Encounter

What day is it? What time is it?

A small bald person of middle 30's in an orange robe slowly walked into my room holding a candle. Looked and me and said something I cannot understand. Another 2 of the same description, only a little taller, came in. Together, they seem to look like monks of something. They grabbed my arms pushing me towards outside the door. When I saw the surroundings, it was no cave at all. It was bright and windy and fresh. I was at a peak of a rich mountain with birds in the sky, trees surrounding a lake with a waterfall. I walked towards the edge of a cliff in amazement and fascination as they released my arms.

But how? Where am I?

"Nam Tok Tat Pho" the small monk said in a feminine voice...

"It is the gates between people and nature"

I was relieved that she could speak my language.

I looked at her and asked.

How did I get here?

How did you do that?

And why am I here?

"You ended up on our island... dead. We recovered you miraculously. That's all."

"Your other questions will be answered in time." She told me in a non-monotonous way but without emotions.

I thought to myself whether it's a dream or not.

"Guess I'll have to find out"

I jumped off the cliff to the lake of the waterfall.

The monks jumped off as well. Again, they spoke of a different language and I did not seem to understand but their faces looked kind of worried. But the small female monk just told me while falling "I see you're brave enough to face the demon already".

It got me curious.

"What demon?"

As I fell into the water, I went deep down due to the momentum from the fall. It was a clear lake until I saw a humongous creature. It looked like an eel at first but then it was made clearer through the looks of its skin.

It was a huge snake.

"So this was the demon she was talking about"

As of that moment, I know I couldn't defeat it so I surfaced and saw the monks sitting on the rocks. I then realized that they never actually dived in the water with me.

I proceeded to asking them why they called that creature a demon.

"For the hundreds of years that I've lived, this demon has already made lair beneath this lake. This lake is our only source of spiritual energy, nature energy, and of course water to drink. Yet its vicious energy led to the rotting of fruits, the illness of our people and the contamination of this water. It looks clean, yes, but if you drink it, you will die. Just soaking in that water, you might rot as well. My people have trained, have cultivated and have sacrificed themselves to try to eliminate this demon but all they did was become its source of food. No one can stop it. " She explained.

"Ah! So is it my destiny now? To defeat the vicious creature and save the day?" I sarcastically asked while wondering why I'm not rotting.

She surprisingly said no. So I am even more curious what of why I ended up here. Why the room was replicated as mine. A lot of questions came to mind.

"It will be answered in time" She said out of nowhere like she can read my mind.

"Then when is the time" I assertively asked while monitoring my body for any signs of rotting.

"It will come" she calmly answered.

"Now what?" I totally have no idea what she's talking about, why I'm here, why I'm still okay even when soaked with the lake's so-called contaminated water that actually looks clean, and I'm wondering if she's actually telling the truth. Seems like a story I cannot follow.

I'm getting nowhere with the cryptic nonsense. I went out the water and walked around. They let me but told me not to go deep into the forest or far enough where I can't come back. Of course, I went there. I saw a lot of rich fruits and animals that can be hunted for meal. I took a fruit that looked really beautiful and felt stuffy. It evens smells good and I was sure it can be eaten. As I took a bite, the monk suddenly appeared, this time, alone.

"Looks can be deceiving." She referred to the fruit.

I immediately spit out what I've bitten off and asked her why.

"Look at it closely." She pointed at the core of the fruit.

I noticed that it looked really perfectly fine but it felt heavy, dark and depressing.

"It's the energy from the creature, and yes it spreads all throughout the island. Everything here is infected with its energy." She explained. "Also, why are you here in the deepest part of the forest?" She added.

"Cuz you told me not to" I said it like I was a child disobeying his parents.

Suddenly, she told me to go with her.

"You need to learn a few things to survive in this place. I'll teach you." She said it with concern and compassion.

"You need to learn to cultivate your spirit so you can understand a little bit more. You are naive and stubborn, that will never change but at least you can control." I'm beginning to wonder if she's lecturing me like she's my mother.

Out of nowhere, she held my head with her thumb on my forehead, her other fingers somewhere on my head and without her palm touching my head.

A light suddenly flashed and I saw things I've never seen before. It felt like it was her memory, her experience, her life shown and expressed all at once. Every single emotion and feeling were condensed into me. I have no idea what to feel, what to think. I stood there with my eyes open unblinked for more than an hour until I passed out and fell on the ground.