the wooden fangs.
I said, “This represents Kami Seth who is now a hero spirit giving
power to the White Dragon.” I bowed to the photo and said, “Life is short,
but your hero spirit is forever.” I turned and said, “Let’s all show our
respects for Kami Seth. Repeat after me.” Then I faced the dragon and
bowed.
“But Kami Seth is forever.” The teens echoed, “But Kami Seth is
forever.”
statue. Quietly they bowed to the statue and then set candles on the lit floor.
I said, “When a cloud is at ground level we call it fog. And the fog
outside is so thick it makes chaos on the roads. Open the door and let the
fog come in because the White Dragon comes with it. Think about the
chaotic nature of the White Dragon. Think about Kami Seth and how
mind was always swirling and rarely focused. Although his fighting skill
was advanced his spiritual level was like a white belt. He was ambitious, yet
his goals were not clearly defined or prioritized. All he knew for sure was
does not become reincarnated to live again in the flesh. Instead he joins the
Dragon Spirits and becomes a white dragon himself. Let us meditate and
I saw Etherea sitting on the floor next to Tansao and Boomba. I sat
next to Etherea. She leaned over to me and gave me a long hug. I hugged
her back. I felt her warm wet tears on my neck. We said nothing. When she
let me go I saw that all the teens were sitting cross legged and facing the
placed something on the floor. Then she bowed and came back to me and
sat down.
Etherea was the first to get up. I knew she couldn’t stay up late, so I
was not surprised she had to go. I stood up, gave her a hug and said, “Good
night.”
“I’m not leaving yet,” She said. “I just have to check the lottery
numbers.”
“What?”
“You know, for the ticket.” She pointed towards the foot of the
dragon where a small receipt lay curled on the floor in the midst of many
burning candles.
“Oh.”
I walked with her to the front office computer. She checked the
internet and wrote down six numbers on a piece of scrap paper. Some teens
followed us back to the dragon statue and watched Etherea pick up the Lotto
receipt. We all saw her eyes get big as she read the numbers.
time from the official Lotto site. I repeated each number back from the
receipt. When she said the last number, “six” and I repeated “six” she
I answered, “Yes…..I can’t believe it, but it looks like we really won.”
WON! We WON!!!”
Everybody was excited. Rex came over and looked at the Lotto
receipt and checked the computer screen. He was shocked, but soon he
joined the excitement and hugged Etherea and me. Soon everyone was
hugging and fantasizing about the future. Tansao said we should build a
memorial for Kami Seth. Rex agreed, but he said we should buy a big
mansion with enough rooms for everybody to live together in a new Dragon
Temple.
We ordered pizza and had a party. Wild music blasted and Etherea
drove her home because she was too tired to keep her eyes open.
I hugged her at her apartment door and we kissed on the lips. Then
Very happy.
were trying to catch drunk drivers. I slowed down and stopped at the curb.
When I went for my wallet my hand bumped into a sword scabbard. Oh no!
I didn’t want to get arrested again. I unbuckled my seat belt and leaned to
the right to pull the sword out. The convertible top was down so I reached
over the windshield and set the sword on the front hood of my car.
I heard a man’s voice from a loudspeaker on the cop car. “Step out of
the car.”
I complied.
I did.
“Turn around.”
on the front of the car out of reach. I thought it was the right thing to do.
“Walk backwards.”
This was ridiculous. I was being treated like a criminal and I had to
lay on the dirty street. It was Saturday night! A drunk driver might run over
me.
with my hands on my head. I reached for the ground to ease myself onto my
belly.
I reached for the top of my head again. I had to do a belly flop to get
“Don’t move.” My left wrist was grabbed and pulled behind my back
as a knee pushed on the back of my head and the left side of my face ground
into the pavement. Then my right wrist was pulled to my back and I was
“No.”
pockets?”
“No.”
They frisked me and then shoved me to the ground and said, “Stay
One officer went to the front of my car and picked up the sword.
“Sorry.”
drove away with me in the back of the cop car I asked, “What about my
car?”
“It’ll be impounded.”
“What?!”
After I was fingerprinted and photographed for the second time that
day I was sat down by a phone. An officer held the receiver up to my right
“I don’t know the number,” I said. “It’s in my cell phone. Can I use
my cell phone?”
“Okay, I’ll get it for you.” He left me sitting with my hands cuffed
When the officer brought my cell phone I told him how to look up
Rex’s number. I was relieved when Rex answered and he assured me that he
I replied flatly, “I am, the handcuffs are so tight they’re cutting into
my wrists.”
As time dragged by I still had hope, but I laid on the cot because I was tired.
It must have been after midnight. I thought they would let me out soon, but
Lights came on and woke me up. A food tray was slid under the bars
of my cell.
Breakfast?! I was here all night?! I thought Rex was going to bail me
out.
I realized it was Sunday. Maybe the judge was off today. Maybe I
had to sit in jail until Monday. I still had hope that I would get out, but it
would have been better if someone would tell me what was going on.
Nobody told me anything. Waiting was the only thing to do, except eat
breakfast.
So I picked up the food tray and ate. What else could I do?
it was the happiest time of my life. Now I was in jail eating alone. I
wondered if she knew I was in jail. Rex must have told her. What about her
car? I gave her a ride home. I hope somebody picked her up and took her to
her car.
Maybe it was a bad idea to wear a Kami sword. Maybe it was a bad
idea to listen to Rex. Maybe I should go away with Etherea and forget about
wondered if Rex is flirting with her. Maybe that was why I was still sitting
going on there was nothing I could do about it. I was stuck in jail and I
Guess I’ll just have to wait a while longer. It would help if I knew
And wait.
And think.
Another food tray slid under the bars. I ate it. Then I went back to
patiently waiting.
Another food tray. This one had hot dinner. I ate it….and waited.
image formed of Giligan’s Island. At least they had each other on the island.
a cell without fresh air, maybe a little breeze, the sounds of birds or anything
interesting.
Locked up…..like in an old rap song. “Locked up. They won’t let me
out. I’m locked up…..” The song played in my head on continuous repeat.
After what seemed like hours a guard came and cuffed me. He led me
me. The guard led me back to my cell and removed the cuffs. Nobody gave
me an attorney. They didn’t explain what was going on. They didn’t help
me.
I was frustrated and angry, but helpless. I felt like crying, but I was
The guard came and cuffed me again. He led me to a room and sat
“Oh, your friend posted bail for you. You can go as soon as we finish
talking here.”
recorder?”
“I just want to ask you a few questions.” He leaned back in his chair.
“Fine.” I sat forward and watched him press the buttons. He stated
his name, rank, the date and my name. From now on my voice would be on
He leaned back, stroked his dark mustache and acted superior. “Do
leaned forward. “Did you know you could’ve legally kept a loaded gun in
“No.” I wondered why the law was so unfair. “A gun is okay, but a
sword is illegal?”
“That’s right,” He finished his donut and took a sip of coffee. “In
Texas you can have a loaded pistol, rifle or shotgun in your car, but not a
sword.”
He leaned back. “Yeah. Most criminals use guns. But not you. You
used a sword.”
hands because they were cuffed behind my back. I squirmed. “What are
I was afraid he was accusing me of the six boys Seth killed in the
He leaned forward, took off his glasses and stared me down. “You
like to take your sword to the park late at night don’t you?”
completely honest. For martial arts demos we all brought our weapons to
“If you want to kill someone a gun makes a lot of noise. Is that why
a Kami sword.”
couldn’t do in hand cuffs. Then he tucked in his uniform shirt and slowly
walked around the desk. He stood behind me. “Who is Rex? Is that the guy
“Does Rex know you killed six children in the park last month?”
kill anyone.”
“You had to have some help with the murders.” He leaned over my
face. “How could you kill six kids all by yourself? Didn’t they try to run
away after you killed the first one? You must have had a whole gang with
you.”
His theory was way off base. I pictured six gang kids with guns
surrounding Seth, but I couldn’t tell the officer what I knew or it would be
soon as you tell me what happened, I’ll be satisfied. I just want to know
what happened. Then you can relax. Trust me…..you’ll feel much better
I didn’t answer. I knew that I would not feel better after betraying a
friend, even a dead one. I felt like Kami Seth was watching me from
dead on the spot. I imagined my head rolling on the floor and saw my face
donut.
Then I spoke boldly, “I read it in the news. Those kids were gang
bangers. They had guns and they shot bullets all over park. The news said
He slammed his coffee mug on the desk and jabbed a finger at me.
“They were just kids.” His finger pointed at my face and closed in
menacingly.
Killers.”
face and pointed right between my eyes. I felt like he wanted to shoot me
implicate me. “You don’t like gangs. So, that’s why you killed those boys.
The officer returned to his seat. “Fine. Since you’re so sure of your
I grimaced as I watched him bite the donut with the imaginary blood.
He chewed a while and stopped. “If you’re innocent then you should
“You don’t want to do your duty? I thought you said you were
innocent.”
cops except me. If someone points at one of them they won’t get in trouble.
innocent. I’ll get blamed and everyone will assume that I’m guilty.”
His attitude was making me angry. “You don’t care about justice.
You just want to pin the crime on somebody and close the case. Listen to
He nodded, “Right.”
court.”
polygraph test. If it says you’re innocent I’ll believe you and you’ll be free
to go.”
The officer stood up and said, “How long do want this to go on? I’m
walked behind me and said, “If you’re innocent then you’ve got nothing to
prints on the gun I gave Seth. No, if they had my prints at the crime scene
worry like this. I did worry, but I was determined to resist their attempts to
get me to confess.
After about an hour the officer came back and unlocked the cuffs. He
“No thanks.” I stood up from the chair. I still felt like I was not yet
free.
Rex met me with a fake smile that didn’t linger. He seemed nervous.
We walked outside and then he hugged me. He said, “I thought they were
never going to let you out. They asked me all kinds of questions about you.”
I hugged him back. “I was afraid they weren’t going to let me out.
Rex let me go and looked me in the eyes. “You didn’t say anything
did you?”
“No,” I looked him square in the eyes. “I didn’t tell them anything.”
reason they let you out was because a couple of cop friends of ours said that
“Okay.”
Once inside the SUV he said, “If the cops find out you sent Kami Seth
on a mission to intimidate gang kids they will charge you with murder. The
“I know.” I sat silent in the leather seat. As I reached for the seat belt
I said, “But I told him to just scare them, not to kill anyone.”
Rex turned the key and gave me a serious look, “Nobody respects you
unless you’re willing to kill.” He grinned, “The trick is getting away with
it.”
Rex drove out of the way to show me a street lined with mansions.
Each was surrounded by steel fences that looked like rows of sharp spears
pointed up.
I said, “Those fences look like the kind you don’t want to climb over.”
He laughed, “I think that’s the idea. If a thief tries to climb the fence
aren’t you?”
He stretched his left arm out to grab a page from the tube.
“We can afford it now that we won the Lotto.” He rolled up the
He steered into the parking lot. “The first tower fight gave us enough
mana to win the Lotto. If we make the next one more spectacular then we
man. Just because a lottery ticket happened by chance to win Rex thought
that it was the magical result of burning a tower with fighters on top. And
he was prepared to repeat the insane ritual with the expectation of more
miracle rewards.
He parked the SUV and turned off the engine. “Come on. I’ll show
you who’s ready to fight next.” He grinned and got out of the vehicle.
students fighting each other and I had to find out who was volunteering for
I followed Rex into the gym. In spite of my inner panic I still bowed
spun and jumped while swinging two Chinese sabers, one in each hand. His
graceful agility and smooth arced motions looked beautiful. I noticed that
all the teens watched him closely. The girls seemed to be trying to get his
When the sword form ended the teenage boy stopped and stood
perfectly straight with his hands down at his sides and his sabers tucked up
Rex declared, “Excellent! Dao has volunteered for the Blue Dragon
Rex said, “That’s okay. We’ll have plenty more new people joining
the Temple soon. They saw us on the news all over the world. I bet the
fight was very popular on YouTube. The next one will really draw a
crowd.”
Rex broke the silence, “Maybe Dao was too good in his demo. Pool
sharks start out playing lame in order to lure in a sucker.” He walked to the
back wall of weapons and picked two wooden practice sabers. “Okay, Dao,
practice sabers. He walked to the center of the gym and faced Rex. They
Rex took a pose with one sword high and one back and low. He
opponent. “Wind dragon and river dragon cannot be stopped. They always
and saying, “Double dao dancing in Tao.” Then he spun with his blades out
in a whirlwind attack.
Rex pushed his swords forward and began spinning with the flow of
Dao’s weapons. They looked like meshed gears turning together in high
speed. Wooden swords clunked with fast rhythm. In a second it was over
and Dao was wringing his hands, his swords dropped on the floor.
Rex bowed to Dao who bowed in return. “Anybody want to challenge Dao
with steel instead of wood? The big show is day after tomorrow.”
When Dao picked up the dropped sabers and carried them to the back
wall I followed him. After he hung up the practice swords he turned and
“Yeah, I jumped down off the top of a car and Wham!” I clapped my
resisting.”
“I don’t know.” I chuckled. “It still hurts when you let people beat
you up and grind your head into the pavement.” I pointed to the sores on my
face.
“Yep.”
“Hey,” I grabbed his arm to keep him talking with me. “Why did you
I took a special Tai Chi sword from the wall. “This is the last thing
you’re ever going to see.” I thrust it at Dao’s chest. The telescoping blade
collapsed into the handle making it look as if the blade were piercing his
Dao looked down and frowned at the illusion of his own death. He
pushed the trick sword away from his chest. “You can’t psyche me out. I’m
not afraid of death. After my brother died in Iraq my heart was ripped out. I
don’t care anymore.” He tromped away and I didn’t want to bother him
again.
Rex came to me and held up his hands like he wanted high fives. “We
got the money! Etherea is on her way back from Austin right now.”
occasion I have a gift for you.” He walked quickly to the front desk and
brought back a long box. He held out the box and I accepted it.
I laid the cardboard box on the floor and opened it. Inside was a
straight sword.
black handle and it felt warm to the touch. “What kind of wood is this?”
Rex boasted. “The grip is Iron wood. The sheath is hickory. It was
designed so that you can use the scabbard as a club or you can use it for
I drew the sword from its scabbard and admired its symmetry. “A
perfect jian.” The straight slender blade was double edged with a sharp
I flicked the sword to test its balance and weight. “It’s amazingly
light. Ridgid, yet flexible.” I tapped my left fingers on the middle of the
nice.”
Rex pulled his sword and held its handle out to me. Try them both
I held both swords up in front of me. The katana’s blade was curved
while the jian was straight. I swung them towards the ground and barely
missed, so I knew the blades were both about 29 inches. I made flick and
parry motions and remarked, “Wow, this jian is so quick. It feels light as
out of special alloys layered for a perfect combination of speed and control.”
a trick. I wanted to trust him, but why should I? What if this sword was
designed to shatter when struck a certain way? I might not find out until my
“The scabbard has a belt clip.” He pointed at the clip. “It’s perfectly
balanced to put the grip in the sweet spot for either hand draw.
heavy enough to pull the left side of my pants down a little. “I don’t think I
Rex acted disappointed, but he kneeled to the box and pulled out the
When I felt the light bamboo in my hand I was pleased. “Now this is
much better!” I unclipped the heavy wood scabbard and set it on a couple of
wooden dowels on the weapon wall. Then I clipped the bamboo scabbard
on my left side and sheathed my new sword. “It’s so light I can hardly feel
the weight.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “The jian is the king of swords. I don’t need to
With both hands Rex patted the swords he wore on each side. “I like
double willow leaf sabers. The dao is the general of all weapons. It
I must have stared at him with a blank expression for a few seconds
while thoughts went through my head. In my mind I was arguing that the
dao replaced the jian only because it took more skill to make a good jian and
it required more skill to use a jian. Comparing a jian to a dao was like
Rex raised his shoulders and his eye brows at the same time,
“What?!”
and acted like old friends. I believed he was trying to make a fresh start with
this peace offering. Then I thought about the irony of a sword as a peace
offering.
Dao fell on the ground, but quickly jumped to his feet. His face was
red with anger as he rushed at Longsword. Getting angry was a big mistake.
