• Part 7 Day 3

I was inside a large circus tent. On the side’s were large rips, the fabric drooping down on either side. Sunlight cascaded into the gashes, bringing light into the musty darkness. I was lying in the middle of the solid dirt floor. I didn’t know how I got there but I knew it was for a reason. Suddenly I heard a large sound like a trumpet in the distance. I got up and ran as fast as I could without looking back. “Hello?” I cried. I gulped as I saw a trainer beating a baby elephant with an elongated black whip. I stepped closer my voice capturing the shadow like figure’s attention. “HEY, you have NO right to do what you are doing.” I screamed my voice getting bolder and even more edgy with every word. The trainer didn’t say anything as he turned around, I saw his face was as pale as a white rose, his eyes looked like the pit to an endless hole. He turned back around and continued beating the baby elephant like it was nothing. I saw something glinting just a few feet behind me. I slinked to the area it radiated and grabbed what seemed to be a handle. It was a large bronze dagger. I realized that since I was in a circus tent, these were equipment from shows. They were abandoned and coated with dust.  I cringed each time I heard the cries of the unknowing elephant. Then an idea struck me like a sword through my head. Just as the man had his whip in the air, I brought the sword down, the bronze hitting the leather. About 3/4 of the leather was chopped off, only leaving a floppy stub. The man turned, his useless trinket turned into what seemed to be a lethal weapon. The fabric turned into what seemed to be a full length sword. “Bring it.” He said in a raspy tone. We dueled until my dagger unfortunately gave in to the twisting and stabbing the man’s sword brought. I was cornered the elephant was able to get away. I sliced at his leg, his motion was like lightning. “How do you find satisfaction in seeing a soul tortured?” A malevolent grin creeped up his face, “Well I don’t have time to answer that because I am busy enjoying you fall to your death.” He retorted harshly as he pushed me, I thought I would land on hard flooring. Instead I landed in a hole . I was falling, into a large pit. It had jagged stalagmites running down the walls of the seemingly endless walls. I was falling into a pit that was the lethal equivalent of more than trillions of hellhounds. I was falling into a place that inhaled fire and exhaled ashes.

“NO!” I screeched. My body was bolt upright in bed. Beads of sweat traveled down my temples, and down my neck. My hair looked like jet black waves mixed with curls flowed down my sticky, sweaty back. My breath hitched as I looked around. It was just a dream. I told myself. It was so peculiar though. I sword fought with an unknown but abusive animal trailer in a circus tent, while trying to protect an elephant that was being abused. And then I failed. I plunged into a pit of darkness with a baby elephant that thanked me though I unsuccessfully tried to save it. And then I noticed something as I brushed my teeth. A scar, a fresh one actually. It was right on my wrist. I remember when I sword fought with the shadow man( lets just call him that) I seemed to be shredding him down. He became weaker and anemic. He seemed desperate and out of ideas, so he then swung his sword like a desperate heinous maniac. It sliced through my skin like a knife cutting through soft butter. The small wound was bleeding, warm red liquid trickled down my arm and drops of my blood every time I brought my hand up to slash up my dagger. I noticed in the mirror that there was a faint red stain behind the shell of my ear. I touched it gently with my callused thumb. I stifled a scream, the signal of pain reached the patch of skin that caressed my bloody wound. I looked at my thumb, now covered in my blood. I took a hand mirror and examined the wound. It was a long gash that went from the top of my ear and ends behind my earlobe. It wasn’t very deep but even the slightest sense of touch, such as a single hair falling behind it feels like being stabbed by a thousand swords.

I tried my best to wipe out all of the blood that undulated out of the scar until it only left a mere cicatrix. One part of my mind was telling me I bet this happened when you we battled the shadow man! But then my logical side dominated my whole head. I was trying to push away the thoughts that preponderated my head. But it was to peculiar to push away though. My dream affected my ways of life to. For example when I got ready that morning for our next destination I was moving the way I did when I was dodging the shadow man’s sword . And when I first met( my best friend) Emily at the start of the school year the first thing she ever told me was “You move like you’re in a battle.” I still move like that, my feet sliding against the floor, I twirl to a stop. I still remember the combat moves I did. It comes in handy at P.E. a lot actually. But what really changed me two years ago was that dream, everything that happened. It reminds me of a manga I like to read now called Blue Exorcist. The manga contains a story line that is action and thriller. My dream was like that story, almost… Supernatural.

