Chapter One: The Plum Blossom Spirit

The soft golden light shined through the high rise apartment onto the black tile floor where the little boy sat, gazing into the dust that floated into the air, like planets or rocks in space. His father walked briskly past, a force pushing through and forcing the dust particles to fly off into different directions and drawing the you child's gaze. His father reached into the cylindrical tube containing Joss Stick Incense and a picture of  the Lotus Maiden on a flower to grab three herngs. As his father turned the herngs upside down and used his thumb to click the flame of the lighter on, the small boy pushed himself upright, paused a moment to gain balanced and slowly walked over to his father calling out notes and sounds sounds with tones of melodious sentences whose meanings could only be guessed at.

"Hold on, Enkidu" his father called the boys name softly, "just a moment." And his father fanned the flame until it went out and the herng was lit by the orange smolder at the top only. He put the herng sticks to his forehead and bowed three times before putting the sticks in a Tsing Tao Bottle, with other spent sticks, before the picture of a young woman. He picked up Enkidu so that his angle of the altar was more clear.  

Enkidu reached for and grabbed one of the two flowers that flanked the portrait and picked it up babbling even more excitedly. 

"Hey Enkidu," Baba laughed, "Why did you take the plum blossom girl's flowers? heheh... but this isn't really the plum blossom girl. It's just a picture. And we are only lighting the incense as a memory to help think of her." Enkidu laughed and put the flowers, which were made of plastic, to his mouth. Baba took them back gently and replaced them onto the altar. "We all light incense to the Plum Blossom girl in the Plum Blossom Village. That's where you live, that's the name of these Concrete towers, great Castles reaching into the sky to house our people. Because they exist because of that little girl's sacrifice. She was killed, when the great Dragons were building their towers, and when she died her body exploded into a flaring light with such heat and energy that the Dragons shook with fear. The light took the form of a great bird, and eagle, a phoenix, a simorg, a crane, depending on which angle you saw it from and the people, enraged, rose up and clamored together donning their Lion helmets and humbaba suits and Kei Lun claws to do battle with the Dragons. But the Dragons said they would build this plum blossom village if they were allowed to build their Dragon Way through the buildings where the Plum Blossom girl's family had lived. And the light did not dissipate but hovered and stayed and flew about. And now you can see it from time to time watching over our village. And so we honor her with incense and flowers in each and every apartment home of all the towers you see."

Baba, placed Enkidu on the floor and at that moment Enkidu's mother came home. She went over to Enkidu and picked him up in her arms which smelled of the car exhaust and had the outside cold air energy about her jacket. Enkidu found it uncomfortbale and squirmed. 

"Bo Jai...Enkidu doesn't like me.. he doesn't even recognize me."

Baba laughed saying, "You come from outside" 

He stirred in the kitchen as Enkidu's mother played with her son on the couch, and soo Bo Jai brought out dishes of Bak Choi, Hahm Yu, Steamed fish with ginger and scallions and three bowls of rice.