Longsword threw Dao on his back, hard. An instant later Dao was up again
and raging with fury. He cussed. Such language was rarely heard in this
gym.
Dao was still red-faced with anger when he apologized to me and Rex
with a bow. Then he turned to Long. He raised his palms to the center of
his chest, one in front of the other, Wing Chun style, but as he stepped
forward he seemed too tense, which was wrong for a style that required a
loose and responsive body structure. Long stood relaxed and showed no
the fist menacing in front of his chest. It was clenched so tight that is was
quivering.
victoriously.
Longsword stared at Dao for a few seconds until Dao lost his smile.
Then Long clapped his hands together and raised them upwards like a two
handed hook punch with both hands still clapped together. They didn’t hit
Dao on the face or body, but they cleared the centerline. Then he grabbed
Dao’s head and pulled close into a Thai clinch. A flurry of knee strikes to
Dao’s gut lifted him off the ground a few times. Dao retaliated with useless
flailing while trying to hit Long on the sides, but the centerline was out of
reach while he was trapped in the clinch. Then Long pulled Dao’s head
down for a knee strike to the face. Dao fell to the ground, limp. The fight
was over.
bowed to Dao, then to me and then to Rex. Long turned and walked to his
When Dao struggled to get up his confidence was gone. His ears
turned red with embarrassment. He drew his shining sabers and crossed
lose..…..and with swords you can’t afford to lose.” Then Dao sheathed his
twin sabers and strutted out of the gym, only stopping to bow at the door.
I was proud of Long for three reasons. He didn’t lose his temper. He
Suddenly, I lost track of those thoughts when Etherea opened the door
to get close to her for a hug. After the hug she told everybody what they
“I just got back from Austin and I have the money!” So much excited
Etherea replied, “Well, first I’m going to give a million dollars to the
Etherea prolonged the pause for dramatic effect, “…..one thing we’ll
After much hugging with all the teens Etherea walked outside with me
alone. She explained why she had been playing the lottery. She needed a lot
of money to get the insurance that would pay for organ replacement, which
she would need to stay alive as her Lupus continued to get worse.
I was relieved she would be okay with insurance to pay her medical
and surgical expenses. I was thrilled to be walking side by side with her and
holding hands. I had to be careful not to squeeze her hand because she said
her knuckles were sore. She explained that arthritis was part of her
symptoms of Lupus. She said that normally her hands were loosened up
later in the day, but now they were stiff from driving to Austin and back. To
explain it she held her palms together, like in a prayer, except her hands
I cautiously reached for her hands and gently caressed them. Her skin
was soft and warm. I looked deep into her eyes and slowly leaned to her for
a kiss. I closed my eyes and felt her tender lips on mine. Then I leaned back
and grinned like the happiest guy in the world. It was wonderful to see the
joy in her eyes. Her perfectly straight teeth gleamed bright in the eerie light
of the mercury street lamp that made her lips appear deep purple.
“It’s getting late,” I said. “I’d better walk you to your car.”
At her car we hugged and kissed good bye. I couldn’t help kissing her
with passion like I wanted much more than a kiss. I smelled her hair and
kissed the left side of her neck. Into her left ear I spoke in a low masculine
voice, trying to be sexier than the other three billion men on earth, “See you
tomorrow.”
Her soft feminine voice came into my left ear and conquered my
I felt warm tingles fill my chest as she slowly released me. While she
got into her car and buckled herself in I felt my body melting. It took all my
shoulders back. The wind played in her hair as she drove away waiving with
pumping bliss through every artery to each cell of my body. Billions of cells
I had tasted love and realized that I had been starving for it my whole
life. Nobody had ever made me feel good the way she did. The only
comparison I could think of was of a starving man who crawled from the
desert into a free buffet. He would be saved from the brink of death and feel
incredible joy at the sight, smell and taste of wonderful food. My desert was
the lonely life before I met Etherea. She was my oasis. Knowing that I
would see her again tomorrow was like the lost man being told that he was
welcome to stay in the restaurant and not be forced to perish in the desert.
Tuesday morning I woke up early. How could I sleep any later while
I was filled with the expectation of being with Etherea again today? She
rubbed its body on my leg, speaking to me in feline. The spring air was
clean and cool. I watched people driving in a hurry to their boring jobs. I
couldn’t worry about a job. Maybe I should get one, but I couldn’t focus my
her, the biggest Lotto winner in the history of Texas. I hoped she knew that
I didn’t want her for the money. I wanted her before she won the lottery.
supposed to be at work?”
“Practice what?”
I spilled milk out of the bowl. “You mean you’re going to fight Dao?
With swords?”
before walking quickly to the entrance of the temple. After a quick bow in
I set my cereal bowl on the pavement for the cat and went inside.
“Hey Long….”
saber routine.
him.
I pretended I didn’t see him, “Humm dee dum dee dum….” I teased
I picked up another pad. “I bet you can’t avoid a direct hit while
“Oh yeah?”
faked twice and watched him react spastically each time. When he was back
into his routine I threw the pad and hit his chest.
another one.”
I faked three times and each time he over reacted. On the fourth time
I threw the pad and he under reacted. The pad hit his left shoulder.
He hung the wooden sabers on the weapon wall and took a bokken, a
wooden Samurai practice sword. He held it with both hands like it was a
base ball bat. In a batter’s stance he said, “Try ‘n’ hit me now.”
I aimed behind his back. It would miss, but I anticipated his left
He swung fast and his left elbow hit the pad hit.
“Gotcha!” I bragged.
“Again!” he challenged.
I threw the pad without any fakes. He hit the pad with the bokken.
I countered, “It’s a good thing you had practice at that.” Then I took a
else.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing you’re not fighting me.” I put the spear
on the wall and took two katana, one in each hand. “Cause if I was in a
sword fight and I had two swords….” I turned and threw a sword from my
right hand. It flew handle over blade over handle as it made its way to the
archery target and stuck a few inches above the center. I turned to see the
look on his face, but he wasn’t impressed. “I can throw one sword and still
have a sword to fight with.” The sword in my left hand sliced through the
I needed more than a one word answer from him. “What happened?”
Summer when it nailed me. I got really mad because I tried to swat it, but it
“That’s good.”
I put the katana back on the wall and took two wooden Chinese broad
swords known as ox tail sabers. These were practice versions of the broad
I said, “I’m going to pretend I’m Dao. I’ll spin around like him. You
pretend you’re a wasp. Stay out of reach and try to sting me with a foil
“Okay.” He put the bokken on the wall and took a blunt-tipped foil in
his right hand. He seemed awkward as he tried to use a fencing stance that
“Don’t you know the Europeans perfected the art of dueling with
swords?” I made a lunge towards Max, but stopped short of hitting his chest
Long ran his left index finger along the foil. “It seems flimsy and has
no edge.”
I said, “The European duelers proved that a rapier without any edge
can beat a razor sharp broad sword. If the other guy attacks first you can use
the side of your blade to deflect his attack away from the centerline…..like
I said, “Of course, you have to attack with speed and jump back
I swiped his foil away as I spun with both wooden swords. This
wasn’t how I would fight. I was just pretending to fight like Dao. One of
my hickory blades blocked Longsword’s foil and one smacked across his
right arm.
“Ow!!!” He dropped the foil and clasped his left hand over the stripe
stuck to his sweaty face. “I need a hair band.” He walked away from me
for protection.”
“It’s only for a little while. Next, you get to wear chain mail.” I put
on a fencing jacket, mask and bib. “Okay, well….you attack me the same
We were sweating inside the outfits, but it must have been better than
not having padding because Long didn’t quit when he got tagged by the
hickory blades.
around like Dao because I didn’t want the foil to penetrate the back of my
blades.”
We put away the fencing gear and bogu and then we picked out chain
mail jackets. He had to wear foot ball pads under his chain mail for
protection from heavy saber blows. I insisted he wore a hockey helmet with
protect our necks we had to wear chain mail hoods under out helmets.
where he got his name. It was a long double edged straight sword with a big
hilt and handle. It was heavy enough to require double handed use, but
Long was strong enough to wield it with one hand. The tip was rounded for
practice.
hard.”
He inspected the metal sabers I would use. He thought their tips were
too dangerous.
“I’ll fix that.” I took the sabers outside and ground the tips on the
“I hope not.” I walked back inside because it was getting too warm in
my heavy outfit.
I said, “Just try to sting my chest. And I don’t have to tell you what
my chest.
stand it any more. When I took off the protective gear and showed him the
“Okay, Long. Hang up the mail and pads. Its time for you to just use
He asked, “After all that? You want me to use tai chi? I thought you
moved in slow tai chi form and suddenly jabbed my arm forward. “Before
the fight you must give a demo of your slow tai chi routine with a jian.
When he tries to psyche you out with his fast demo and mysterious sayings I
want you to hold up your tai chi sword and say, ‘The jian is the king of
swords.’ He will think you’re over confident and he might even laugh. This
followed by a speedy attack. At first I had to tell him to make his demo
you victory……and don’t tell anyone your strategy. Your life may depend
on it.”
Tansao was in charge of teaching the classes today, so I had the entire
day off. I planned to spend the evening with Etherea and it was very hard to
and waited eagerly for every second to pass. It seemed like I would have to
At two o’clock Tansao asked me, “Where are all the Tiny Dragons?”
for class.”
“But I took the day off from work so I could teach,” she complained.
“Don’t worry, some students will show up as the day gets later.”
to Seth?”
make me feel better. “If I was a mom, I wouldn’t bring a kid here. Not after
I couldn’t help filling with panic. What if she was right. “If parents
don’t bring their little kids I’ll be in serious trouble. They were my only
Tansao put her hand on my right arm. “At least Etherea has money.
Tansao looked past me. “Hello!” She walked toward the door. She
bowed to some ragged looking young men that had just entered the building.
She raised her voice with authority, “We always bow at the door and to each
They walked back to the door and bowed awkwardly. Tansao went to
the door and pretended to open the door and bow the proper way. She was a
wonderful teacher. They paid attention to her and followed her around. I
assumed they were attracted to her good looks and liked her for her cool
personality, but I suspected that martial arts was the thing they craved most.
They must have asked what they would learn here because she began giving
a demo. It looked like a well practiced routine, but the advanced students
predictable and that was a weakness. Yet she danced easily with grace and
power. Speed variance made her demo irresistible to the eye. She
rolling, posing and back flipping. The young men fanned her performance
with “Cool!” “Wicked!” and “No Way!” until one of them said a cuss word
to emphasize his amazement. Tansao stopped her demo and glared at the
offender.
“We don’t cuss,” She scolded. “If you want to join us then you must
show respect at all times.” She bowed to him and he bowed in return. Then
she smiled and asked if they wanted to learn some self defense moves.
I was glad to see newbies interested in joining, but from the ragged
clothes I figured they didn’t have money. We already had fifty teens here
since Rex’s clan joined mine. It seemed that Texas was filling up with
money or jobs had to be a ticking time bomb for society. How many times
in history did it end in revolution? Somehow I felt like I was on the verge of
a mind expanding new idea, but I lost it when I noticed Tasao waiving at me
to get my attention.
She called to me, “Mister Rad.” She bowed. “Let’s show them some
back a while later. So, I casually walked around Tansao like I was ignoring
her. They all watched me. Occasionally I pretended to sneak a peak and
then turn away. I acted like a stalking weirdo coming up behind her. The
She yelled, “Help! I’m being attacked!” At the same time she swung
her left elbow into my head and stomped on my right foot. Then she swung
her right elbow at my head. I began to feel a little pain, but I tried to grab
her arms and pin them against her sides. She lowered her weight by bending
her knees and dropping a few inches while she grabbed my right hand and
pulled it to her chest. Then she raised her hips lifting me off the ground. A
moment later I was landing on my back in front of her. She yelled, “Stay
Down!” as she pretended to punch my face. Then she threw a violent kick
that missed my face and she growled as she jumped over me and stomped
the ground near my head. “STAY DOWN!” She yelled as she backed away
I stood up and charged her with a football tackle. She caught my head
and rolled backwards. I was on top, but she choked my throat in a head
lock. I couldn’t speak, so I tapped my left hand on the mat. She loosened
her grip and said, “I can choke him out or…...” She rolled me onto my back
and put her weight on my chest. “This is a figure four lock.” She lifted my
Then she raised her body a few inches, surged into a roll and escaped at a
One guy asked, “Why did you yell for help when you were winning?”
stranger attacks you can’t assume that you won’t get hurt. Sometimes when
you defend yourself, you might get sued or arrested. In the past when
witnesses were questioned they had trouble remembering all the action
then you might be accused as the bad guy. On the other hand if you cry out
for help they will say, “I remember she said, ‘Help, I’m being attacked.’
That will save you from jail if the cops question witnesses. It also helps if
you leave the scene immediately before people get a good look at your face.
If you don’t kill the attacker then most likely the fight will just be forgotten.
The cops don’t make headline news for arresting brawlers. So, as long as
you don’t kill the guy who attacks you then there’s a lot you can do to him
“Sure,” Tansao answered. “I’ll get the forms and after you guys sign
they could, took off their shoes, emptied their pockets and started wrestling
“One on one!” I ordered. “You better take it easy with Tansao or she
One young man was especially aggressive. He got her on her back,
but he couldn’t get past her guard. She had her legs locked around his waist.
“In a real fight it’s okay to be on your back,” She grinned. “I’m not
wasting any energy this way and you’re running out of wind.” She held his
left hand against her chest and pivoted to her right while holding him back
with her left knee. Then she raised her right leg over his head and brought
her shin under his neck. As she straightened her right leg her shin pushed
against his neck and rolled him onto his back. She scissored her legs
together across his chest and leaned back holding his left arm in an arm bar.
“Now you have to tap out or your arm will break.” He didn’t tap.
Instead he struggled to get loose. She arched her back. “Doesn’t this hurt
other arm to try to push her legs off of his chest. “Maybe I should bite your
She laughed. “In a real fight I could smash your face with my foot.”
Tansao uncrossed her legs and pretended to stomp his face, but stopped just
before contact.
Clapping made me look away from the sparring match. Rex walked
Tansao released the boy, stood up and bowed to Rex. We all bowed.
Rex shook the boy’s hand. “I’m Master Rex. Do you have a name?”
“I’m Nick.”
“No, I mean …..a name. Something that tells people who you are.”
“Like what?”
Rex looked at the ragged young men and thought for a moment.
“Well, Seth took too long to come up with a name, so we just called him
Seth the Samurai. Now we call him Kami Seth. Kami means ‘divine
spirit.’”
the young men. “After a fighter dies we put the word Kami in front of their
name to show reverence and in return it brings us bravery and good luck.”
Rex and I laughed. He shared high five slaps with the other young
“Well, Kazi. If you guys want to join us then you’ll have to wear
Kami swords.” Rex motioned to the front door. “Come on. I just bought a
whole bunch of katanas. You guys can help me carry them from my SUV.”
I was surprised that Rex gave them swords for free. He seemed so
different….other than the fact that he was still acting like the supreme boss
While they were admiring their new swords Rex told them that they
had to wear their Kami swords all the time, even in public.
“Yeah, but that’s the price you pay for being one of us.” Rex patted
Kazi on the back. “Don’t worry. I’ll bail you out of jail. I’ve been bailing
people out of jail for the last few days. I even hired a lawyer to keep us from
getting convicted.”
“Cool!” Kazi held his sword high and seemed to worship it. “I’ll
definitely wear my sword all the time. It’s the ultimate fashion statement.”
All we have to do is say that wearing Kami swords is required for our
He put his arm around me. “I’m so glad you’re thinking like me,
I didn’t argue or say he was crazy. Actually, this was the same idea
that had been lurking in the back of my mind all morning. This idea must
have been waiting for an opportunity to solidify and take its place in the
world. Or, more likely, there was an unseen spirit whispering in people’s
ears to spread this idea around. And it didn’t take long to spread because
soon there were more young strangers coming into the temple and it seemed
Rex was already building an army. I watched the way he charmed them.
young people dressed in blue jeans and black T-shirts. I saw them raising
their swords high in the air. They began to chant: Rex. Rex. REX. REX.
