Temple: A New Journey Begins
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Kwai Chang Caine watched the workmen as they moved one of the last stones in place. The temple was nearly completed. All that would be left would be the interior furnishing.
This new temple was larger and would have more splendors than its predecessor. Its new point of entry would ensure that those coming to the temple were serious about wanting to be Shaolin. This temple was reminiscent of another temple back in China now long gone. Candidates would have to wait once again for three days to enter. Once accepted, they would be brought through the tunnel to one of the chambers where they would be given tea. The abbot of the temple would be the last judge on their worthiness. From there they would proceed up the tunnel to receive their garments, their head would be shaven, and they would officially become a new novice of the order.
The original entrance would be for those who wish to enter strictly for worship or for those visiting on other business. It would also be the means where a newly ordained monk would leave and enter the world outside to begin their new journey.
Many changes had taken place since the original temple had been constructed. This new temple would now be large enough to house women. Only a few had been large enough, and those had been the first to fall, two centuries before.
This new temple would also be the first of its kind to house families continuing the tradition. It was KC's idea to include them, since his grandfather had been raising his father in the temple, it seemed fitting that tradition be continued. It would stem off any suspicions. Temples in the past had been places of learning. This one would be so again.
"That must be placed with care. It is the one stone that holds the remains of several brethren, and holds memories of the past."
"Very good, my son. You follow in the tradition of our ancestors, building a temple worthy of them."
KC froze as the beloved voice that he had heard many times in his dreams return to life.
"Father?" KC turned to see his father standing with Kermit and another whom he had not seen for two years. "Grandfather Paul." KC walked over to greet his father and Paul Blaisdell. "I thought you were lost. How is it that you are here? Where have you been? Why didn't you contact me?"
Tears welled up in Peter's eyes as the voice of his son threw question after question. He raised his hand to silence his son, then did his best to answer. "I couldn't. No matter how much I wanted to, I wasn't allowed to. I had to watch you from a distance. There was a reason." Peter drew in a deep breath then let out a deep sigh. "The Fifth who is chosen shall return to the beginning. What fell to ruin will be raised. What was lost will be regained. What was sundered will be made whole. And the one who was dead shall be reborn."
"Shambhala?" KC questioned as understanding was reached.
"I was gravely injured. Near death. The Masters found me. They took me to Shambhala to heal, but there was one stipulation and I concurred. I could not return until the time was right. Even I saw that I had to go through it. Please, don't be angry with me, son. I had no choice."
KC approached his father and held him close. "I am not angry, but I often did wonder. I was afraid that you were angry with me. When they placed the marker by the lake, I did not want to believe that you were dead. In my heart, I knew that you were not, but I could not tell them."
"They would not believe you, I know. I think that is the very reason why I never wanted to be adopted. I knew deep in my heart, that my father wasn't dead, but I couldn't tell anyone because they would not believe me. And when Ping Hai placed that marker up in the woods, for a moment, I did believe that my father was dead. But I was so glad to know that I was wrong years later. I really didn't want you to go through what I had gone through. It always seems to be a pattern in our lives that we end up having to lose each other then find each other again."
"Perhaps, there is a reason, father?"
Peter laughed at his son's comment. "You sounded like your grandfather there for a moment. I wish he was here to see this."
At that moment, Paul Blaisdell stepped up to greet his foster grandson. "He will see it, through your eyes. And I know what he would say, 'I am proud of you, my grandson.'"
"Thank you Kermit, for this gift," KC turned toward the other family friend standing a little ways back from the group.
|"it's not over yet," Kermit remarked, then pulled from his pocket the jade pendant and handed it to Peter. "Here. I think this belongs to you."
"My father's pendant. Where did you find it?"
"You don't want to know," Kermit replied.
"Is that the pendant that the Dalai Lama gave to, Grandfather?"
"Yes. I never thought I would see it again." Then Peter turned toward his son and placed the pendant around KC's neck. "Here, you keep it. I'm certain he would have wanted you to have it."
KC touched the pendant, and it seemed that an image came to him, one of a man with long gray hair who smiled slightly and was well pleased. The image faded as Kermit Griffin's words intruded on his thoughts.
"So, are you going to show us around this new temple?"
"Oh yeah," KC said, imitating Griffin perfectly.
The End
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2004.
This story cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict permission from
the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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