“Do you want to eat?” For the second time in a day, Chandi awoke to a stranger standing over her, this time a disheveled child in rags a few years her senior, so dirty and hair so tousled that only after a few moments did Chandi realize it was a girl. “Do you want to eat?” the girl repeated. Chandi was still lying in the same spot she had crawled to next to the wall after being awakened by the strange man. Changmai was a poor town, and the people in it were poor as well. Too many were already worried about from where their next meal would come, or how to pay the landlord, or where they could find medicine they could afford for an ill family member. Passersby glanced at her lying on the sidewalk and kept walking. No one stopped to help her, or even speak to her, until this girl.
“I’m Mengru. I’m the best thief in this area!” she boasted, pointing a thumb at her chest. “If you want to eat this bun, you can have it, and then we’ll figure out what to do.” The bun, as she called it, was really only about half a bun, slightly dirty, with clear teeth marks on one side. Chandi took it eagerly and devoured it. She was starving. As she chewed, she looked across the street where the burned debris of her former home still smoldered, with tendrils of smoke rising towards the gray sky. Knowing her family was buried in there somewhere created a tight knot of pain in her stomach, almost preventing her from swallowing.
Mengru led her to a half-collapsed warehouse. On one side the roof had fallen in, but the other side was intact, enough to keep most of the inhabitants fairly dry when it rained. This was where Chandi would sleep each night for the next two years. Mengru was the leader of a bedraggled group of street children, most of them orphans, though some had simply become lost and did not know how to return home, or had been abandoned by despairing parents. They were both older and younger than Chandi, and Mengru not only protected them, but also organized them in such a fashion that everyone had something to eat, however meager, on most days. The younger ones she sent to beg. Slightly older ones, who had learned to differentiate between things safe to eat and best to avoid, scavenged in trash and refuse behind restaurants, inns or homes looking for food. The oldest ones, and those who were quick and deft in their movements, stole, from the wagons of vendors selling fruit, or any small unguarded item that could be quickly taken and later sold.
The most important rule that Mengru enforced was all food and money, which would be quickly converted to food, was always brought back to the abandoned warehouse, where it would be shared among all. Sometimes each child’s share was a single mouthful of food in a day. Other times, Mengru would arrive back at the warehouse with an entire loaf of bread, or a basket of fruit only slightly over-ripe, and one time, a full jug of milk from which each child took one sweet mouthful.
Other gangs of children also roamed the streets, but most of them gave Mengru’s group a wide berth. She was fierce and loud, unafraid to confront anyone even if they were much larger in size. She taught all her brothers and sisters to quickly gather when another of their group was in trouble, and start chanting in low voices, “Hai, hai, hai,” until the aggressor, unnerved by the strange and nonsensical display, backed down. Mengru’s bravado combined with her superior ability to organize her group kept most others at bay.
Chandi was quick and deft. Very soon she was going on pilfering trips around town with Mengru, who showed her all the tricks. “See that fruit seller?” Mengru would say. “Every time he reaches down to take a bag to fill for his customer, he can’t see the right side of his cart. That’s the perfect time to take a piece of fruit, tuck it under your arm, and then casually walk away. He won’t even know you did it.” Mengru became the most important person in Chandi’s life, and she looked up to Mengru, loving her like the sister she never had.
One day, almost two years after she met Mengru, Chandi awoke early in the morning, with sharp pangs of hunger in her stomach. Everyone else was still sleeping, so she silently got up, tiptoed past the other sleeping children, and walked to the local market area. This time of morning, foot traffic was still light, and various vendors had only just set up or were still setting up their carts. One in particular caught her eye. It was the cart of Chang, an especially nasty fellow, with a foul temper and pockmarked face, who sold buns. One time, he had seized the wrist of one of their group just as the child was lifting a bun off his cart, and with an open hand, slapped the poor boy on the side of the head so hard he fell unconscious to the street, where he lay unmoving for several minutes. When Chang saw him stir finally, he kicked him and roared, “That will teach you to steal from Chang, you worthless little shit!” Onlookers said nothing as the boy stumbled away, crying.
On a normal day, Chandi would have passed by Chang’s cart, not wanting to risk the wrath of the quick and foul-tempered bun seller, but today she was very hungry, the buns looked so plump, white and enticing, and her stomach growled loudly. Casually she strolled toward the cart, at an angle that would seem to take her away from it as she approached. Sneaking a quick look, she saw Chang had his back turned towards her, lifting a box to place it on the ground. As she passed the cart, she quickly pivoted towards it and snatch a bun from the top of the pile. Suddenly, she heard Chang roar, “You! Stop!”
Startled, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Chang leap over the end of his cart and start running after her. He was less than a dozen paces behind. She fled down the street and took the first corner on her left, but stumbled, deciding to dive in mid-fall between some boxes outside a general store, hoping Chang was not so close behind her that he had seen her hiding place. She huddled on the ground, trying to breathe as quietly as possible, still clutching the wayward bun in her hand.
Suddenly, she felt the bun snatched from her and looked up just in time to see Chang pull up from his run in surprise, and Mengru in the street not ten feet from him, holding the bun aloft in one hand. Casually she began edging away from Chandi’s hiding place, looking at Chang all the time, and with a start Chandi realized Mengru was trying to distract Chang from where she lay.