REX!! R….
“Rad?”
“What?” I had no idea what could make her upset enough to pull
She pulled me by the arm to the front door and pointed outside.
“What’s that?”
I was shocked to see a crowd of youths busy with wood in the parking
your parking lot….and you don’t know what’s going on?” She glared at me.
“I’ll check it out.” I pushed open the door and strode outside. I saw
them laying wooden beams on the pavement. Some of them were setting up
saw-horses and some were drawing on the black top with chalk. There was
“Don’t worry,” answered a young man with short spiky black hair and
shiny metal spikes in his eyebrows. “We’ll have the tower finished by
tomorrow.”
Another young man with short spiky hair and body piercings had
large round circles in his ear lobes. It looked grotesque to me, but he must
have thought it was cool. “Yeah! And this one will be way bigger than the
last tower.”
The first youth continued with great enthusiasm. “And we’re gonna
“Awesome!” The second youth slapped hands with the first one and
exclaimed, “Let’s see if the fire department can put it out this time!”
“Not with water!” One said. The other laughed, “Ha Ha, no, that’ll
just make it splatter flames everywhere!” They went away laughing as they
walked to an old black truck and pulled more wood out of the cargo bed.
to the mother of that boy who died Saturday and now you’re building
another tower of death. I don’t want anything to do with this.” She stormed
away.
yelled at me, “I don’t know why I ever thought you were against violence.
But I’m not ignoring the red flags anymore. If fighting is what you’re all
about then we can’t be together.” She slammed the door and drove off with
After I watched her car disappear the two youths returned with a
wooden beam and dropped it on the pavement. One said, “Fierce!” The
I didn’t feel like talking. Instead I felt like sulking alone because
Ehtherea was angry at me. I walked to the curb next to the gym and sat
down. When young people came to talk to me I ignored them. So, after a
“What’s up, Mister Rad?” Her voice was bold and cheerful.
Schiavona put her arm around my shoulders. “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m not good company right now.” I didn’t want to say anything that
I would later regret, but it was hard for me to give fake smiles and make
left ear. “I don’t feel too good either. But I just got back from my first year
“On the last day of finals my boyfriend dumped me for a fat Barbie.”
Her arm left my shoulder and she leaned against my left side.
I barely reacted, “He chose a fat white girl over your hot body?” Of
“Yeah. Doesn’t make sense, does it?” She stretched out her right leg.
Dark brown skin covered her well defined muscles. “Is there something
I said, “You need to get over it. You don’t deserve to be down in the
dumps like me. What you deserve is someone who’s loyal to you.”
black men! They’re always goin’ for Barbies. Next time I’m gettin’
She interrupted, “Not old like you, but white. Know what I mean?”
“Uh…”
She went on, “If black men prefer white chicks then who is a black
I didn’t answer.
One of the youths must have heard her talking because he have her a
look.
She shook her head and spoke louder, “I said I’m gonna find a white
I was shocked to hear that from her. Usually, she blended in with
threatening posture. “Hey man, you better control your girlfriend ‘cause
She stood up and confronted them. “I ain’t his girlfriend and you
“So, who are you?” They both put their hands on their hips and
“Who am I? --I’m Schiavona and that’s Mister Rad.” She saw the
blank looks in their faces. “You don’t know who he is? He’s the boss
around here.”
against Rex anymore. I nodded, “Yeah, Rex is running the show now.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “He makes all kinds of plans that everyone
Musashi walked up. “These guys bothering you, Mister Rad?” His
left hand rested on the handle of a katana belted to his left side.
“No.”
doesn’t make you cry too much then we might let you join us.”
pointed at Musashi when he wasn’t looking. I knew what she was telling
me. She was planning to flirt with Musashi and I gave her a nod to indicate
It seemed like everyone had their heads full of romantic ideas and
didn’t care that they were building a tower of death. I was sick of this
therapy that brought my mind and body back together. After my legs and
feet were tired and my mouth was dry I found myself miles away. At least I
wasn’t anyplace that I wanted to be. So, I began walking back and I started
thinking of ways to get back everything that Rex had taken away from me. I
figured that it would help my plans if Longsword defeated Dao in the tower
fight. Then I would be seen as the superior teacher since Long was my
student and Dao was Rex’s student. That might make everyone inclined to
follow me. Then I could tell Rex to go away. I also figured that Rex was
planning for Dao to win and thus make himself appear the superior teacher.
I wondered what Rex was doing to make his pupil win. Would he cheat? If
when they were motivated. There were so many youths swarming around
that it was like a crowd at Six Flags. Of course, the attraction here would be
I would have felt better if I was doing the fighting myself. It was hard
to stand still and watch Longsword climb the ladder up the tower. If it was
many camera angles and close-ups enlarged the sweat on their faces and
showed every expression as the young men ascended. Rex must have spent
as a DJ described the scene and introduced Master Rex, the King of Martial
Arts. Then Rex took the stand and announced that the whole world was
watching on TV and the internet. I saw hands above the crowd holding their
cell phones up to video the action. News helicopters circled close and
pounded us with wind and noise. Police were ready with riot gear and
edge of the platform. Rex explained that the two escape ropes would ensure
a quick getaway in case either of the fighters wanted to chicken out. He told
the police that this was a peaceful assembly on private property and that this
congregation had every right to practice the free exercise of its religion. Rex
reminded us of the last event in which the White Dragon of the clouds was
honored by the burning shrine fight on Saturday and he told the world about
the riches granted to the faithful. When Ethera won the Mega Millions
lottery. Then he dedicated this tower to the Blue Dragon of the waters and
promised winning lotto tickets to everyone who had been arrested for
faithfully wearing Kami swords in honor of Kami Seth. Rex drew his katana
and held it high in the air. Hundreds of youth drew katanas and held them
high. Rex shouted, “Ka-mi, Ka-mi, Ka-mi…” The crowd echoed him, “Ka-
mi, Ka-mi, Ka-mi.” It was humbling and awesome to see him mold the
crowd to his will. The police anxiously put their hands on their guns. The
for guns.
When the fighters reached the top of the tower Rex sheathed his
katana and the crowd copied his example. I couldn’t blink as I stared at the
sacrificial fighters dressed in blue. They faced each other and bowed. I
tried to watch them on the tower, but since they were both wearing blue it
was hard to tell them apart, so instead I watched them on the big screen.
twin swords from a single curved scabbard on his left side. In an instant he
became a blue tornado of spinning blades. His body whirled and I wondered
how he didn’t get disoriented and fall off the platform. Then he stopped and
bowed. After a couple seconds Long took his time to bow and then he took
draw a straight sword and pose again. Eternity grudgingly dragged away as
motions and circular gestures gave the impression he was conjuring chi and
Fire raced half way up the legs of the tower. The crowd cheered.
When the fighters took ready stances the crowd silenced. On the big screen
Long’s face showed no fear. Dao’s face was fiercely aggressive looking
with his eyebrows pushed together and his eyes glaring. Close-up views
showed the muscles of Dao’s neck and arms. He was too tense. The
shaking of his hands vibrated his blades. Long stood balanced and relaxed.
As smoke began to curl over the top of the platform Dao stepped
forward and began to spin slowly. I could see his blades alternating from
high to low circles and then his speed increased as he drew closer to the
of his left hand pointed up. It was stylish, but his bare hand would be
useless against Dao’s sharp blades. Or maybe the bare hand was held out as
a target meant to bait a strike. Long had most of his weight on his right leg
with his left leg extended slightly forward and bent at the knee. His sword
was held back with the blade crossing at chest level and the point aimed at
Dao.
When Dao came within striking distance his fast spin slowed as he
extended his arms and created maximum range of attack. His left blade
that moment Long pivoted on the balls of his feet and twisted his body to
thrust his sword at Dao’s chest. Then Long threw his left hand forward
again and hollowed-out to move his hips back. He was just in time to avoid
Dao’s right blade as it swiped at waist level. There was a loud “Clang!”
sound as Dao’s left blade came around again and struck Long’s sword.
Long jumped back with his eyes wide in horror. He yelled, “You’re
CHEATING!”
Dao stopped spinning and yelled back. “So, you pretended to be slow
armor now!”
As they both took off their blue T-shirts I noticed comotion in the
crowd. Police were arresting the spectators. Even if they arrested all the
people on the ground how would they stop the fight? The tower ladders
were on fire. They burned with the fury of home made napalm smeared on
the lower half of the tower beams. I wondered how long it would take for
the entire tower to collapse or lean over and fall on the crowd.
The two fighters stood on the tower with their shirts off. Helicopters
circled to capture the news. Dao threw his chain mail off the tower. Then
the fight on the big screen. I saw Dao spinning and Long lunging. Then a
cop kneeled on my head and pinned my face on the pavement. I didn’t get
to see the end of the tower combat. From the back of the police car I looked
at the big screen TV, but it went dark. I looked at the tower, but all I saw
was thick smoke. Fire trucks had begun spraying water on the fire and the
I was eager to get to the jail cell so I could watch the news from the
TV there. The news played the fight scene over and over because the action
was too quick to believe it was over in just a split second. Dao spun, Long
had predicted days ago when I warned him about the last thing he would
ever see. Then I turned off the TV and wondered what would happen to
Rex’s attorney bailed me out of jail and Rex drove me back to the
temple. For the next couple hours people were very quiet as the young
people returned to the temple and milled around from group to group
Dao and he emphasized, “Make sure it’s exactly the same as last time….the
go his way. But I had a different idea. Since my student won the duel it
proved that I was the superior teacher. Now I had justification to denounce
everybody?”
“Everyone here has a lotto ticket with the same numbers as the one that won
last time.”
Rex tried to hand me his lotto ticket. “You can have my ticket. I
Etherea wanted the lotto winnings to help people. You turned it into a
depending on you. I already spent all the donation money bailing people out
murder. Good attorneys ain’t cheap, you know.” He stepped into me and I
stumbled back again. “Long’s depending on you. Are you going to help?
yield. My body was trapped, but my spirit still wanted to escape. It seemed
like I was standing far away and watching myself cooperate. I saw myself
lead the ceremony, but I looked more like an unwilling servant than a leader.
shine a spot light on the Blue Dragon statue and it told me things to say.
While I had everyone’s attention the words came out so convincingly that I
spirits. Some of his mana will be used to make our wishes come true and the
rest will join powers with the Blue Dragon.” I looked at Rex and saw a look
of shock and panic. However, the crowd of youth nodded in agreement with
me. They believed in my words and I felt the power of their faith. Boldly I
The fire-sprinklers burst a shower of water on us, yet the candles did
not go out. I saw a circular rainbow as I stared at the statue of the Blue
Dragon. Never before have I seen a rainbow indoors. The spraying water
soaked us yet the candles burned bright. I pointed at the statue. “It’s a sign.
if there’s a spirit with the power to grant my wish then I wish for Etherea to
When the spotlight was turned off the rainbow disappeared. I told
Saber to get the spot light turned on again and soon the rainbow returned. It
didn’t matter if the rainbow was the product of the spot light and the
looked up to Rex as the leader, but if they saw me as the one with magical
Just after ten o’clock that night the sprinklers turned off. Immediately
it began raining outside. A few great drops fell on the warm pavement
making steam for a while and then came a million tons of water. We all
went to the front door and watched as the parking lot became a lake and the
streets turned into rivers. I couldn’t help thinking that the water dragon was
throwing a big celebration. Rex checked his i-phone and declared the news.
He stood on a chair and shouted above the crowd saying that the numbers
There may have been only sixty five winning tickets, but there were at
least twice as many people celebrating and more young people were coming
through the door all the time. It was like a concert with standing room only
and Rex was the entertainer. He tried to calm the crowd and reminded them
that the six million dollar jackpot would get divided among all the winners,
so they would only get about ninety two thousand dollars each. Rather than
other. Rex went back to checking his i-phone. A smile grew on his face. I
the party for a while, but I was tired and sick of wearing wet clothes. I
wondered how long it would take for my wish to come true. I wanted
Etherea to come back right now. I needed her to give me a long hug. Then I
would explain to her that Rex was the one behind all of this and …..and then
I realized that I couldn’t tell her that I made a wish on Kami Dao’s mana.
After an hour the front door opened and Etherea stood there with a
terrible expression.
She was trembling and her voice cracked as she tried to speak,
“They….They….”
“They took all my money.” Her tears warmed my neck as she sobbed.
“What do you mean ‘they took all your money?’” I tried to look into
her face, but she was trying to tuck her face into my shoulder. “What
me of rigging the lotto and they froze my bank account. They said I have to
Rex was standing next to us. “They can’t do that. You won that
She answered, “But the same number that was on my ticket came up
“So?!” Rex crossed his arms and acted angry. “We won the lotto
using the same numbers as you. They still have to pay us.”
“No, they said they’re not paying!” She wiped her eyes. “They said it
was impossible for the same number to win twice and they’ll investigate to
Rex stomped his right foot and punched the concrete wall. He turned
and faced me as his face flushed red in rage. I put Etherea behind me stood
between her and Rex in case he might blame her for the lottery fiasco. If he
was angry enough he might attack her. But he didn’t. Instead he stomped
his way to the center of the room and drew his sword.
Rex declared with loud authority, “The people in charge of the lottery
wishes for winning the lotto could also make lightning. That same thought
Etherea hugged me and left. I realized that my wish had been granted,
but this wasn’t how I imagined it would be when she came back to me. I
wanted her to be happy. I felt a lump in my throat and the sorrow choked
my wish. I had wished for her to come back, but I had failed to specify how.
The threat of being struck by lightning five times would seem empty
Loud thunder shook the building. That was when I noticed an electric
with us.”
The temple was overflowing with too many people, so the parking lot
grew crowded with teenagers soaking in the rain. The tower was glowing
with still-burning embers that had been reignited in spite of the pouring rain.
There were many strange things drawing a mob to the supernatural presence.
But what was truly bizarre was the way the crowd continued to grow. By
morning there were about a thousand young people standing in the rain-
Suddenly the rain stopped and a few rays of light touched the Temple.
Rex pushed his way outside and climbed on top of his SUV. He announced
that we would be making a road trip to Austin to protest until they paid us
our lotto winnings. The cheers were deafening. Rex raised his sword and
the crowd hushed. He said that anyone who wanted to be a Dragon must
wear a Kami Dao saber in honor of Kami Dao, who gave his life to grant our
told them that the temple did not have enough for everybody, so they needed
to order from the internet. In the mean time they must wear any kind of
sword they could get until they had a Kami Dao saber. Then they must wear
it all the time and everywhere they go for the whole world to see.
Rex held his sword high, “When we wear a sword, they know who we
The mob shouted, cheered and whistled in chaos until Rex crossed his
lips with a finger in a shush sign. Then he raised his sword again and
chant in loudly.
I wondered if this how the roman orators drew power from the chaotic
When Etherea arrived Rex motioned her to him. The crowd lifted her
up onto Rex’s SUV and he told the crowd how the government took away
her Mega Millions jackpot. He said that now was the time for everyone to
said that it must be a peaceable protest. “If any cops come you must not
draw your weapons. We will only show the power of our numbers….and
our numbers will grow and grow…and GROW!” Then he sheathed his
sword and jumped off his SUV. When I saw Etherea getting into his vehicle
the street. The mob was scattering to their many cars, trucks and SUVs.
and realized that Rex truly was a powerful leader. Of course, I also realized
the clouds there were eyes looking back. The vague, puffy shapes always
morphed from one creature into another. Sometimes they looked like horses
racing across the sky…..then they stretched and curled into serpents, but
only for a minute until they tangled into thick giants wrestling for
domination of the heavens. So much shape changing didn’t fool me. I knew
Etherea smiled at me. “I like the shady clouds this morning. It means
“My skin breaks out with itchy rashes, my joints get achy and I could
I touched her fore arm with my hand. “Your skin is so soft. I’m glad
the clouds are protecting you from the sun.” I looked out the window. “Do
you think the clouds are purposely crossing the sky for your benefit?”
