The Monastery

Chapter 37: A Vulnerable Heart

Susant and Lotus spent the rest of their day in the garden, their eyes seldom far from one another's. They spoke of the world as they knew it, the tranquility that existed in the monastery, and the mysterious magic of the place that floated in the sky.

              They had both laughed when they admitted that the monastery was a sort of bubble, hidden from the outside world, as if it existed within its own dimension. It was a special place, and even though everyone who lived there was different in so many ways, they were all the same in the fact that the monastery had brought them all together.

              At first, Susant thought it might be hard to speak of his past but found that the words seemed to fall right out of him. He told Lotus about his father, the humble cobbler who had raised him since he was a child. He spoke of the children in the orphanage, of Tenzing, and the shoes he had made for her. Lotus could see in his eyes the love he felt for Nyima, and did well in hiding the feelings it brought when she thought of her own.

              Without even realizing it, Susant had told her about the dream, about the Seer, and the old man. He spoke of the painting of Kailas and the red shawl, and the man who had been freezing before the gates of the monastery.

              Lotus looked at him in wonder as he recited his tale. She had nearly been brought to tears when hearing that the horse, Ahles, had stayed with him, deciding to return his kindness and help him on his journey. At the end of the tale, Susant was almost reluctant to speak of his lightning dream manifesting into reality, but when the time came, he knew in his heart that he trusted the girl and revealed to her the final act of his story.

              She listened with unwavering focus, awed by the story at hand. It had seemed to her that if another had been telling her this tale, she might never have believed them. But the way he told it, with every detail here and there laid out, it was impossible for her to not believe him. Everything had been real, no matter how unbelievable it seemed to be.

              She admitted to him at the end that she thought he was on to something, that perhaps the lightning had been a manifestation of his pain and suffering. She had read stories in the ancient texts of monks who had performed miracles. There were those who had brought rain from the sky, and others with the power of clairvoyance, an ability that allowed one to glimpse into the future. 

              Unfortunately, there were no teachings of these abilities in any of the texts she had read. She conveyed to Susant that, within the monastery, it was shunned to speak of these magics, even if one had performed them. He nodded, agreeing that it was best that she was the only person he told.

              Night had fallen over them, and before long, the moon had risen high into the sky. Susant had noticed during his time in the garden, that the moons rose and fell like the sun, following a curved line across the sky. He had never wondered much about the second moon of their world, and why it was always dark as shadow, but he supposed that all things had a story, and that maybe one day, he might learn it.

              Susant walked with Lotus back to her rooms. Outside the dormitory she lived in, she stopped and pointed up to the third floor, at a window all the way to the left side.

              "That's my room," she said, "but because these are the girl dorms, it is best you don't come past this point." Even though Susant was curious to see what her room looked like, and what trinkets she might have kept from her home country, he humbly nodded his agreement. 

              "I . . ." she said, then stopped herself. "I feel terrible."

              Susant looked at her with curious eyes. "Why would you feel terrible?"