Insignia by Kelly Matsuura Read Free Book Online Page B

tiger follows my brothers and me to the
monastery. He does not enter, but looks at me once more, his eyes
wiser than my own, and again I bow. I know what I must do. The
monks tend the wounded, and I request an audience with the abbot. I
tell him of what has happened, and he nods. I request permission to
leave the order, renouncing all claim to sanctuary. He studies me
long, but nods again. He places his hand upon my forehead and tells
me I will now forget the whispering of trees, how to strike with
their limbs as my own and that I must leave my club of wood behind.
He wishes me well, and counsels me not to forget what has gone
before, but to accept it. I bow and take my leave.
    Dressed only in some discarded clothes, no
longer my habit, I go to Sun Rising. I tell her I must leave the
monastery. I ask her if she would like to come with me. There is a
long silence, as we stand amid the frightened folk and the
bandaged, some still too afraid to return to their homes. She asks
me if I would truly give up everything to do so. I say, no, not
only for her, but I would give it all away to begin something new,
with her, if she will. We leave the gates of the monastery
together.
    The trees groan under the weight of old
snow, their roots sleep deep beneath my feet, and their language is
strange to me now. Brother Tiger’s Paw of the Monastery no longer,
I leave. Sun walks to my right, her hand in mine after twenty-eight
years. We are leaving the valley, to the north, where perhaps we
will find safe passage.
     
    The End
     
     
     
THE GHOST BRIDE

Kelly Matsuura
     
    “Ming Yue! Let’s go.” Sheng Li took my hand
and we dropped through the clouds. Snow and wind billowed all
around us and I squealed in delight, oblivious to the cold.
    We landed on a snow-covered sports field. In
front of us, a dozen teens skated on a large ring of ice about the
same length as a running track. Some students held hands, taking
their time, while others whizzed around practicing their
speed-skating. I knew exactly where we were.
    “This is my old high school! Why bring me
here?” I looked to Sheng Li, my new husband. He was constantly
surprising me.
    “Winter will be over soon, and I doubt we’ll
see another one as we are. And, this is a fond memory for you,
isn’t it?” He smiled.
    I nodded. “Yes, we’ll pass on soon, I
believe. So, let’s skate!” I squeezed his hand and pulled him
forward to join the skaters who were unaware of our presence. We
had no skates, nor coats or gloves, just each other. We couldn’t
feel the chill of the wind, the scratch of metal on the ice under
our feet, but we re-lived that joy of being young, being free, and
being alive.
     
     
    I never believed the old superstitions.
While at times the stories my grandmother told were romantic and
comforting, my academic mind couldn’t hold on to the idea of other
worlds and realms, of things we can’t see, but are told to blindly
believe in.
    The numerous prayer rituals were a burden on
my time, not to mention an expense my family could ill afford.
Every yuan my father earned went first to my education,
second to keeping the four of us clothed and fed. But my mother
always gave up something she needed in order to pay for the
extravagant altar gifts and priest’s blessings she ordered for her
only son.
    I missed my older brother too of course, but
sitting in front of Xun’s altar only saddened me and made it hard
to concentrate on my studies. I saw no point in dreaming of his
afterlife, I didn’t even believe he had one, but it weighed on my
parent’s and grandmother’s mind long after Xun was buried.
    They had talked of finding him a ghost
bride; a ridiculous thought, not only because it was such an
outdated practice but also because it would require money we simply
didn’t have. But I watched my mother, toying with her last piece of
jewelry of value, the twenty-four carat gold bracelet given to her
by Father on their wedding day. It would probably fetch enough