She looked out side for a moment. “No.” She turned to me, “Do
you?”
looked outside again and stared at the clouds boiling as they rushed to keep
She turned to gaze out the window. “When I was a kid I saw eyes in
open and there was a light on in the hallway, but I knew there were spirits
I leaned back in the back seat. “I stopped being afraid of the dark
when I was four, but now I’m wondering if it was just ignorance instead of
bravery.”
“So, now what do think is going on?” Her eyes lsearched for
understanding in my eyes.
I thought hard for a moment, “I think that some old magic was
of faith before. If people were miraculously healed then I thought it was just
made their predictions come true I figured it was just self fulfillment of their
own prophesies.”
“Well, I was always spiritual...” She said slowly. “Even when I was
spirits.”
She lowered her head and nearly whispered, “Do you think it was
dragon spirits that made me win the lottery?” She seemed worried.
I wanted to give her assurance, but I had to say what I thought was the
truth. “Yes. I think so.” I put my right hand on her shoulder. “But I think
“Don’t worry.” Rex said with authority. “The dragon spirits like us.”
we believed in them. For them our faith was a kind of mana. They fed on it
haven’t been performed in hundreds of years. But the tower fights were a
spectacular kind of sacrifice which gave the spirits enough mana to perform
miracles.”
I guessed what bothered her. “But you don’t like the idea that people
understand it in this way, “Buddhists say that death isn’t the end. They say
that people get reincarnated over and over again. They believe that we are
trapped this way and keep suffering for endless lifetimes. They say we need
enlightenment. But what if that isn’t the only way. Maybe self sacrifice is a
way out of the cycle. If you offer yourself to the spirits then how can you be
reborn in the flesh? Instead you become part of the spirit realm, right? At
least that’s what I think happened. Of course, we don’t really know for
Rex said sternly, “Don’t go talking to anyone else like that. You can’t
talk like you don’t know for sure or you’ll destroy their faith. They need to
hear you talk like it’s the absolute truth. You have to believe in the power of
We strolled through the Texas Capitol and then went outside to take
picture of Etherea and I leaning against a canon. I liked it best because I had
my arm around her and she had her head leaned against my shoulder.
For a while the weather was just right for Etherea since the clouds
gave us shade from the summer sun. But as Rex’s attitude became
increasingly biter the clouds grew darker and more menacing. Somehow he
young people, but the crowds grew rapidly and by noon the police began to
act uneasy. More cops showed up, but they were always outnumbered as the
crowd grew into a mob. The park lawns surrounding the Capitol filled with
go home. They said it was not legal for us to assemble here. Then the mood
TV news crews arrived and talked to people. Rex shoved his way
through the crowd and bullied his way in front of the cameras. I told
Etherea to stay out of trouble before I followed him to find out what he was
doing.
here!”
The tall, dark haired male reporter asked, “Who are you?”
Rex answered, “I’m Master Rex. I teach martial arts at the Dragon
Temple. My friends and I have winning Lotto tickets and we’re here to
protest the government’s refusal to pay us. We won the Lotto and they have
to pay.”
A tall blonde female reporter asked, “If you have winning Lotto
Rex leaned his head forward to the camera and acted very serious, “I
The reporters got excited and Rex was crowded with microphones,
“Tell us about the conspiracy. What’s going on? Are you accusing the
governor?”
make the viewers wait. “Well, I’m afraid to tell you because the police have
Rex said slowly, “The government only paid Lotto winners if they
were Christian. Everybody else disappeared and nobody even realized the
missing people had winning tickets. But this time my friends and I had sixty
five winning tickets and we promised to share with all our friends. There
were too many of us, so the government couldn’t get rid of us.”
A female reporter balked, “That sounds like a far fetched story to me.
Rex nodded, “Of course.” He pulled out his winning Lotto ticket and
held it up for the cameras. “And my friend over there…..” Rex pointed over
the crowd to Etherea. “She had a winning ticket for Mega Millions. The
government paid her, but then they took the money back when my ticket
Lotto drawings?”
immediately after we had a sacrificial combat. I won with the same numbers
Then the reporters asked a lot of questions about the fight ceremony
and sacrificial combat and they asked if the Dragon Temple was demonic
I imagined that Rex might soon see himself on TV with most of his
words cut out and only the most controversial of his words might be aired,
‘Satan worship.’ That would make him associated with evil in the minds of
the public.
Since this looked like Rex was digging himself deep into a hole of bad
publicity I pushed my way back through the crowd to Etherea. But I didn’t
make it to her before a bunch of cops tackled me and held me face down on
the ground.
One cop had his knee on my back between my shoulder blades and it
“No,” I said. I was hoping they would let me up, but instead they
between me and the cops that touched me. With my face sideways on the
ground I saw out of the corner of my eye when a cop had his hand raised
He said, “This is one of the protest leaders. I’m gonna cuff ‘im, Okay
Sarge?”
As the Seargent said, ‘Okay,’ I saw his mouth move, but I didn’t hear
eyes were blinded for a while, but the imprint of lightning lasted while the
ringing in my ears continued. It was hard to see, but the crowd around me
The cop with the cuffs groaned and rolled over before sitting up, “Oh
The Seargeant touched him on the back and received a static jolt,
“You just got hit by lightning! Are you sure you’re okay?”
The downed cop said, “My fingers got burned when the lightning
The Seargent said, “You better go to the hospital and get checked by a
doctor. But I’m glad you’re alive. You’re one tough…..” He glanced at the
He said, “If you want we can put you in an ambulance and get you
He kneeled beside me, “Okay then, roll over and stay face down. Put
I cooperated.
hair stand up again. This time I knew what was happening as the static
charge built up. I closed my eyes to avoid the blinding flash, but my ears
were deafened by the crack of thunder. It sounded like the Seargent had
exploded, but when I opened my eyes I saw him lying on his back ten feet
away.
The Seargent was still alive. Stubbornly he struggled to his feet and
came back to finish the job of cuffing me. I heard him quietly cussing
through his teeth as he picked up the cuffs with his left hand. He blew on
lightning struck.”
The Seargent didn’t get away fast enough. As I was closing my eyes I
caught a glimpse of him getting blasted into the air. After that he didn’t get
up again. The crowd stayed well away from me as if I was the source of the
lightning danger.
talked about how stupid the cops were to try to arrest a dragon when that
“No Sarge,” One cop said. “That guy is cursed. We can’t cuff him.”
After all the times I had been arrested I suddenly felt a little victorious
The Seargent pulled his gun and pointed it at me. Slowly he groaned
The other two cops jumped back in alarm when sparks flew at them
considering pulling the trigger. I saw his hair bristle with static charge
‘NO!” shouted Rex. “We’re not leaving until we get paid for our
Lotto winnings!”
I walked towards Etherea and the crowd parted to make way for me.
were extremely on edge and my body was shaky, but I felt a proud thrill
when so many people were eager to get out of my way. They feared me.
Etherea broke through the crowd and ran to me. She had a worried
“I’m fine.”
She hugged me and said, “I was so worried about you, but I couldn’t
get through this crowd to get to you. We need to get inside.” She pulled me
“Why?”
with her.
worry.”
She jumped when thunder boomed and I realized she was scared and
“It’s okay,” I said. “The lightning just went from cloud to cloud. That
We stood just inside the doorway and watched a parade of police cars
slowly make its way up the street. Motorcycle cops cleared a path from the
street to the steps of the capitol. Then a dark grey Hummer-limo drove up to
the capitol. TV news crews surrounded the limo and reporters crowded the
windows with their microphones. Cops waived them back and let Rex
approach the rear window that was half open. I saw a man’s face, but I
outside.
I kept walking.
on.
turned to me.
“Rad, this is the Govorner.” Then he turned to the govornor and said,
window. Now I could see that the window glass was about two inches thick.
“You don’t have to worry about getting shot, sir, none of us believe in
guns.”
“That’s not much comfort,” the governor said without a smile, “I’m
The governor argued loudly, “If you’re not the Antichrist then why do
you have sixty six Lotto tickets…..all with the same six numbers? Did you
numbers and whenever you find them you think it’s the devil.” But as soon
as I said it I had a strong feeling that there was some evil force at work.
Why else would people have to die to get wishes granted? What if dragons
weren’t meant to be used that way? But who was in the wrong……the
The governor glared at me with deep hatred. “You can’t fool me with
clever talk. I know who you are. The police are terrified of your black
magic. If they can’t arrest you then they will have no choice but to start
Rex demanded, “All we want is to get paid our fair Lotto winnings.
The governor pounded his fist on the bullet proof window. “FINE!
The governor went into a rage as his window went up, “And if you
ever mess with the government again you will be shot without warning.”
We couldn’t see the governor anymore after his window was shut
tight.
slapped his hand as the governor’s limo screeched its tires and drove away.
I pushed my way through the crowd to give Etherea the good news.
happy……..for a short while. When she became quiet I wondered how she
“Well…..”
She said, “I know what it’s like be rich one minute and then have it all
taken away the next. If I don’t spend it right now then who knows what
could happen?”
“But….”
“You stare every time you see a Porsche and I want buy you one.”
Rex cut me off, “Rad, don’t argue with a woman.” He turned and
liked the idea that she wanted to be so nice to me, yet I felt like a child that
was being spoiled. After all the years of struggling in poverty I was proud to
survive on so little. I was proud of that old Miata. It hurt my feelings that
my car was not good enough for her. Did that mean that I was not good
But when Rex pulled into the Porsche dealership my eyes jumped at
Carreras and Cayennes. Every car here was my dream car. These were the
memories were the times I was a little kid playing with toy cars in the store.
unforgettable imprint in my soul and the only thing more powerful was the
feeling that I discovered when I met Etherea. Now I was at a store were the
dream cars were real. The kid in me wanted to run around excitedly and try
them all. The restrained adult in me looked at the prices and balked.
“These cars are way to expensive,” I said to Etherea. “If I had one of
these cars I would worry all the time about it getting dinged or scratched.”
“Yeah, and rocks falling out of dump trucks making cracks on the
Boxster with a shiny silver letter ‘S.’ “Oh, I read about this one.”
A black suited young salesman piped up, “That one does zero to sixty
in five seconds.” He opened the driver’s side door and waived me in.
“Have a seat.”
Rex grinned at the salesman, “No he’s not. I’m leaving now, so if he
doesn’t buy a car then he has to walk……and it’s a long way back to
Dallas.” He shook hands with the salesman and walked to his SUV.
“Bye Rex,” Etherea waived as she got into the passenger seat.
“Well,” she said as Rex drove away. “Do you like this one?”
I looked at the dashboard and touched the steering wheel like there
“You sound smart when you talk about cars.” She winked at me.
ignition. Then I put my left foot down on the clutch. “Oh, nice….” Then I
turned the key and heard the thrill of two hundred ninety five horses flaming
into life.
that doesn’t make up your mind to buy a Porsche then I’ll give you a lift to a
right on Koenig and keep going until you see the lake.”
“Really?” I gazed at the salesman’s kind face and felt the numbing
spartan.
hair and nothing to hold back our freedom. The sun tried to peak through
granted with clouds filling in the blue holes of the grey blanket across the
The grey sky and the cool air made it feel more like fall, but the grass
and trees were luxurious green….unlike any summer I had ever seen in
Texas. Thanks to the Blue Dragon for all the rain. I was especially thankful
for the beautiful woman sitting beside me because she wanted to be with me.
I reached my right hand to hold her left hand. Her eyes met mine. We
At the lake we stopped. I rushed around the car and opened the door
for her. Then we held hands and walked to the water. I wrapped my arms
around her and smiled into her eyes. She grinned the brightest I had ever
seen. My right hand reached up slowly to hold the back of her head and then
I leaned slowly to her lips. Her tenderness softened gently under my touch.
The wonder of mutual attraction was the greatest beauty of all…..I could
Before we fused into one being she pulled back and said, “Rad…..?”
rest of my life. But I would have to pretend to have a spine….and act like I
had a will of my own. I was too close to perfect bliss to lose her respect
now.
I had already swallowed the hook the first time I kissed her and now it
was all the way down to my heart. She must have seen it through my eyes
because she was gently reeling me in. Her power over me was more than
anything ever devised by man. I remembered a bit of wisdom from the old
Master Zi, the greatest power is not the ability to kill, but to win their hearts.
Without any threat or force she wielded the ‘greatest power’ over me. In her
grasp she held my heart……. and she could kill me if she was so inclined.
I nodded, “Yeah….?”
I knew where this was going. She wanted me away from him before.
“It’s not me hanging around him. He’s the one who invaded my territory
life. “Martial arts is what I do. I need them as much as they need me.”
“Don’t you want to be with me.” Her pouty lips and drooping
eyebrows tried to used puppy dog cuteness to win me over to her way.
She turned her head and closed her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks.
She sputtered, “It feels like you don’t care what I think.”
“I do, but you want me to cut off my identity. Without martial arts
quietly.
She turned her teary eyes to mine and said, “I could buy you a new
one.”
We can do what we think is best for the world. We should do what is right
and good. That means you must get your life untangled from Rex and build
a new place…….where young people can learn how to be kind and peaceful
and exist in harmony, like that night we meditated under the full moon.
Remember that?”
“Yeah,” I said wistfully, “That was before Rex showed up and ruined
my life.”
I picked her up and held her to me with her feet were in the air. “Let’s
“Yes! Let’s do!” she agreed with a pearly smile and sparkles of joy
closed my eyes as I set her feet back on the ground and kissed her for a long
The yard was extensive with space to fantasize about all the things we could
do with so much green grass softly shaded by willow trees…..all the way
down the long slope to the water’s edge. I imagined a boat pulled up on the
grass and I envisioned students practicing Tai Chi under the willows.
Etherea led me to a coy pond bordered with natural stones. She gave
I sat on large rounded stone and pulled her onto my lap, “I could sit
“Me too.” She reached her right arm around my neck and kissed my
cheek.
“What if…” I pointed at the house and made a circling motion with
my index finger, “we continued this coy pond around the house….like a
moat?”
She cooed, “Oooooh, and put in a draw bridge for the entrance….”
spend too much money. You need to save enough for your medical
treatments.”
this place was cheap compared to what the doctor bills will be.”
“Okay.”
“Good,” she said. “I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m living
life the best I can and I want you to enjoy it with me.”
“Me too.”
I drove with the top up to shade her on the way to the furniture store.
The air conditioner was on full blast to keep out the hot summer that had
returned to Texas. Inside the cool store we lounged in every couch and chair
and tried to imagine how the furniture would look in the many rooms of our
new mansion, but I couldn’t remember how many living rooms there were.
bed that was fully decked with a lush comforter and many pillows of rich
shades of brown. “But if we’re gonna shop till we drop then it might as well
be like this.”
“Rad…..!”
“What?”
“We’re in public.”
“But….”
I made a partial concession, “If you still have plenty of money after all
your medical expenses then it might be okay, but until then let’s not get in a
guy who cares about me. Anyone else would be eager to spend it all and not
I wrapped my arms around her back, “I’m glad you appreciate me.
After all, caring about you is the only thing I have to offer.”
We ordered sets for one living room, the master bedroom, and the
informal dining room. Cozy was top priority. We agreed to shop for the
Then we went to Target to shop for the kitchen and master bathroom.
down, but nothing physical had hit me. It was just the emotional impact of
“You don’t want to live with me unless we’re…..” I couldn’t say the
next word.
“What’s the matter?” Her sharp tone cut to the edge of anger. “You
and my legs were shaking with readiness to bolt. Nervous sweat oozed from
the chilled pores of my skin. Why did I want to escape? I had to think hard
because this was a moment of change. The next instant I would be sliding
without her I would surely die. So, I made the most important decision of
my life.
“Let’s go…..” I tried to keep my voice smooth to hide the fear, the
terrifying thrill of falling down that slope that seemed more like a cliff,
“Okay.” A smile flashed wide across her face as if there never was
I was incredibly relieved to see her smile at me. At least I was sliding
to my doom with her. Together we went to a jewelry store in the mall and
“This one’s pretty.” She eyed the little diamond and peered into its
“I’ll buy it.” I took out my credit card and handed it to the sales lady.
She hugged me and handed the ring to the sales lady who put it into a
After we left the mall I carried the ring in my pocket and thought
about where, when and how I would give it to Etherea. It had to be special.