“Hey, you, bastard!” yelled Mengru. “Is this what you’re looking for?” Chang’s eyes bulged in rage, and red-faced he bellowed, “You thief! Give that back to me!”
“What, this bun?” retorted Mengru. “Is this yours?”
With disbelief, Chang watched Mengru slowly lower the bun to her mouth, take a large bite and begin to chew. Enraged, he leaped at her. Mengru was very quick, and normally would have dodged so swiftly that Chang could not have caught her. But to Chandi’s shock and dismay, Chang caught just the barest handful of Mengru’s shirt as she tried to evade him, but it was enough. “Come here, you little shit!” Chang growled, “I’m going to teach you a lesson!”
Mengru struggled but could not break free of the powerful man’s grasp. Still early, there was no one on the side street at the moment, and the confrontation had gone unnoticed by anyone. Chang dragged Mengru into the alley next to the shop where Chandi hid among the boxes, and she heard him say, “Oh, so you’re a girl! Well now I’m going to show you what I do to girls who steal from me!” She heard a muffled scream from Mengru, and then several more after that, Chang obviously covering her mouth somehow. Each cry seemed weaker than the last, and every muscle in Chandi’s body wanted her to jump up from where she hid to rescue her sister, her friend, her protector, but she was completely paralyzed while at the same time violently shaking in fear. Her muscles were completely seized, and she could not move. She was still only eight years old.
Minutes went by, until eventually Chandi heard no more sounds. Slowly, her muscles loosened enough for her to move, and she stiffly stood up, staring fixedly at the entrance to the alley. She didn’t see any sign of Chang, and she couldn’t see Mengru. Chandi forced one foot in front of the other and approached, finding Mengru inside the alley lying at the edge of a trash heap. Her face was beaten to a pulp and blood was everywhere, coming from her mouth, her nose, her ears, and in one hand, she still clutched the bun with a single bite taken from it. Chandi fell to her knees and tentatively touched her, plaintively calling her name, “Mengru, Mengru!”
As soon as she touched her, somehow Chandi knew immediately Mengru was dead. She felt a small, black and icy-cold void form deep inside her, tiny at first, but which grew horrifyingly quickly until it filled her chest, then surrounded her completely until everything around her faded to black, and she could only see Mengru lying there. So large and brash in life, she looked pitifully small and vulnerable now, her lifeless body dumped on the ground like so much refuse.
Chandi screamed in anguish as sobs racked her tiny body. The fear of facing life without Mengru washed over her like the torrents of a raging river, accompanied by the deep despair of losing the only person on earth she loved, so soon after also losing her family, and the intense shame she felt for being unable to come to Mengru’s aid.
Master Song touched her forehead.
***
She found herself sitting on the floor of the chamber as she had been doing for the last three days, tears falling in a steady stream down her face, and she moaned in sorrow over Mengru as the present began reasserting itself and the memory of Mengru’s fate, which she had buried so deeply in her mind that she couldn’t remember when she last thought of it, began fading in intensity. She felt a tingling sensation from head to foot, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Master Song gazing calmly at her, finger still raised from when he had touched her forehead. With a start, Chandi realized he was sitting on the floor directly in front of her, and the chamber was empty save for the two of them. She was the last learner in the room.
“Why master?” whispered Chandi. “Why was it necessary for me to remember that moment?”
Master Song lowered his hand and considered her question. “It wasn’t about that moment in particular, Chandi, but how that moment made you feel. Do you recall, when I explained to you every person has some innate degree of Li?”
“Yes, master,” said Chandi.
“Each’s person’s Li can only be released once. Normally, except in rare instances, in order to release it for the first time so that it can be used, one must be touched by another using Li. This is what I’ve been doing when I touch each learner. Like attracts like, and each learner’s Li comes forth when it is freed by another’s. However, in order to maximize the strength of Li someone is able to wield after release, it’s necessary to do so in a moment when the person’s mind is in a state of great fear, despair, or shame. These emotions weaken the defenses of the mind, and allow a larger channel, if you will, for the Li to emerge. If one’s Li is released while the channel is small, they may forever be limited in the amount of Li they can command once it is released.”
Master Song expanded, “Think of the magma that lies below the earth’s crust. A thin channel from the magma to the surface results in a small eruption, and lesser flow of magma. A large channel, on the other hand, can result in a massive volcanic eruption. I have been waiting these past few days for you to open the largest possible channel for me to release your Li. A few times I came close to doing it, thinking you were ready, but decided each time to wait instead, so as to not reduce your future potential. I’m glad I did so. And now …” Master Song gestured towards the stone door, and Chandi knew it was finally her turn.
Somehow, she could feel the Li inside her now, and knew she could summon it at will. It was like a deep well of power waiting in reserve, and she intuitively knew she could release just some of it, or let its full force come forth. She approached the stone door, planted her feet firmly and grasped the iron handle with one hand. Anticipating the door would be difficult to move, considering how slowly it had opened and shut for the other learners, she decided to use all the Li she could summon and pushed.
The door shot open so quickly the handle flew out of her hand and impacted the edge of the wall in which the stone door was set, actually causing the door to bounce back towards her a few inches before coming to rest. The handle, previously protruding away from the door at a perfect right angle, was now bent askew at least 30 degrees due to the force of impact with the wall.
Chandi looked at Master Song, who said dryly, “Well. I suppose we will need a new handle now.”
END OF CHAPTER SIX
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