“My story begins in what you now call China. In a village at the head of what is now called the Yangtze River amongst the high mountains and deep valleys. This is why I spoke to you in Chinese Language. I was born a thousand years ago. Our village was in a clearing in the forest and was within walking distance of the great river. I lived there with my father. I did not know my mother as she died in childbirth when I was born. It was always a deep sadness for my father and for me when I learned about it. My father was a good man; he worked hard to provide a good home for me. My father taught me how to forage for food, how to hunt, how to prepare the food and how to look after myself when he was away hunting with the other men. I grew up happy, contented and hard-working like my father. I respected and loved my father and would always do his bidding.”
“One day, when I was sixteen years old and entering adulthood, I was preparing food for my father's return from hunting with the men of the village. Without warning, there came screams from the women of the village. Desperate and heartfelt screams. Screams which still echo in my ears from that distant past. I was confused and I was terrified. I left my hut and ran towards the sounds, which were now getting closer and more intense. There was nobody in the village now; it was deserted except for one woman. The oldest woman in the village. She was a woman who we were all weary of. She was wise, she knew how to cure disease and how to tell the changing of the seasons. Some said that she had the power to curse. Some said she could kill people with a glance. Some of the older people said she could transform herself or anyone else into animals, people, trees or other things or make herself invisible and listen to your thoughts. The old woman looked towards me and cried out.”
“Run, run, run little one. Our village is no more. Our people will soon be no more. Take this, and guard it with your very life!”
“She thew in my direction a leather bag. Then she repeated her exhortation”
“You must guard this with your life. You must not allow this to fall into the hands of bad men. They come to seek this. They come to kill us to get it. You must use the power it contains to protect yourself. Save yourself. There is nothing you can do about us now. They are upon us. Run, run, run!”
I caught the bag by its strap and turned one last glance towards the sound of the screaming. Men were leading the people of my village towards the houses. They threw the people into their huts, barred the doors and set them on fire. But I could not see my father.
“Father, father!” I screamed “I cannot see you, where are you? I am frightened!”
The men walked towards the old woman who was frantically screaming at me:
“Run, run, run, little one, run! Your father is safe. I have saved him for your sake. I have given up everything to save him. You will find him one day. You will live together again one day. But not in this time or place. You will see him once more for a brief period of time then you will dwell with him in the world of spirit. You will pass the power to your father as it is now his birthright as your mother is passed away. I was too late to save your mother. But now, use the power to save yourself!”
“As I looked on, the men caught the woman and threw her into her hut, barred the door and set it on fire. Then they came after me.”
“Seeing that my situation was hopeless and my village and its people were no more, I ran. I ran towards the river. I ran desperately for my life. I could hear the soldiers behind me following. I knew that if they caught me I would be killed and whatever was in the bag would fall into their hands. I reached the river bank. I could neither go to the left nor to the right. I was trapped. My only escape was the river itself.”
“I plunged into the river as the men threw rocks and spears in my direction. I tried to swim across to the other side. The river was in flood and it was too powerful for me. I began to be swept down the river. I tried desperately to stop myself from drowning. Suddenly, my thoughts became clear and I remembered the words of the woman “Use the power to save yourself!” I opened the bag and inside was a lump of pure quartz crystal. I held it in my hand.”
“Save me, save me, save me!” I shouted “I am in fear of my life! Father, father, where are you? Your son is drowning!”
In an instant, all went blank. Time seemed to stand still. I tried to look around me, but I could see nothing. I could feel nothing. Nothing but darkness, emptiness and stillness.”
“Whatever the power was in that lump of quartz crystal, it had changed me. It had changed me into a seed. A tiny seed planted in the ground. As time passed that seed began to grow into a mighty tree. There are trees which live for thousands of years and the power had turned me into the seed of one of those trees. I could feel myself growing. I could feel the branches, twigs and roots getting bigger and stronger. I could feel the leaves growing out of me in spring and feel every leaf as it died and dropped off my branches in autumn. I could feel the cold of winter and the warmth of summer. I could feel my roots drinking and taking up water. I could feel everything.”
“As I grew, two things remained in my consciousness which in the last moments of her life the old woman had screamed at me. The knowledge that my father was safe and my mission to guard the power. But of course, nothing lives for ever. Despite being transformed into a tree, even a tree with a vast life-span, I knew that one day, the tree would either fall or die.”
“That day came. I felt during one winter that the life force of the tree was waning. The tree was dying. The following spring, no longer did the leaves on my branches sprout and grow. What was to become of me? Where was my father and where was the crystal now? My concious thoughts became ever more bleak and hopeless. I felt clearly that the tree was dead. The growth of spring and the shedding of the leaves in autumn had ceased long ago yet still, my conciousness was present in the tree. The tree fell to the ground and began to rot away. One massive branch from that tree survived. When the great river was in flood, it got washed into the river and swept downstream to the sea. Once there, it drifted on, the wind and currents taking it where they would. My conciousness, still present in the branch, never still and never silent, kept on thinking about my mission to save the power and to see my father again.”
“One day, I found that I was no longer in the sea. I had been washed up on a beach after a ferocious storm. Shortly afterwards, you sat on me. A twig pierced you. In that moment, I knew I'd found my father again. You are my father. In the generations between when I was alive in my village and today, my father's relatives lived their lives. At some point, their sons and daughters must have come to your land, I know not how and when. You are of those people. Using the power I have been protecting, I have taken you out of time and I have brought you back to my father's house. I have brought you back to the place where I grew up and was loved and cared for. I have brought you back to show you where the mighty tree I became once grew. I have brought you back to show you where I plunged into the river to save my life from the bad men. I have brought you here to greet you as my honoured guest and the guest of my father and my people now dwelling in the spirit world. I have brought you here to tell you that I have fullfilled my mission to see you again and to pass on to you, my father, the power which I have guarded with my very life for these thousand years. The power which I have guarded with my life has re-united us. My joy at finding you knows no bounds. Tears of happiness are streaming down my cheeks. I will soon die a happy man and join my father, my mother and my people in the spirit world just as the old woman told me.”
As the man came to the end of his story, Jack noticed that he'd changed. In front of him stood, not a man, but a boy. A chinese boy in the full flush of his youth.