Even though I was falling down this impossible slope I would make the best
of it. For now, my purpose in life was to create the most romantic moment
could sit by the water and watch the sunset on the lake. I took her hand and
walked with her towards the water where gentle breakers carved an eternally
something else away. Every wave was unique as it crashed yet the continual
succession of waves created a sense of unending rhythm. This was the kind
yet soothing and everyday it should be full of life yet keep its mysteries.
Then I walked her to the bench and let her sit down, but I did not sit. Instead
I knelt and held both of her hands in mine. Her eyes grew wide. Then I
reached into my pocket and pulled out the little jewelry box. As the box
opened before her eyes I saw her surprise and joy. Of course, I knew what
I slipped the ring on her finger. We both stood up and she jumped
And kissed.
And hugged.
And then she began telling me her dreams of the most beautiful
wedding. I dreaded all the decisions and planning so I tried to convince her
to keep it simple.
“Let’s not make too much fuss about it. We need to focus on us and
She nodded, “You’re right. Lets just have it here, in our back yard
before I chickened out. But I was more afraid of losing her than anything
else, including my freedom, so I gave her the only answer that would keep
“I can’t wait to show everybody my ring.” She held up her hand and
“And I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” I said. “When I met you I
I had never learned about kisses from Old Master Zi, but I was
kisses expressed desire and some said ‘thanks.’ There must be thousands of
all.
……..starting Saturday.
I couldn’t live with Etherea until we were married and I couldn’t stay
in my old room at the Temple where Rex had taken over. Although I moved
was moving into a room in Etherea’s mansion and he didn’t need the
apartment anymore.
Long lifted the edge of his mattress and pulled out a shiny dagger.
“My lawyer said I’m not off the hook, but as long as they’re afraid to
prosecute Dragons……well, let’s just say I’m not wasting my life waiting to
get prosecuted. After what I’ve been through I decided to live every day like
it’s the last.” He put the dagger into a large cardboard box. Then he reached
“Does that mean you’re not playing any more video games?”
metal. It had black tape wrapped around one end and it was crudely
going to waste my life working at jobs I don’t like.” He put the crude
version of a sword into the box of weapons. Then he reached underneath the
under the bed and find something hidden in the junk and garbage. “And be a
personal trainer.”
“I suppose you got famous when your fight was seen all over the
“Nothing builds cred like a clean kill.” He wiped the sticks and chain on an
reputation. While Long was world famous I was just one of the faces in the
establish my reputation and would be a boost for my self esteem. But then I
or at least none that I could tell. However, he was never the same afterward.
“Well,” I said. “I thought it was a bad idea for you to fight Dao, but I
treats me differently. They stare like I’m a celebrity, but they keep their
I laughed, “At least you won’t get mobbed for autographs. That’s the
dumped the load of weapons into the box that was almost full. “But I
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m gonna wear a black tux, so you and the other
We both laughed.
“See ya.” Long started walking out then stopped in the doorway.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna bachelor party? Friday night’s your last
chance.”
“No thanks,” I said. “I’ve been a bachelor for too long. I just want to
I stared at the messy bed and looked around at the small, dirty
apartment. Long had left the old furnishings for me to use, but I didn’t want
to touch anything. I couldn’t live like this, but he must have been
Not that I needed any, but I didn’t want to sit on a sharp point. I went to the
old chair and lifted the seat cushion. There was plenty of garbage and dried
food, but no sharps. I yanked the blanket off of the mattress and checked
I went to the door and closed it. The loneliness was my only
students practicing late every night. Now the only sounds were the muffled
noises from other apartments. I couldn’t wait to get this night over and get
on with my new life with Etherea. This night alone and feeling miserable
was absolute confirmation that I had made the right choice in deciding to
marry her. Only a little while of this and then everything would be good.
Tomorrow would be Friday and I planned buy a tux! I could rent one,
So, of course, I was nervous and had trouble getting to sleep. I kept
attracted to me for a lifetime? How could I keep her from getting bored of
me? What if she saw me looking at another woman? Would she freak out
and leave me? What if I couldn’t make a successful career in martial arts?
asleep because I woke up with bright sunlight coming through the window.
told people that it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal, but it kept getting more
elaborate and everybody wanted to bring friends. Even with Tansao and her
thousand decisions. I was exhausted before the day was over and I wished
the whole thing was behind me. But the wedding itself was tomorrow and I
needed to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I had even more trouble sleeping
Friday night. Maybe a bachelor party would have been a good distraction
from this case of nerves and uneasy mind. Yet again I must have drifted off
Cars were lined bumper to bumper along the sides of her street. The
gates were wide open and the circular driveway was full. Students were
valet parking the cars. It was very hard for me to hand my keys, especially
to a teenager that I knew was going to have fun revving the engine and
got out and left my car with a pimple faced boy that looked too young to
drive and had black wrist bands studded with silver bullets. I thought my
stress level was at a record high, but then I saw a familiar face. He said
wondered why his voice seemed familiar. After I passed him I turned and
celebrity?”
“Yeah,” he stared at the old man for a while, “That’s Ben Stein.”
doing here?”
“I don’t know, but you better go to the back yard. They’re waiting for
you.” He led me off to the side. “The house is too crowded, we’ll go this
way.”
“Why are there so many people here?” I asked. “I don’t know any of
these people.”
be your friend.”
“Why?”
side of the back of the house. “Because rumor has it that you did magic to
Long stopped to face me. “They don’t care about the lottery. Look
around.” His eyes darted over the crowd. “Do you have any idea what I’ve
“Uhhhh……”
their dying relatives, bring back their kids from the war, punish cheating
spouses, and even had one couple beg me to bring their daughter back to
life.”
“Ohhh.”
“Hurry, before they find out it’s you.” He pulled me towards the lake.
grass under a willow tree. A beautiful young woman waited in the shade
wearing a long white dress. Her eyes met mine and drew me to her. I
couldn’t help ignoring them. My eyes were locked with Etherea’s, the most
adorable eyes I had ever seen. It was hard to keep the tears of joy from
blurring my vision and the constant smiling made my cheeks sore. We held
had a desperate story of life and death and they needed our magic to save
their loved ones. I was overwhelmed. Etherea was very gracious. She
suggested they sign the guest book, write down their requests and we would
attend to their wishes as soon as possible, in the order found in the guest
Ben Stein shook my hand and hers, “That was a beautiful wedding.
I’d like to write an article about you two……for the New York Times.”
He continued smiling, “About how you won the lottery using magic.”
He stopped smiling, “But if it wasn’t magic then what was it? Surely
She shook her head at him, “No, it wasn’t a coincidence, either.” She
thoughts came to the surface, “Dragons, after the sacrifice, she was
meditating, we didn’t expect anything, it just happened the first time, then
“Excuse me,” Ben said, “could you explain that slowly? I didn’t
thought so much of her financial need that it must have been heard by the
White Dragon. Next thing we knew she was excited about winning the
lottery.”
Ben thought for a moment, “So, you tried to duplicate the conditions
She shook her head, “No, the second time Rex used my winning
Ben continued, “But he did repeat the same rituals and got the same
result—a winning ticket, I mean sixty five winning tickets….with your same
numbers.”
“Well, actually….” she frowned “I was against that part. I told them
it was wrong.”
much money, what else are you going to do? Are you planning to ruin our
Ben’s face was turning red with anger, “Do you realize what happens
when people think the markets are being manipulated? People stop trusting
stocks and prices tumble, investment bankers hit the brakes, capital dries up,
companies stop hiring and then the economy goes into a recession ….or
worse. You people are going to ruin the economy of the entire world if you
Etherea rose against him in anger, “We told you it wasn’t us doing
that! If you have a problem Rex then you go talk to him. Don’t blame us
I saw the anger take a lot of energy out of her, so I pulled her arm to
get her away from him, “Excuse us,” I said as we walked away. I led her to
been happening all at once. I couldn’t sleep well for the last couple days
because there was so much to do to get ready for the wedding. When I laid
fast.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Let’s just sit here for a while.” I held her hands
Tansao’s voice sounded over a loud speaker. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the
students of Dragon Temple would like to entertain you while the caterers
bring out the tables and food.” Most of the students moved to the left side
and two students bowed together in the open area of grass next to the lake
techniques. Long will act as the attacker and Saber will escape from a wrist
grab.” She narrated the defense against a one handed grab of the wrist.
Then they bowed and the crowd clapped. A second pair of students came
out and bowed. They demonstrated defense against a grab from behind and
a knife attack and the crowd reacted loudly. A fourth pair of students
demonstrated defense against a gun. One student held a fake orange pistol
to the back of Saber. She pretended to pull her wallet out of her pants, but in
a split second she spun around and took the fake gun away from the attacker.
The crowd rose and clapped for a long time. Then Tansao announced the
students’ names as they took turns showing individual routines. It was like
I liked the show and I noticed a smile on Etherea’s face. She seemed
to enjoy the martial arts. She thinks martial arts is okay as long as nobody
the tables and sat down. Tansao led Etherea and I to a special table so we
I whispered back in her ear, “I can’t wait to walk with you on the
watching until Tansao spoke over the loudspeaker, “Well, we can certainly
We didn’t stop kissing until we realized the crowd was clapping for
us.
Tansao said, “Saber, can you give them something to cut the cake,
please?”
Saber handed me her oxtail saber. I held it high and the crowd
laughed. Then Etherea and I cut the cake with the sword.
Peony bowed low enough to see the dark roots of her bleach blonde
Etherea hugged Peony and said, “I’m glad to finally meet you. I
heard that you were the one taking care of most of the wedding
preparations.”
They chatted happily for a few minutes until Tansao and her sister led
us to the limo waiting in the street. They hugged each of us and said
‘congratulations’ over and over while we waited for our luggage to get put
Etherea said, “Tansao and Peony, thanks for organizing this whole
“Thanks for letting me help with the wedding,” said Peony as she
hugged Etherea.
and our hands out the window. She shouted, “Enjoy your honeymoon.”
I cozied up to Etherea and put my arm around her. I should have been
thinking only about us, but I couldn’t help wondering why Tansao and her
sister turned out like opposites. They both had it bad as kids, but Tansao
was tough and liked to take charge while Peony usually acted cute to get
think Peony would have shown any interest. Peony was all about girly
things, so she was perfectly suited for the job of planning the wedding.
I put my arm around her and she leaned her head on my chest for a
The ride to the airport was long enough for the excitement of the
more waiting in the airport because our flight was canceled. While waiting
three hours for the next flight Etherea said she was too tired to stand. Since
feel dry.”
I scooted my luggage closer to hers and put my arm around her. “You
After a while it seemed that she was too heavy to be just resting her
eyes. “Etherea?”
Her body was limp and she began to slip off her perch on the luggage.
I shook her and tried to wake her for a few seconds and soon people
An old man leaned over her, lifted her eyelids and said, “She’s in a
ambulance.”
I used my cell phone to call 911. Until the ambulance came we were
surrounded by people eager to help, but there was nothing they could do for
her. She didn’t wake up when the EMTs came and checked her, so they put
her on a stretcher and carried her to the ambulance. They left me at the
Tansao and I waited in the hospital lobby for three hours before they
let us see Etherea. They told us that she had not regained consciousness. In
order to visit the patient Tansao had to be family, so she lied and said she
was my daughter. I put my arm around her and played along with the lie as
I stared at the tube taped to Etherea’s left hand. The tube was
connected to a bottle of fluid hanging above the bed. Wires connected her to
I leaned in for a closer look. “Her eyes are moving. She must be in
REM sleep.”
lifeless. I touched her cheek and it was warm. Then a loud beep came from
“Etherea!” I yelled, “No, don’t leave me!” I bent over and hugged
It was hard to see what they were doing to her because everything was
blurry through my tear filled eyes. A lump in my throat was trying to choke
cracked and I couldn’t do anything but break down like a little boy, not old
The machine stopped beeping and the nurses stood back. I looked
expectantly and was relieved to see a miracle. Etherea opened her eyes.
I pushed my way past the nurses and took Etherea’s hands. “Etherea,
She looked into my eyes for a long time. Eventualy she answered, “I
was floating on the ceiling and I saw my body below. I saw you and Tansao
next to me. Then I heard a wonderful voice calling me. I looked up and saw
a long dark tunnel. At the top was a beautiful light. I tried to go up to the
I kissed her cheek and said through my tears, “Because I need you.”
The nurses tried to pull me away, but I fought them off with one hand.
myself down.
“No,” I urged, “that’s what you said last time when you went to sleep
and couldn’t wake up. You have to keep your eyes open.”
I turned to the nurses only long enough to bark a command, “Get her
She gazed into my eyes. “It felt so nice to float above my body. No
like…..freedom.”
“And that voice…..” her eyes glazed as she looked through me. “I
Men pulled me away and told me to stay back while the doctor was
working. Tansao put her arm around me while I sat and cried. She knew I
suffering.
But I knew that it wasn’t ‘just sleeping.’ The doctor explained that
Etherea was suffering from a Lupus flare. She said she prescribed
and Tansao kept me company until late at night. Then we were sent away so
we went to the house, the one that Etherea had just bought. Everything
instead I was miserable. People tried to console me. Even Rex came and
ask the dragons to help Etherea, but I told him that she would not want that.
There was no sleep for me that night, so I sat outside and watched the
lights reflecting on the lake. I called the hospital often to ask if Etherea was
awake, but they said she was not. So, I waited. When the sun came up and
the noise of traffic grew louder I called and got the same news from the
hospital. It was morning and she was still not waking up. Maybe Rex had
the right idea, but did somebody have to die to summon a dragon? What if I
did everything the same, but only sacrificed some blood instead of a life? I
expected that I needed a fire, but maybe I didn’t need to burn the whole
wood and packed it in one hand up the tower. It was dangerous to climb
using only one hand. The moment my climbing hand let go of one rung I
was at risk of falling until I grabbed the next rung. Some of the rungs were
mostly charcoal and they broke. At the top I made a small pile of charred
wood and went down the ladder to collect more wood. When I had two
loads piled in the center of the platform I went back down to find a lighter.
Some students were already practicing in the gym. They were curious about
what I was doing, but I didn’t say anything. They must have figured it had
newspaper. The mystery drew them outside to watch me climb the tower. I
wadded up some newspaper and built a little wooden tee pee on top of the
paper. Then I lit the paper and watched the fire rise up.
Next, I needed a sacrifice. I drew my sword, the jian from Rex, and
held the blade to my right fore arm. It would not hurt as much to cut my
forearm as a finger tip since there are fewer nerve endings on my arm. Still,
it was hard to make myself cut my own arm. I used the sword tip to poke
around for a place where the skin seemed less sensitive and then I pressed
the tip against the skin. If I could just force myself into pressing harder it
“Mister Rad.”
“’Tsup?” he asked.
I gave up trying to poke my arm with the sword and let out a
discouraged groan.
“Okay.” Kong climbed up over the ledge, stood up and bowed to me.
I held out my arm and closed my eyes. “Just stab my arm enough to
bleed, okay?”
“Why?”
hilt.”
“Fine.”
blood forming on my arm. I held my arm out again and closed my eyes.
“More.”
“Okay…..”
Another jab made me jerk my arm to my chest. This time it hurt and I
I held the bleeding arm over the fire and watched the drops fall onto
I raised my voice to the sky, “I call any dragon that can help Etherea
get well.”
Was I offering enough blood? It wasn’t exactly a duel, but did that matter?
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe.”
times we put photos on dragon statues. “But I can’t carry a big statue up
here.”
He looked at me suspiciously.
He handed me the sword and stepped back two steps. I stared hard at
He asked, “You think the drawing on the sword will work instead of a
statue?”
I used the blade to catch some blood and make the dragon etching turn
I laid the blade on the pile of burning wood and watched the bloody
dragon design turn black. Soon the blood was burned off and the tiny
Etherea.”