I looked at myself in the mirror one more time before we left to Anand Bhavan. My eyes are actually an extremely dark brown. So dark that you can’t even see my pupils. My best friend Jayden always says that in the dark, my eyes look like orbs of glowing black fire with the specks and blotches of black in my eyes. In the light, he  says my eyes look like a storm with the mix of different brown colors surrounding my pupil. A lot of my friends( specifically Jayden) thinks that when I look at them it’s extremely intimidating for them to look at my eyes directly, especially with my long eyelashes and midnight black strands of loose bangs that twist like black brambles, framing my face. But that day they looked wild and vicious. I combed out my ink colored hair. The waves merging into little princess curls. We were going to Jurong Bird Park to, well, see birds. I was wearing these really baggy pants that had these really cool patterns on them, and I was wearing this loose top. I was really happy that I wasn’t encased inside a floral massacre.

We walked down the sidewalk and picked up some food. And as usual the same woman was there serving us. She was so nice and loving. I loved her. As usual the sun’s rays radiated down upon us. But I was grateful that the stratosphere protects us from it’s lethal rays. IF YOU WERE A PERSON I WOULD JUDO-FLIP YOU RIGHT ABOUT NOW. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ME. SEE THIS IS WHY AUTUMN IS MY FAVORITE SEASON. I scowled at the sun for being it’s intolerable self. In the car I watched the hustle of the people around us, walking, one there phones, wiping the sweat that dripped down there faces like rain. What really surprised me for the past few days was that Bala Thatha stuck with us everywhere, dropping us off and picking us up from our destinations. Just the night before we went to Rajendran thatha and Vany aachi’s house. Last night we had to drive to there apartment. Each one was aligned with others and there were multiple stories. This was the first time I had met them. But I really liked them though. They were nice, thoughtful, and sweet. They served us traditional south Indian food that was very good. They even bought us ice cream.

We all walked out of the car Deepak and Madhavan were by my side  as we walked into the entrance of the bird park. It reminded me so much of the botanic garden we went to, with the twisting willow tree’s and orchids. I found one orchid that looked like there was actual blood splattered on it. That one was probably my favorite. We walked along, passing by tree’s that twisted and passed by ponds with swans and ducklings and mother ducks. We went to a spot where birds flew everywhere, some nonchalantly land on our arms and fingers if we stick them out. There were cerulean warblers, song sparrows, robins, rainbow lorikeets, gold and blue macaws, quetzals, and so many more. I loved the way the song sparrow fluttered gracefully, zipping through the tree’s. We walked to another area where there were large groups of birds in these huge cages. They squealed and made so many sounds. Some fought with one another, some stayed secluded in a corner. We walked quickly away, though I wanted to stay and study the birds. Deepak must of had the same idea because he walked beside me slowly, watching the magnificent white birds. We all snaked through the entire park watching and commenting about the birds at one point we all stopped in front of this man made waterfall. We took pictures in front of it. Jagan mama and my mom took a photo together but they couldn’t keep a straight face, smiling to much or to little. Finally they took a good picture. Soon enough, we left.

Thatha then took us to a place where there were these amazing 3 dimensional pieces of artwork that represented the Chinese Dynasties, the legends, and they each told a story. They were all different and the details shocked me. Each one told a clear story. Especially the one about Confusicous. We inspected each area thoroughly, taking some pictures. We came across a large wheel. It was of the Chinese zodiac calendar. Each section had an animal and a list of years on them. I was born in 2005 so I was represented as a rooster. My brother was a crow, and thatha was a dragon(Lucky!) I found out that my mom and I had the same animals. We soon drove back to our hotel and Jagan Mama and Thatha both went home. Throughout the day I snuck in some thoughts about my dream. That night I struggled to sleep with those thoughts in my head. In fact, as i write this I still wonder of the shadow man who lurks through my thoughts.

The entrance to Jurong Bird Park.