Alex loves to eat (nanwu) wrote in st_margarets, @ 2017-07-03 12:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: alex jiang, location: beyond the academy and camden |
Narrative: Disconnect to Reconnect
WHO: Alex Jiang
WHEN: Sometime in July
WHERE: Somewhere in China
The thing about the monastery was that it was easy to lose track of time. Not long after his arrival, Alex turned off his phone entirely. He brought emergency chargers but it felt like turning it off might be the wiser option. While here he wanted to make the most of it and not use it for the same purpose has he had before. Last summer he left for China to avoid all the problems he created himself or ended up on his lap because people were growing up. At least he grew up enough this year to know that he wasn't running away but coming to learn. Really learn. And kick the asses of those little shits that bugged him last year. Before he shipped out to China, he stopped in LA and talked to the family lawyer. He ignored Haylie's advice because he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing. Yeah, one of his best friends was a sloth demon, but Alex couldn't sit on this. He had spoken with Mr. Cavanaugh, who (as usual) didn't really give advice but more just let Alex talk at him. Sometimes Alex wished that Mr. Cavanaugh was more emotion than logic, but what did he expect from the Head of Sphinx House. He wrote his testimony down on paper. Careful to include all the details of what he saw. Memory was a funny thing and Alex's memory only required he see to permanently etch what happened. He told his parents he was refusing the contract, even after all the pains of the contract negotiations. He was more than lucky to get this sort of deal for a first timer, but he refused it. He knew what he chose to do was probably one of the few good things he would ever do in his life. Now he sat alone in the monastery. He was supposed to be meditating but he couldn't focus on the act. Alex stared ahead, watching a shaman trimming a bush. Chores were pretty typical around here. Something Alex wasn't anxious to get back to but he was starting down a different path for himself. Rejecting the contract meant he wasn't going to make it in the music business. Not yet. But he hoped to use this summer to get what he was supposed to get out of a place like this. He rose up, walking over toward the other shaman and held out his hands, "I can take it from here." The man looked at Alex with surprise. The boy had gotten a manicure prior to coming here and the shaman's hands were worn from physical use. He chuckled and then said to Alex, "This is mine to do. But look here." He pointed to a part of the three where it appeared to be dying. Placing his hand on Alex's shoulder he said, "Visit this tree. Speak to its spirit. Find a way to discard of this pain." "I probably shouldn't. I thought we weren't supposed to mess with stuff anyway," Alex replied and the old man asked, "Have you never been ill?" "I have but I just go see a doctor," Alex said. The old man squeezed Alex's shoulder, "Shaman speak to spirits and guide them but they can also heal them. It is time you started to learn this. Go. Speak to it. Learn what ails it and return." Alex nodded and made his way back to where he sat before. Closing his eyes, he opened them to see the spirit world before him. Familiar and strange at the same time. His spirit rose, leaving his body behind and made his way toward the tree. He didn't see the tree the way it existed in reality. He saw its potential. Branches reaching toward the heavens colored an eerie yet beautiful white. Upon its trunk he saw the black smudge there. Instinctively, he brought his hand to his own black mark. It was still there but smaller than it once was. But not by much. "Here goes nothing," he said softly to himself and approached the tree. |