The smoke hurt my eyes. The heat seemed to burn my arm. Kong climbed
down the tower and I was alone, but I wasn’t ready to give up.
snake-like blue dragon it was wide chested and had large wings that
helicopter. Hot ash was blown across my feet. With a roar it dove at me. It
caught my bleeding arm in its teeth and lifted me into the air. For a second I
thought I would be killed, but soon I was dropped and landed on my back on
the fire. I rolled off the fire, but I couldn’t see. The beating wings scattered
smoke and ashes in all sideways directions. I could feel the heat and grit on
When the hot dust settled and I could breath again I sat up, wiped my face
with my shirt and opened my eyes. I didn’t see the green dragon, but I heard
a roar behind me. I thought it said, “More!” The green dragon circled
I found the sword lying on the platform already cooled because I had
knocked it off the fire when I fell on it. Yet the dragon symbol was still
glowing white. I didn’t hesitate to cut my right arm and let the blood run
across the symbol. Instantly the green dragon swooped at me and snorted at
the sword. It looked like he was inhaling the smell of burnt blood. Then he
flew high in the air and went east. Soon he was far away and looked
I ignored the pain when I grabbed the hot handle and sheathed my
sword. Then I rushed down the ladder, breaking some rungs as I clambered
too fast. The new Porsche was happy to carry me at top speed. Red and
The cop must not have heard me because he continued following me,
Finally I didn’t have to be scared of the cops. They were the ones afraid of
me, but I didn’t have time to relish this fact because there was traffic to
weave through. Soon I was at the hospital and I left the car illegally parked
near the emergency entrance. By the time I made it up the stairs and into her
you’re……*huff*……adorable.”
She tilted her head and made a cute grin while batting her eyes,
“That’s nice. I was wondering when you would notice adorable little me.”
I took her hands and leaned over to kiss her lips. So tender, so
soft….and so warm.
Then we gazed silently into each other’s eyes for a long time.
Finally, she patted the bed in an invitation for me to sit down next to
I didn’t like the sound of that. Was it ever good when a woman said
about you.”
I couldn’t believe she said that. “But I’m not the one in the hospital.”
Her smile faded, “You knew I had Lupus before you ever kissed me.
coming.
She looked away and stared through the walls at something far away.
“I’m not afraid of dying.” But as soon as I said that I recalled that I
had said the same thing to old master Zi. He advised me that I must let go of
my taste for blood and my fear of death. My replies always got him started
on a long lecture which I hated because it took away time from learning to
spend all your time trying to be tough and show no fear of fighting or dying,
She said, “If you can’t let go of me then what else can’t you let go of.”
“What?”
and play with them all the time. Look, you’re wearing a weapon right now.”
“You know,” she said, “instead of teaching the weak how to defend
I knew how to argue this line of thinking. “The strong only respect
those who can defend themselves. The weak get pushed down and abused.”
She was determined to make her point, “If everybody had empathy
“True,” I admitted, “so what do we do with all the people who don’t
have empathy?”
“I help young people gain confidence and self esteem. These things
have been taken away by abusive people including parents, peers and
perverts. They used to live in fear and shame. Now they have control of
She seemed exasperated, “If only it was just like you said then it
would be okay, but you’ve taken it way beyond self defense. I think you’re
“No.”
She raised her right eyebrow. “I hope not. Because when you die all
that negative stuff has to get stripped away.......I’m wondering what will be
I lowered my chin and gave her big puppy dog eyes, “My love for
you…..”
She smiled, “I hope that’s enough.” Tear drops spilled from her eyes
In my ear she said, “When you get to heaven I’ll be waiting for you.”
I couldn’t say how she passed because it was just too painful for me to
let go of her. But I didn’t think that it was our love that killed her. I
remembered seeing her aura when we were meditating and it seemed she
had a powerful spirit that burned brighter than normal. So, I believed that it
was the divine fire inside her that required more than her body could
As pretty as she was, she had and even more beautiful spirit
People tried to console me, but I was an emotional zombie. Too many
feelings and thoughts wrestled for control of my body and mind, so none of
them were able to take control or be expressed. This must have been what it
felt like to be in shock. Why was my invisible wound so much more painful
For countless hours I sat on the bench where she had accepted my
I didn’t care exactly what day it was. I lost track of the days of the
week sitting on the stone by the coy pond where she convinced me we
At night I wandered the yard because I couldn’t go into the house that
was supposed to be our home, our place to grow old together. The mansion
was haunted by the absence of her and all the love that was gone. I didn’t
want that home anymore, yet I couldn’t leave it either. I couldn’t let go of
this place.
what Etherea said. She was afraid that death would take away the bad and
maybe there wouldn’t be anything good left of me. I couldn’t be all bad,
could I? Wasn’t there any good in me? I didn’t feel good. All I felt was
bad inside. Very, very, miserably bad. How long would I selfishly pout
over my loss? I knew where she was because she said she would be in
heaven waiting for me. I wanted to be with her so much that I stopped
wanting to live.
But when I decided that my life didn’t matter anymore I felt relief
from depression. Instead of mourning for her I felt like doing something to
please her. For her I wanted to be a better person and do what she said I was
afraid to do. So, I decided to let go of everything and stop being afraid of
losing things so that I could be who I really am. I told Tansao the house was
hers and I put half a million dollars in an account paying enough interest for
her and the senior students to survive. Then I donated most of Etherea’s
money to charity, the Lupus Foundation of America. I kept the car because I
needed transportation and the old Miata was already given to Longsword.
sense of purpose and made me feel closer to Etherea. At least I was on the
smiled and shook my hand saying, “Bless you.” But when I gave him a
“My dog is hungry, too,” he said. “Can you spare a few dollars for
dog food?”
came out with a brown paper bag and immediately unscrewed the cap from
his new bottle. I guessed he needed something to wash down his sandwich.
summer heat. So I drove to the liquor store to stock up on cold beer, bottled
water and a cooler small enough to fit in the passenger seat of my small
sports car.
“It’s okay,” I said as I handed him a bottle of water. “This one’s for
your dog.”
I spent the rest of the day driving through the metroplex looking for
homeless people and giving them sandwiches, bottled water and each one
got a single can of beer. It was especially gratifying to see their faces when
they received a cold beer. To me they all looked the to same with dirty
clothes, pathetic eyes, long scraggly hair and unshaved faces. Even the
homeless women seemed to have too much hair on their faces. I couldn’t
tell which ones were vegetarian, but there were a few who checked the
sandwiches to make sure there was no meat inside. Some of them surprised
me by refusing a sandwich, but none of them refused the beer. Maybe they
At the end of the day I was exhausted, but not ready to go home. I
wanted to tell Tansao all the funny things that I had learned about homeless
people. I knew she would be teaching at the Temple, so I headed there and I
I found Tansao sitting on the curb just outside of the Temple. She
was bent over with her head between her knees and held her face in her
hands. As I approached I heard her sobbing. I felt sorry for her and wanted
to consol her, so I sat next to her and put my right arm around her shoulders.
She didn’t pull her head out of hiding between her knees. Her
muffled voice answered, “Everyone thinks I’m stupid.” Then she sobbed
harder.
“Why?”
true.”
I leaned over her and kissed the back of her head. Then I patted her
right shoulder and said, “You’re not stupid. I trust you more than anybody
else. You’re the one I would put in charge of the Dragons if anything
happened to me.”
best fighter.”
With my left hand under her right cheek I gently raised her head. I
caught her eyes and said, “You’re the most caring and responsible one.
You’re like a big sister to the others and they trust you. They like your style
of discipline and structure. Without you in their lives they would feel either
“Really,” I assured her with a pat on her back. “You’re going to make
“But….” She stopped smiling as doubt crept back into her. “I was
that.”
I squeezed my arm around her a little. “Did you feel like you did
“But you know you didn’t do anything wrong. Actually, you were
trying to do the right thing and someone disagreed with your idea.”
“Yeah.”
“And being told you were wrong made you feel worse than getting
“Yeah.”
your ideas. You can’t let someone beat you up psychologically.” I stroked
her back as she wiped her eyes. I saw the sadness fade from her face.
“When you’re a senior student and you know you’re right….do you
think people should listen to you and respect what you say?”
“That’s right!” Anger began to fill her with strength and her body
I said, “Then you should stand your ground even if someone tries to
humiliate you….even if you think they made you look stupid and you don’t
know what to say or do. Just don’t run away. I know that because I made
I thought about what I should have done, but haven’t. “Go and
confront the one who offended you. Say, ‘I feel like I’ve been wronged and
“Okay.” She put a stubborn look on her face and marched to the door
of the new Temple. She bowed at the door and stormed inside.
expected he was the one that had upset Tansao. He had been so nice to the
the reason he had done a good job of hurting her feelings and I knew what
that was like. The more I thought about it the angrier I became.
Tansao stood with her arms folded and glared at Rex. “I felt
for a few seconds and then turned away. “As I was saying…..” he spoke to
Tansao turned and looked at me. Tears welled up in her eyes. She
seemed ready to run away again. It seemed like it was my fault that she was
“Hey!” I shouted.
“Yes.” I slowly walked toward Rex. “I’m telling you what you
…..should do.”
something. Then you might get angry about my not doing it.”
inside me. I didn’t care if my face was blushing and my ears were turning
red. I felt the heat burning the skin of my neck and face. The blood pumped
inner tsunami. This time nothing could stop my anger. He deserved to die.
Rex smiled, “And if you get angry at me again then you might make a
fool of yourself…..like you did the last time.” He leaned his head back and
hands jumped out and shoved Rex back. “This time I won’t hesitate to kill
you.”
change his posture. He kept his arms folded as if he was above fighting with
leave me alone.”
Rex laughed. “Oh, I bet you had a lot of anger in your lifetime of
always being humiliated. You might as well get over it. Trust me, It’ll
Rex stopped smiling. “You have no authority over me. I’m the boss
“You were the boss.” I admitted with a growl. “But you made the
Rex looked around. “As the Master here it’s my duty to put people in
their place.”
I was not threatening him. “And it’s my duty to put you ….in your place.”
Rex turned to face me. “I already put you in your place. If you
I laughed like a mad man, “You don’t have what it takes to kill me.
how good a fighter you are. Nobody can survive a Kami Dragon attack.”
Students backed away towards the walls. Fear and anticipation grew
stronger in the room. Fear made people want to get away, but anticipation
anything you can do….better. If you summon a Kami Dragon then I’ll
ignore the fact that my legs began to feel week and shaky. I was glad to be
confidence. The thing that scared me was the fact that I was too stubborn to
back down. I had gone past the point of a graceful exit and now I had to
fight or run away. But my anger wouldn’t let me run….even when I could
“Fine!” Rex unfolded his arms and walked towards the front door.
I turned to follow him and was not surprised to see the Blue Dragon
on the other side of the windows. The dragon was circling in the air as if it
were impatiently expecting a meal. How did Rex summon that dragon? Or
that summoned the Green Dragon. I would try that again. Wait, I used a fire
to heat my sword last time. Maybe that was important. What if I can’t
I stopped at the door and asked Tansao, “Can you get me a lighter?”
She nodded.
She bowed quickly, rushed to the front desk and came back in a hurry
Then I turned and bowed to the students. “If this is the last time that I
see you all then I want you to remember me as dignified as I am right now.
Respect and dignity are good reasons to fight. Power and glory are not. Of
course, it’s just my opinion, but it’s the difference between me and Rex.” I
bowed to them for the last time and turned to walk outside.
Storm clouds darkened the sky and the shining Blue Dragon flashed
and stared at Rex who was facing me from about twenty feet away. He
bowed to me. I bowed to him. Now the battle was officially begun.
prepared for that. I had a ninjaken slung across my back. What I wasn’t
prepared for was a dragon battle. I clicked the lighter and a small flame
licked the blade of my jian. The dragon-design on the sword didn’t change.
Rex laughed loudly. “How can you summon a dragon if you don’t
believe?”
Normally I don’t sweat, but I felt the heat of my face flushing with
embarrassment. Chills ran all over my body and then sweat ran down into
my eyes. My left hand began to shake as I held the lighter under the dragon-
I didn’t answer, but I stopped using the lighter and felt the blade. It
was cold. The heat of the flame wasn’t enough to heat the dragon symbol
because it wasn’t enough to heat the entire blade. Energy conducted through
the blade too fast and was dissipated into the air.
could win without one. I stabbed the sword into the ground and kneeled
intense white light with my eyes closed. The awesome power jolted me into
the air.
But I was still alive as thunder blasted my ears and I fell on my back.
I opened my eyes and saw the great blue eyes of the blue dragon swimming
in the air above me. Those eyes were not angry, but they were
I sat up and saw my sword glowing. The blade was white hot. The
wood of the handle was smoking. Steam rose from the charred ground
where the sword point was planted. The grass around the sword was
blackened and smoking. Then I realized how I had survived. The sword
was a kind of lightning rod. When I bowed next to it I was saved from the
lightning strike.
As the blade of the sword cooled to red hot I saw the glowing dragon
symbol and realized this was my only chance. In a burst of action I drew the
ninjaken from behind my head and used it to cut my right forearm. I held
my arm above the smoking sword and dribbled fresh blood on it. The
down to the dragon symbol. So, I used the ninjaken to push the red-hot jian
to make it lean sideways a little bit. Then I held my cut arm out so that
Then I looked at Rex and saw that he was not happy. Rays of light
streamed through the clouds and lit up the sword. Then more rays parted the
clouds and a brilliant golden beam shined like a spot light between us. It
pushed away the darkness with radiant heat and so much light that my eyes
hurt and I had to squint. I reached into my right front pocket and pulled out
the powerful light and saw the outline of a dragon’s head and a shimering
tail that looked like a comet, but I could not stand to gaze directly at it for
more than a split second. My hope soared. I looked at Rex and saw him
frowning.
I called out, “Yellow Dragon, dry up the clouds and repel the Blue
Dragon.”
Instantly the light and heat increased so much that I had to shut my
eyes and turn away with my hands over my face. It was so hot that I
wondered if my clothes and hair might burst into flames. A few seconds
later the heat wave ended. I turned to see Rex cowered with his hands over
he was okay. But he was not happy. He raised his right fist angrily.
ground and laid flat near the sword that was still standing like a lightning
rod. Again a jolt knocked me through the air and again I survived. I looked
at the smoking sword. Only half of the wood remained on the burnt handle
and the steel was white hot. That would be me if the Blue Dragon made a
direct hit. I picked up the ninjaken and stabbed it into the ground a few feet
from the jian. That way I had two lightning rods to protect me. So, I stayed
crouched between the swords and looked up to see what was happening.
In the sky I saw the Blue Dragon jumping from cloud to cloud, but the
Yellow Dragon was burning away the clouds and pushing back the darkness.
Soon there was no niding place for the Blue Dragon which seemed to be
suffering in pain from the yellow light. The world shook with agonizing
thunder as the Blue Dragon squirmed and struggled. Its blue tail tried to lash
at me, but the Yellow Dragon caught the tail with a shining golden claw.
More thunder pounded my ears with the suffering of the Blue Dragon. The
beam of light seemed to be making the Blue Dragon fade away. It was so
bright I had to hold a hand in front of my face and peer through my fingers.
saw that he was holding his arms folded across his chest. He stubbornly
was loosing. Or maybe he was in denial and just couldn’t believe it.
Obviously he didn’t care about the Blue Dragon. The miserable shrieks hurt
my feelings and I felt sorry for the dragon that had been trying to kill me. I
looked again and saw that it was shriveled and curled on its back with its
“STOP!” I shouted.
The dazzling beam of light stopped shining on the Blue Dragon. The
“How can you just stand there and let your dragon die?” I asked. “If
Rex stood stubborn with his arms folded and his head cocked back,
“You haven’t got what it takes to kill. Not me, not a dragon.....not even a
fly.”
around his neck. “You don’t care about anything except yourself. You
don’t deserve to have anyone care about you. You certainly don’t deserve to
have a dragon do your fighting. If you had any empathy you would bleed
Rex mocked me with sarcasm, “If you had any empathy you would
have to be me. As much as I didn’t want to get struck by lightning the thing
that scared me was that I couldn’t stop myself from doing the right thing. I
pulled the ninjaken from the ground and cut my right forearm again. Fresh
blood oozed from the cut and dripped onto the dragon symbol etched into
the jian’s blade. I felt sorry for myself because I knew Rex was right. I
didn’t have what it took to kill. Why didn’t I realize that before I challenged
him? I remembered Etherea and the words she said on her death bed. How
would she feel if she knew I was doing this? She cared about life and she
deplored violence. What about a being that lives to fight? Could she care
about a dragon? I looked up at the shriveled blue wretch and let the tears fill
my throat. I could not let the dragon die even if it meant my own death was
sealed.
