FINALE
The Gift of the North Wind
The morning sun over the Yun Shan Ridge always arrived with a slow, quiet patience, filtering through the thick pine needles until the mountain mist glowed like pale green silk.
Inside the Jade Shambhala Tea House, the iron kettle was just beginning to hum over the hot charcoal embers. Lin Xiu-Ying sat at the long wooden counter, her hands wrapped around a warm clay cup, listening to the stillness of the forest.
Three winters ago on a night when the mountain was locked in a fierce, unyielding blizzard, the wind and the sea had their own ideas.
*****
She didn't choose to board that trading merchant boat down in the southern spice ports. She was just a tiny, silver-white kitten, shivering behind a stack of cinnamon crates on the timber deck, looking for a dry corner away from the spray of the salt water. For three long weeks, the wooden ship tossed and groaned across the open sea, carrying its heavy cargo of silks and dried fruits toward the northern harbor.
The sailors never saw the wee babe; It was just a silent white shadow slipping between the shadows.When the boat finally hit the docks at the base of the mountain, the north wind was howling, turning the rain into sharp needles of ice.
The port was too loud, too chaotic, and full of frantic rushing. So, she turned her back on the ships and slunk towards the crisp, clean scent of cedar wood and pine smoke rising high from the ridge. Her tiny paws sank deep into the frozen mud, and her ears were numb from the sleet, but she kept walking up the steep stone paths one grueling day at a time.
She was looking for the only room on the mountain that felt entirely safe.It had been the coldest night of the winter cycle when Lin Xiu-Ying found her. The storm was rattling the heavy wooden window shutters, and the mountain tracks were completely buried under a thick sheet of snow.
Xiu-Ying had stepped out onto the front porch to secure the iron door latch against the valley winds when she noticed a tiny, unmoving speck of white fur tucked right against the stone threshold. It was so small and still it looked like a clump of mountain frost blown in by the gale.
When she lifted the kitten into her warm hands, the little creature’s body was completely stiff, its breathing shallow and weak. Its fur was rough with dried sea salt and grit from the trading ports.
Xiu-Ying brought the kitten inside immediately, wrapped her in a soft linen cloth, and placed her on a low stool right beside the gentle warmth of the hearth.For a long time, the kitten lay perfectly still. But as the aroma of warming tea leaves and the dry heat of the charcoal embers filled her lungs, her eyes suddenly snapped open. They were not the ordinary, misty eyes of a common stray; they were a striking, clear jade green, looking up with a stillness that seemed far older than her tiny frame.
"You are a brave little traveler to survive that mountain pass alone," Xiu-Ying whispered softly, using a warm cloth to gently clean the salt from the kitten's ears.The white kitten didn't cry or whimper. Instead, she pushed herself up on her small, steady legs, shook her fur, and walked with deliberate, unhurried steps straight across the polished floorboards.
She finished the small saucer of milk to the last drop Xiu-Ying had prepared, smacked her lips and climbed onto the low window sill to look at the soft rain a steady drizzle now.
She curled her tiny body into a neat, round circle right against the glass, turned her back completely to the world outside, and let out a deep, rhythmic purr that vibrated softly through the quiet room.
Xiu-Ying watched her from the hearth and smiled, realizing the tea house had just been given its permanent guardian. "The storm brought you here for a reason," she said quietly, setting a fresh cup of tea on the table. "This is your home now."
She understood me right from the start. She didn't try to put a loud bell around her neck or force her to chase mice for my supper. She just kept the fire hot, kept the room quiet, and let her watch the steam rise from the clay pot every morning.
Up here on the ridge, the door is bolted, the hearth is warm, and the white cat is always on watch.
PRESENT DAY:
Shambhala she calls it ! Shambles I'd rename it!
Moon Glow was in a fix.
The winter rest in the tea cottage had been a whiteout curfew. She longed for some four legged companion. Xiu was out in the market yesterday and had staggered back in a rickshaw huffing and panting its steam and fumes uphill. “Godforsaken place” she had heard the driver grumbling as she got out with colourful packages.
Moon Glow circled around the heap of boxes which had come by mailman van earlier and drew her attention to it. In the living room, they unboxed the contents. Cat figurines, Cat shaped lanterns, Lucky Cats and a Life size cat statue gleaming white in the midday sun!
It's that time of the year! Lunar New Year and finally it's the Year Of The Cat !!
Moon Glow was over the moon! Her tiny heart bloomed a thousand roses and her joy reached the rafters.
"Hai! What on earth! This ?? " Xiu scratched her temple in puzzlement. "I had ordered rabbits for the Year Of The RABBIT! " Moon Glow's heart crumpled like a drenched paper rose matching her swiftly dampening joy. The tiny heart splintered.
The cat decors were a... mistake?? It's not a Year Of The Cat ?
At that precise moment Xiu spat out in frustration. " What a vex! Don't these addled heads know that there is NO Year Of The Cat?? I have to call the store and replace everything with Rabbits". Moon Glow was dumbstruck!
No year of the cat?? kept looping in her naive understanding.
No year of the cat? All the enthusiasm dropped down like a ton of weight let loose she was carrying in anticipation all these 3 years. After Tiger, it should be surely me her cousin and mini tiger she had assured herself last year.
She sat down heavily on the carpet and her eyes welled up. Just then the door bell rang and a pet carrier was delivered with a white rabbit kit inside.
"Oh my god my rabbit baby has arrived! Paopei Snow Dew".
Huh? I'm paopei. I'm sim bu bu. who is this interloper come to take my place? Crushed, Moon Glow slunk away into the garden and walked towards the Magnolia tree. it didn't look the same either.. Xiu, after all I stood by you for, my loyalty, my love all gone with a new pet that you call my symbols a ... mistake? How Xiu? Why??
No matter Xiu, It's your year, Year Of The Rabbit and a rabbit pet it is. I was your wingman when you started out as a tea leaves reader and I was so overjoyed to match my energy and mystical forces with you. Hundreds of readings, countless non verbal signs that I channeled to you and your 'down in the dumps' clients...
Moon Glow looked up nostalgically at the Magnolia tree and swatted the trunk. It didn't budge. She clambered up a bough and wavered on her tiny paws. The squirrels...my friends...my frenemies, my snack buddies. Where have you all gone? The branch with your nest in it has now been made into a tea table in the bedroom.
Moon Glow was lost in this time frame, her deep pools of eyes an Ocean Indigo.
Owl, Thrush, Mynahs?? You didn't visit these days? Hope you all survived the beastly storm. I have nothing more to do here.
Shambhala she calls it!
Shambles!
That's what this is. I have no one...
Let the Snow drop Dew drop Rabbit poop drop read the tea leaves and give purring healing to Xiu.
I'm off to a long winter rest at the place I came from. I remember the fragrance of the place. It smelled of shiny stars and moonbeams. Lanternlit Way it is called.
"Coming mama..."
THE END
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
This post is part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon 2.0
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