The Derelict Iris

🌿Words of a Boring Monk🌿

"Autumn falls after monsoon, the leaves are gone, slowly bareness prevails in a wintry night. Just like that in a monotone day, he came with a golden spoon, no one ever knew where he came from, or where he would go, just knew the golden spoon was never meant to be his for long, that's all he left behind; a glorious kingdom of the past."

"That's tragic, but I don't know why you always say sad things."
Xian whined like always.

"How's it sad?"
Jun asked, taking a bite from the candy which he still wasn't able to finish.

"Yes, golden spoon means he was rich or probably a crown prince for not so long time. Even though he achieved emperor status, it wasn't really for a long time. And then he died or maybe he was defeated or..."

"He left his kingdom."

"Yes, that's what I was going to say. So of course it's sad."

"In the end of every story there prevails agony. Isn't it an eternal truth?"

"Nah Jun Ge, you know nothing about happy stories. I knew you were boring. But not this much either."

"So why not little Xian say me a story now, since he has grown old now."

"Yes yes why not."

Xian coughed a bit after clenching his fist in front of his mouth for a while and then started,

"There were two boys who went to catch fish from an oldy's pond. And then the oldy saw them. The dumber boy among the two fell down into the water. Due to previous mischievous experiences faced from the latter the wise boy decided not to help him but remembering another monk friend's advice he helped him and both of them escaped from the grip of that grumpy oldy. After that the very next day, the wise boy got scolded from his gege as that oldy complaint to his gege. However after the oldy and his gege went away, the wise boy was annoyed but a tiffin carrier and a letter didn't let him to. And the letter was from the oldy, saying that he wouldn't bite, but whenever the boy needs fish he can just ask him for it. And in the tiffin carrier he sent the wise boy a delicious fish meal. The boy ate happily and got confused regarding the behavioural changes of the oldy. And then he was asking for a solution to that monk friend of his again. Story ended."

"Pfft.."
This is probably the first time he couldn't control his laughter for some reason but this behaviour of his made Xian surprised.

"Why are you laughing Jun Ge? I'm not such a learned and literary person like you. So my story lines are short too, like my social span."

"Nah, you may not be a super literary person Xian, but your way of asking for a solution is pretty unique every time."

"Ahh that's not any special thing, things are easier to speak if it's asked or said in that way. Saying things with 'I' is really difficult. Better to use names like that of some unknown story where you definitely don't exist, but some other character."

"How easily you said a harsh truth just now, XianXian. Did you realise?"

"What's so harsh about it? I don't know."

"You wanna know?"

"Nah, if it's that harsh I don't want to know. Sometimes saying things without knowing the meaning behind also makes it easier. Once you know it's meaning it makes your heart heavier. Isn't it the thing Jun Ge?"

What Jun didn't expect was the sincerity of words of the latter while speaking. The lively naive boy sometimes spoke his words so casually that it made Jun question himself, if really knew the boy in front of him properly. He read it numerous times in scriptures that in a lifetime you can never know a person properly, however it seemed true only when Xian made him realise.