The Blue Dragon heaved and its legs fell over, but it wasn’t looking
well. I cut my arm deeper and let the blood gush out. A yellow beam of
blood gave the Blue Dragon the mana it needed to be healed. After a short
Blue Dragon looked at me with electric blue eyes. They were different.
They no longer terrified me. Yet they were awesome with powerful energy.
I wondered if it was preparing for a strike, but my hair didn’t stand on end.
I dropped the ninjaken and gripped the cut on my right arm to stop the
bleeding. I felt dizzy and tired. I had to sit down. I had given too much
blood. I was alive, but for how long? Blood escaped between my fingers
Rex laughed, “You gave too much blood. Now you’re too weak to
fight. I win.”
to claim victory after I defeated his dragon and then healed it. Or maybe I
Rex gloated, “Now I’ll sacrifice your life….that might make enough
I looked up as Rex slowly walked towards me. I saw him draw his
double sabers.
Rex grinned, “The Zen Dragon is the black belt of dragons. Whoever
can awaken him will have the greatest power in the universe.” He cocked
ninjaken with my right hand and plunged the dirty tip into my own stomach.
Rex gasped in surprise and it took a second for his eyes to register the
But it must have hurt me more than it hurt him. Pain pierced my
insides as I sliced through my guts from left to right. My last act was a
heaven. But my impulsive nature had cost me my life before I had a chance
to mature spiritually. It was too late to take back this mistake. What if I
fell away and the world grew dark. The only light was at the end of a long
down. It seemed like time was slowing and I might be stuck in this dark
tunnel ….forever trying to reach the light above. I strained with all my
from the other side of death. Or maybe I was on the same side with him.
They seemed normal sized instead of giant and awesome, but they were
unmistakably the eyes of a blue dragon. But what really got my attention
“Yes.”
The sky above was blue and puffy clouds seemed to be my resting
“No.”
“What?”
“You died,” he said. “But you can’t get to heaven from here. You’re
“I’m dead?” I raised my arms and saw orange skin and claws with
“How?”
“When you killed yourself you inflicted a wound to your own spirit,”
you………….care?”
“Because you saved me.” Somehow I could tell he was smiling with
He held his left arm over my torso. With a talon on his right claw he
cut his own wrist and let transparent blue drops fall on the wound of my
belly. Electric crackling sounded as sparks appeared between the talons tips
of his right claw. Then he lowered the crackling electric arc to my wound.
“You have to keep still if you want the wound sealed,” he said.
“Otherwise you will spend the rest of eternity with your guts falling out.”
I rose up and spread my wings. The lighter than air feeling was
wonderful. I noticed the blue dragon had no wings, yet he floated in the air
were above a cloud in the sky. The blue dragon and I raced over the clouds
noticed them before, but I was eager to explore so we didn’t stop. We flew
high into the sky where the air was thin and the blue sky faded away to black
space and I saw the sparkling of angels. A shooting star came towards us
“Hi Rad!” The angel gave me a hug and she filled me with her
love…..which took away the pain in my belly and made me feel happier than
ever before.
The blue dragon said, “There’s not enough moisture at this altitude. I
have to go back.”
“Just shout for me and I’ll find you.” He stopped flying and dropped
from the edge of space. His serpentine form arched backward. He aimed
his head towards the earth and let his slender body and long tail follow in a
Flying this high was very difficult and I couldn’t help losing altitude,
higher altitude.
higher.
As she pulled me to the edge of space I felt the cold stinging all over.
I held tighter to Etherea to soak up her warmth. But when the smile returned
to her face I was not well myself. I felt dizzy from lack of air and the cold
stabbed all the way to my core. When my wings went numb and stopped
“Rad…” She let herself fall with me and sparks flew from her hair.
“But…” She hovered where the air molecules gave her an aura of hot
sparks.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want you to burn.” My cold wings were too
“I love you, too.” I tried to smile at her, but my lips were too frozen.
My eyes drank her in the sight of her as I fell away remembering our first
kiss.
“You need to ascend as soon as you can.” She floated higher into the
“What?”
“You need to ascend,” she said, “If you want to be with me.”
“What?” I was still falling. It was getting warmer, but I was still too
cold to fly.
I barely heard her across the growing distance when she answered,
angel. Even as the sky turned blue and she disappeared I strained to look up.
I knew she was still there just out of reach. She was waiting for me, but I
was afraid to go to her again. She might decide to let herself fall with me
and I didn’t want her to burn. Not for me. I had to figure out how to rise
above the air. Was that why she wanted me to…....ascend? Already I
missed her and I wanted to be with her again as soon as possible. I needed
plunged deeper and deeper into the warmth and felt tingles of life filling my
dragon spirit from head to tail. With my wings extended I glided through
the turbulent air and wondered if it would be possible for Etherea to become
a dragon. But of course, I knew she didn’t have the spirit of a dragon and
nature of life. There were millions of green dragons. It seemed like there
was a green dragon defending each kind of tree. Every plant was fighting to
survive and it was protected by a fierce dragon. Flicking tails and snarling
teeth kept most of them at uneasy peace, but in some places sporadic
fighting erupted. I was keenly interested in watching the fights, but they
ended so quickly that I barely saw them before they were over.
I landed on a rocky hill and looked out over a clear river winding
through a green valley. A blue dragon swam down the river and snapped at
just a ghost? I clawed at the rocky hill, but I made no scratches. What?! I
felt alive yet I wasn’t quite physical. I tried to pick up a stone, but instead I
saw my claws go through it. I felt the inside of the stone and then the air. I
could feel it, but not move it. That was the moment I was forced to accept
My old life was gone. I had to get used to this new way of being. I
closed my eyes and let the warm sun soak through my orange eye lids.
feel.
emptiness of mind and let new bliss come into me. Just knowing that
what Etherea told me. She said ‘Listen.’ I was to meditate and listen for
I closed my eyes and let myself relax again. The easy wind blew
After a few minutes of meditating I heard the low voice again. “Are
“Are you with me?” The low voice was a little stronger, but it seemed
powers.”
The tingling inside bloomed into a vibrating rush that filled me with
“Go now.” The low voice said from inside me. “When you are done I
“Yes.”
Soaring over the land I looked down at the squares and rectangles of
farms. Above a long highway I traveled, somehow knowing the way to find
Tansao.
place was deserted. She sat alone on concrete stairs in the shade. Her eyes
were closed and her hands rested on her knees palms up with middle fingers
touching her thumbs in meditation posture. Short brown hair did not take
away the feminine softness of her face, but the horizontal scar on her left
cheek and the knotted ridge of her nose were enough to show that her life
had not been so soft. She used to blame it on her looks. When she told me
that I was the only man that didn’t try to molest her it was the first of many
long talks in confidence. I was the first man she ever trusted….and the only
one….because I was her friend, nothing more. She went through many
boyfriends because they failed her tests. The only one she would respect
was one who wanted no other girl, only her. I wondered if Boomba had
failed her, too. It looked like she was all alone in the world. Now she must
be very lonely without me to hold her trust and share mutual respect.
twisting thrust straight into the line of attack. She never tolerated people
trying to touch her, so this technique was a fitting name for her, Tansao. But
being defensive all the time made her solitary. If it wasn’t for martial arts
she would have no friends in the world. And now she must be mourning the
absence of me, her best friend and teacher. If she was suffering it was my
fault.
that I had forgotten about the troubles of living people left behind. Seeing
A tear rolled from her left cheek and stopped on her scar. Then
another tear streamed down her right cheek. Yes, she was sad. I wanted to
comfort her, but my right claw when through her shoulder because I was a
kami, without physical substance. Yet I could feel through her and feel her
emotions as well as the texture of her muscles, tendons and bones. With my
claw I felt her aching pain. I leaned into her and put my head into her head,
my heart into her heart. The shock overpowered me. Tears welled up in my
body convulsed in agony worse than death….and I knew the pain of death
was not this bad because I had already died. My tail squirmed and tried to
find something to wrap around, but as a ghost tail it went through things
I sat tired and still in her body. Her suffering overwhelmed me. I don’t
know how she managed such suffering. Was it like this all the time for her?
How could she sit here so calmly? My eyes were swollen shut and I tasted
the warm salt of her tears. Heavy sadness crushed my heart. I felt her
holding Etherea in my arms, but it seemed that romantic love was rejected
by Tansao because it didn’t help her out of depression. So, I tried other
memories. My visions of flying over green valleys began to push away the
the warm sun on my face. I remembered the wind blowing through me and
the fatherly voice speaking inside me. Then I felt a smile on Tansao’s face.
She must have experienced my memories and emotions, too. She never had
a father in her life, so maybe the fatherly voice was what she needed most. I
that He gave me. The patient and understanding voice made her happy.
Tears dried away and her heart felt lighter. I was relieved.
decided to show her my story, to let her know what happened to me after I
remembered our talk and the feeling of flying over shining clouds full of
white dragons. I took her flying up to the edge of space where the sky
showed her my fall back to earth and let her feel the memory of soaring over
the earth. She saw the blue dragons of the waters and the green dragons of
the animals and plants. Then we relived my conversation with the inner
When I pulled away from her I saw that she was smiling. Her eyes
“Yes, I’m here,” I said, but I knew she couldn’t hear me.
“I felt you inside me,” she said. “Actually, it was more like I was
inside you….I know everything that happened to you, like I was there….. it
She stood up and frowned. “It was real. I saw the afterlife.” She
crossed her arms and held her shoulders in a self-hug. “I know what it feels
She sat down again and closed her eyes. Slowly she whispered, “I
Tansao sat in silence for a while before she was distracted by the
noise of people. The look on her face alarmed me. Far below a crowd
poured onto the field. I flew down to see what was happening. Rex was
Hundreds of new students followed his group. The closer I came to him the
“I can’t believe it!” Saber turned in two circles surveying the size of
the stadium.
here.”
Rex added loudly, “And soon we’ll buy more stadiums and train more
Dragons.”
Rex said, “Now that we have our own channel on cable……we’ll all
be stars on TV.”
“You idiot,” said a young man with tan skin and long black hair
pulled back in a pony tail. “Decapitating means cutting people’s heads off.
It’s redundant to say ‘decapitating people’s heads off.” His white T-shirt
had a red circle with a white swan hovering above a serpentine black dragon.
There were Thai characters in calligraphy above the red circle and below the
thing about him was the fact that he wore a white shirt in a crowd of black
shirts.
his left side gripping the handles of his katana and wakizashi. “You tryin’ to
The guy in the white T-shirt said nothing, but he stepped back.
growled, “This ain’t grammar school. The only lessons around here ….are
pointed a thumb sideways at the young man in the blue shirt. “Kong’s way
mean….” He stopped when his eyes met Musashi’s glare and then Kong
Kazi tried to egg on the fight, “Go for it Kong, you can take him.”
ground.
“Hey!” interrupted Rex. “Save it for the Red Dragon festival. You’ll
get your chance to kill each other after we build a tower …..right……
Kazi waited until Rex was out of range before continuing to talk with
Kong frowned at him, “If you don’t know then you’re not old enough
“It’s a sex thing isn’t it?” Kazi grinned with his upper lip curled
enough to show his jagged, chipped upper teeth. “You got some when you
Kazi teased behind his back, “Yeah, I know what you did in
Bangkok.”
Kong kept walking like it didn’t bother him, but it did bother me. I
felt angry that Kazi was purposely trying to stir up trouble. He had no
somebody should teach Kazi a lesson. So, I whipped Kazi with my tail.
Instantly I saw the expression on his face change. His evil grin faded and a
something for the first time. His mouth dropped open and he looked around.
It seemed he was just now aware of being alone, without friends. Then he
Kong turned to give him an angry look and a scolding, “Look, if you
shoulder.
“Thanks, man.”
“Man, you gotta be careful what you say.” Kazi put his arm around
his new friend. “Everybody here caries at least one sword. So, where’s
yours?”
“In my car.”
“Well, let’s go get ‘em.” With his right hand Kazi reached to his left
side and pulled out a sword. He offered the handle to Kong, “It’s a US
Kazi bragged, “Looks real, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s a copy. I bought
I flew back to Tansao. Saber and Long were walking up the steps
towards her, but I arrived first. I wanted to tell her what just happened when
I tail whipped Kazi. I put my head into hers and recalled the memory. I
that all dragons had and we wondered what other powers I might have.
happened!”
They acted shocked to see her happy. “What?” they both said at once.
“You’ll see.” Tansao sat down and they joined her. “Close your
eyes.”
softly, “I was very sad, so I meditated here and tried to clear my mind. After
a while I felt a tingling inside. Warm and happy emotions filled my body
……..listen.”
Long opened his eyes and glanced around. Then he closed his eyes and sat
still. The two girls sat together and Long sat next to Saber, opposite of
Tansao.
I flew into the middle of them and wrapped my wings around all three
of them. Many feelings came at the same time with curiosity leading four
spirits into one shared experience. I felt their hearts beat faster as I took
he realized that Dao was not gone, but was now a blue dragon. He was sorry
to have killed Dao and the wound of guilt reopened, but it was a relief for
him to see Dao enjoying the afterlife. He was also reassured to feel Saber’s
emotions and know that she had never wanted Dao. Saber was glad to feel
Longsword’s true intentions and know that he did not have romantic desire
for Tansao. And this fact was very good for Tansao because she had
previously withheld her trust from him. Sharing of thoughts and emotions
helped her gain him as a new best friend. In this manner we all came to
know each other as our true selves. It made me care about them infinitely
more and I knew they felt the same way for me and each other. I wondered
if this was the way to ascension. I wanted to keep sharing these good
feelings and I prayed for ascension. But Tansao asserted her thoughts over
mine. She insisted we had an important mission and it wasn’t time for me to
physical world.
FIGHT!.....”
of young men filled the field, except for a circular clearing near the tower.
In that circle were three guys standing in face to face in a showdown. The
Musashi had his hands on his sword handles. Kazi stood glaring for a
long time letting the crowd’s chants fuel his indignation. Slowly he raised
his right arm and wiped his face. All at once the crowd fell silent in
anticipation.
Musashi blasted, “He’s a disrespectful jerk. Just like you.” His face
reddened with anger. The veins of his neck swelled and pulsed faster with
Kong didn’t react. His breathing stayed easy and his face didn’t flush.
“I respect you…..” after a long pause he calmly said, “But I’m not afraid of
you.”
Kong’s hands froze in front of his belly, inches away from the long
Schiavona broke into the circle and ordered with a shout, “STOP!”
She stepped between them and faced Musashi. “Rex said the TV crew isn’t
ready yet.” She turned to Kong, “If you guys wanna fight, that’s fine, but
you better wait until you’re on the tower and everything’s ready.” As she
Schiavona turned and pushed her way through the crowd of bloodthirsty
young men. “Outta my way!” She barked with a contemptuous smile as she
punched faces and twisted arms to make them clear a path for her.
Tansao said, “When they put the fight on live TV that will be the best
Long agreed, “Yeah, if they see us on TV then the whole world will
Tansao said, “We have to….he’s turning martial arts into a religion of
death.”
Long added, “It’s almost like the Mayans. Remember that movie,
Apocolypto? How long will it be until Rex builds pyramids and forces
people to watch their hearts getting cut out?” He held up his right hand to
Saber and clutched something imaginary. “How would you like to see your
volunteers for a duel? After all the preparations….. all the work of building
when he wants more power and he doesn’t care about you or me or anybody
else.”
of dragons.”
black dragon.”
Dao’s voice came from behind me. “You can’t beat the Black
Dragon.” I turned to see an electric blue dragon slithering through the air
without need of wings. I turned back and realized the teens were not aware
Dao answered, “I’ve been asking around. Lots of other dragons have
been telling legends about it, but nobody has ever seen it.”
karma, nothing. The Black Dragon was that nothingness and it was
perfectly still and quiet. It was Zen. Then the Black Dragon heard a voice
inside and the nothingness was disturbed into something. That was how the
that?”
“They say that the Black Dragon can also turn everything into
nothing.”
universe?”
“Yes,” Dao said. “The purpose of the Black Dragon is to recycle the
universe.”
Dao shook his head, “No. Everything dies and is reborn in the
from cursing the heavens. I knew Etherea might be watching me. “That’s
ridiculous.”
dragons.”
“A lot.” Dao turned and gazed at the football field full of young
people.
Go get as many dragons as you can and bring them back here. If Rex starts
spilling a lot of blood we need friends who can absorb the mana so that it
claw-hand at the thee teens next to us. “They need to know what’s about to
happen.”
human bodies.”
Dao was surprised at me, “You mean you’re gonna kill them?”
he was carrying a camping stove up the steps, but there was a lot of
Musashi climbed the ladder furthest from the escape rope. Kong went
up the opposite ladder at the same pace, but from my perspective at the top
of the tower I saw that he would soon be at a disadvantage. When they both
Kong’s face. When they bowed a strong spot light shined from behind
Kong was closest to the escape rope, so he was free to get away at anytime.
After the bow Musashi drew his bokken, a wooden sword, and held
the blade pointing straight up with the handle beside his right ear using both
Kong adjusted his mong kon, a ritual head band, then he drew both of
his Krabi swords. They were thin and flexible like long machetes. Their
He put the blades together, horizontally at chest level, and held the blades
with a black belt holding his swords. A red headband was pulled up high on
his forehead and his dark hair was bunched and messy.
Kong took the swords by the handles and slowly turned left with an
exaggerated step holding his bare foot high in the air. Then he turned his
back on Musashi and slow motion sliced the air as he made other
exaggerated high steps. For several minutes he continued this dance, always
faced Musashi and kneeled to the ground. He placed his swords on the
platform and bowed, turned left and bowed again. He turned and bowed two
more times until he faced Musashi again. Then he picked up his swords and
stood up.
Fire burst into life on the legs of the wooden tower. Home-made
napalm burned orange with sooty black smoke rising up beside the tower.
Suddenly Kong charged while chopping the air with his right sword
from upper right to lower left and then it circled back and up to the upper
right ready position. Then his left sword chopped the air from upper left to
lower right and circled back around to the upper left. He continued this
without a flinch or even the blink of an eye. At the last moment Musashi
evaded with a swift diagonal move to his left. Kong’s right sword was stuck
right hand across his body to draw his katana Kong’s foot trapped Musashi’s
right forearm against his own belly. Musashi was knocked backwards by a
push-kick, but he drew his katana as he fell and rolled. He was on his feet
before Kong could hack the bokken off of his right sword.
Kong swung his swords again in right, left slashing attacks and
charged again. This time there was no spot light behind Musashi, but he was
holding a steel blade high over his head with both hands gripping the long
handle. As Kong came within striking range the steel clanged loud. The
echo came back after Musashi had forced his blade in a powerful down-
This time Kong stood with the spot light behind his back. Just out of
range Musashi grinned as he pointed his katana. Kong looked down at the
cut on his own right arm. The opened flesh was a pink slash across a
I saw vapors rising from the blood and was drawn to it. The moment I
smelled the blood a surge rushed through my body and euphoria vibrated in
But they didn’t continue the fight. Musashi and Kong stared directly
at me….as if they could see me. I flew upwards and their eyes followed me.
Then I realized I was not invisible anymore. Everyone was staring at me. A
thousand faces watched me flap my wings and for the first time I heard the
right claw I grabbed his bleeding arm and with my left claw I scratched for
more blood. As the wound oozed fresh red liquid I sniffed for the vapors of
realized that a dragon can’t get mana by taking blood. Mana only comes
I pushed the useless boy towards a wide eyed Musashi and roared,
“FIGHT!”
They did not fight. Instead they stood gaping at me. Seeing the
I tried to whisper, but it must have sounded scary to them, “It’s me,
Mister Rad.”
Kong said, “I think it said ‘meat tasted bad’…..that’s why it didn’t eat
me.”
I looked out over the crowd below. The platform was about thirty feet
above a sea of people. At the same level was a well lit area next to the
cameras and people. Above him was a giant screen displaying his angry
face.
Again I spoke to the boys, but louder this time, “Listen, ….I’m
…Mister …..Rad.”
“Hey dragon,” Rex said, “Did you say your name was Mister Rad?”
Since the fighting had stopped and I had everyone’s attention I began
TV.
dies?”
“No, but I saw a lot of dragon spirits…..so I’m not the only one.”
you, we started fighting …….and I hit you in the side of the head with a
bottle.”
loudspeakers.
dragons at my command.”
To my shock and horror I saw Rex jump from the elevated stage and
draw his swords. From the hilts blasted torch flames half way up the blades.
Cameramen did their best to catch the action as Rex slashed an innocent
bystander.
Shaking of the earth made the tower lean. Musashi ran for the escape
rope and descended quickly. The crowd panicked as people yelled ‘EARTH
QUAKE!’ But when the field split open out came a red monster. It was
serpentine with eight legs and large pincers on its face. Two long feelers
prodded the ground as it crawled. People ran from it, but it spit on a young
man causing him to fall in the slime. His shrieks ended when the pincers cut
him in half. Then the vicious thing chased down another victim. It didn’t
fly, but it was a fast enough to catch people who were too crowded to escape
the stadium. Then I noticed there were two red dragons in the killing spree.
As I stared in disbelief I saw a red dragon erupt from below a human corpse.
It snipped the body in half and ran after live game. This process repeated so
that every dead body brought forth another red dragon. The carnage grew
exponentially.
blue dragons diving into the stadium. Unfortunately, I saw another red
walked…..and he was making his way towards the tower. I guessed he was
after me.
The tower leaned and Kong yelped. For a long second he teetered on
the edge waiving his arms trying to regain his balance. I lunged and caught
his arms as he fell off the platform. I couldn’t set him on the ground with
the red dragons, so I carried him across the field and up the bleachers to
safety with Tansao, Saber and Long. They were amazed to see me up close.
After Boomba clicked his lighter blue flames rose up and licked the
The three teens closed their eyes and sat still with their hands joined
together.
“What?!” Kong replied. “This place is about to get swarmed with red
It must have been hard for them to focus their minds on emptiness
hummed, “Ohmmmmm” as loud as we could and kept going even after the
three fell silent. It seemed like forever to me. I worried that red dragons
three droop and their faces went slack. Then the edges of their bodies
looked fuzzy. Feint colors at the edges became transparent kamis rising up.
Tansao was a brown dragon. Saber was a green dragon and Long was a blue
dragon. Boomba and Kong were still acting like they didn’t see anything.
I said, “Blood!”
“They need blood, NOW!” I pointed at the sword on the fire. “I think
Kong went to the stove and cut his right forearm with one of his own
I watched the three dragon spirits and was pleased to see them
“We have claws and teeth,” I scratched the air and showing my fangs.
“That’s good,” She said, “but swords are better.” She took a jian
Long and Saber grabbed swords from their sleeping forms. I didn’t
want a sword, but Tansao insisted I take one of hers. Then we bowed to
Kong and Boomba and leaped into the air. I dove for the low ground of the
field and saw humans with swords fighting red dragons. Long soared high
and blasted lightning. He pointed his sword to direct the lightning, but it
another blue dragon. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt the blue dragon. I figured
that they must be immune to electricity. Tansao smashed directly into a red
dragon and cut off its legs. As the mangled beast thrashed wildly she
jumped at another red dragon. I realized her strategy was to wound the red
dragons so they couldn’t fight, but not to kill them….or else fresh monsters
would come out of the ground. My sword cut a pincer off of a red dragon,
“FRIENDS!” I shouted.
We bowed to each other and went on fighting red dragons. I only had
three quarters of a blade left, but it still worked for hacking red limbs.
I hacked my way there and found him fighting humans instead of red
dragons. “What are you doing?” I heard myself ask. I still couldn’t believe
“No way!”
“Or else what?” I said. “You’ll kill me? I’m not afraid of death.”
disapproval.
I was close enough to see the shock in her eyes as her head fell to the
grass. The life faded quickly from her eyes and blood soaked her bleach
blonde hair at the neck line where her shoulders used to be. Then her body
slumped to the ground next to her head. Her left hand was still clutching a
sword, but slowly the fingers relaxed and the handle slipped away. I
recognized her.
sword at Rex.
him.
He laughed and taunted, “So much for the jian being the king of
swords!”
claws.
claws. My left arm went numb and fell limp. With my right claw I
squeeze the life out of Rex. Another sting on the left side of my head. I
think my ear was gone, but I didn’t stop fighting. I heard a scream of fury
and out of the corner of my eye I saw Tansao holding her sister’s head. I
wanted to finish Rex before I faded away, but I was feeling woozy and
losing my strength. I tried to bite his face, but instead the tip of his sword
breath. Still we struggled to kill each other. As his blade rose high for a
down-strike I raised my right claw to block. His sword came down, but I
couldn’t stop it. Instead it swished through me like I wasn’t even there.
stabbed his leg. He slashed her arm causing her to drop her sword. She held
“Look!” She showed Rex the bloody head. “She didn’t even become a
“No.”
scolded.
“You’re lying.”
She pointed a talon at him. “You’re an idiot. You should know that
“I don’t believe you.” He jabbed his right sword into Tansao’s right
The sky lit up with continuous lightning for two long seconds.
Thunder boomed and pounded the earth. Red spirits rose up from the red
dragons leaving their bodies to fall and dissintigrate on the ground. The red
spirits swirled into the sky making a counterclockwise vortex of red haze. In
the center was pure black, no stars, nothing. As the red storm swirled faster
going into her to take away her agony by giving her my good memories.
go into Rex instead. So I put my head into his head and my heart into his
heart. I felt his power lust and bitter envy. I felt his hatred for everyone
who didn’t do what he wanted. I felt his anger because he should have been
born a king. His feelings were about to take me over so, I forced myself to
look at Tansao’s face and see her pain. I looked at the severed head in her
eyes. Soon I felt a shudder in Rex’s body. His anger was driven away by
empathy. Tears welled up in Rex’s eyes. I knew that this was the first time
his tears ever came for someone other than himself. His thoughts of remorse
overwhelmed my brain and his self pity made me feel like killing myself,
again.
saw my memories of Dao warning about the Zen Dragon recycling the
heavens, “STOP!!”
Then he dropped his weapons and fell to his knees, weeping pitifully.
I left his body because his self-blame was too much for me to take.
Tansao kneeled beside Rex and gently put her bloody right claw on
his back. “If you’re sorry for what you did then you should apologize.”
Rex stood up, wiped the wetness from his blood-shot eyes. The
never realized…..”
The red vortex in the sky slowed its rotation and began to fade.
Rex said louder, “I never knew what it felt like……” He took his
eyes off of Tansao’s dead sister and gazed around at the carnage on the field
Tansao asked, “You mean, you never knew what it felt like….when
“Now that you have empathy,” Tansao said, “you can take care of the
wounded.”
Rex nodded and walked like a zombie toward a young man lying on
the ground holing his bleeding leg. Rex ripped his shirt off and tied it
around the injury and said, “hold this tight to stop the bleeding. You’re
The bloody head slipped out of Tansao’s claws. As she faded into a
spirit she couldn’t pick it up again because she lost physical substance.
We flew up to her body and found Long and Saber already awake in
their human bodies. They were shaking Tansao’s body, but it was
Tansao answered, “I saw Mister Rad’s spirit go into Rex and suddenly
She rested her arms on the shoulders of Long and Saber. Kong sat
“Empathy.”
There were many spirits in need of guidance. While the living tended
to the wounded the spirits wandered lost and confused. The kind of people
who had come to see dueling were not the kind of souls ready to ascend. So,
there were many kami dragons and they all needed guidance.
spirits, free of their bodies, yet trapped on earth until they learn to ascend.
Then I took the kami dragons flying over the world. The thrill and
freedom of flying caused most of them to go off on their own, but a few
remained with me. Then I led the kami dragons to the rocky hill where I
previously landed. We rested our wings and I taught them how to meditate,
to let the wind blow away their selfish thoughts and emotions so they could
listen for the voice that would guide them on their journey of spiritual
improvement. After a long silence one of the green dragons announced that
he was leaving. He said his purpose was to protect an endangered sea turtle
that was laying eggs on a Texas beach. We congratulated him on his noble
mission as he flew away. Then we all closed our eyes and listened. A while
Mississippi river. She didn’t have wings, but she quickly slithered away
through the air as if she were swimming rather than flying. There were two
of us left and we offered her “good luck” as she left. After another session
help honey bees find new homes away from the chemicals of crop dusters.
It felt very lonely to stand alone on the rocky hill. I closed my eyes
and waited for the voice that would guide me. Instead I was distracted by
I opened my eyes to see a brown dragon. “Hi Tansao. How did you
find me?”
With a dragon smile she said, “When you shared your memories I saw
just like before. So, I used transcendental meditation to come see you in the
She acted like she was trying to figure out how best to say something
assure her. “I’d like to hear your thoughts. You’re very wise for your age.”
She began slowly, “I’ve been thinking ….about that tunnel …….the
“Yeah…..” I nodded.
“Yes……”
“Uh huh.”
She added, “And Dao said that the Black Dragon is also called the
Zen Dragon.”
I nodded, “So…..”
She concluded, “So, maybe……the black tunnel and the black dragon
She explained, “If the black dragon turns everything into nothing then
She went on, “Yeah, but before you can get to the light you have to let
She went on, “So, if you let go of everything then there will be
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “I need to meditate and let go of all
She grinned, “I thought you might need some help.” She pawed the
ground, but made no scratches since her spirit just went through it, “Rex
She stopped grinning, “Now, when you see him, you might be a little
surprised.”
“Why?”
and…..”
“Oh,” I said, “When I went into him he got my memories, didn’t he?”
“At least your knowledge and skills were not lost by your death.” She
“I don’t mind if you did,” I whined. “But it’s not fair for him to get it
“What?”
“This is what I was I mean by you not letting go,” She said.
“But…”
She put her right claw on my left shoulder and looked into my eyes.
She gazed deeply into my eyes and put her left claw on my right
shoulder, “You have to let go of what you think is right. That kind of
She shook her head yet she kept her eyes on mine. “It’s not up to you
“Rad…?”
No reply.
She said, “I know it’s hard to let go of your opinions and your ideas of
Silence.
She continued, “But those are the kind of things that make people
angry.”
I fumed silently.
She went on, “And you don’t want to take anger with you……not to a
fair……and whatever makes you feel resentment. Just let it all go.”
I tried to accept that Rex had all my knowledge and skills of a lifetime
Even more sudden was the eruption of a red dragon up from the
“Hey Rad!” The red dragon said, “What’s up?” He gave me a big
negative feelings toward Rex. It was much harder when I could see him face
Rex hung his head and clawed at the ground, “I don’t blame you for
hating me.”
I said nothing.
I glared at her.
She said, “Not for his sake, but for yours. You need to let go of ALL
your negativity.”
over to the red dragon and put my right claw on his back. I forced myself to
right?”
changed him.
“So…..” Tansao said, “Time to say your goodbyes and make your
ascension.”
I looked at her and Rex. I looked around at the world and I said,
daughter.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she lunged me with her arms open
“I was afraid you might reject me since you had problems accepting
With happy tears streaming down her face she whispered in my ear,
as we ended the hug, “And you will be accepted when you pass through the
zen tunnel into the light. They will accept you, so don’t be afraid.”
I bowed, “Okay.”
I did.
go….the fears, the regrets, the injustices that don’t matter anymore, the
I felt the wind blow through me again. The feeling of letting go was
own mind and finally the wind blew away the last of my emotions and
thoughts.
The swirling orange colors of my eyelids under the sun fled away into
the emptiness and a light appeared a long way above me. In my mind I
looked up and focused on the light. I let go of Tansao with a parting thought
It felt wonderful to float through the zen tunnel with nothing holding me