As soon as he opened the door, he heard a voice from the kitchen.
“Nian Zu, is that you?”
That stopped him dead in his tracks. “Nian Zu”? That was his chinese name, the name of his ancestor! What was his mother doing calling him by anything other than the name she always called him, “Jackson””? Could this really be happening?
As Jack took off his fleece he caught a fleeting glance of himself in the hall mirror and what he saw almost reduced him to a dead faint! It was his eyes. His eyes were chinese eyes. His face was a chinese face. The rest of him looked and felt exactly the same as normal. But his face and his eyes! He stood for a moment and studied his face. He thought quickly.
“If my Mum now knows me as “Nian Zu” and not as “Jackson Dexter”, does this mean that when she sees me, she'll recognise me and my chinese face?”
He panicked and didn't know what to do. But it was too late, his Mum came from the kitchen, holding a cup of steaming liquid in her hands and into the hall before anything could be done. Then again, what could he have done? His mind was racing! Jackson Dexter was now being addressed at “Nian Zu” by his adoptive mother who had named him “Jackson Dexter” when he was adopted.
“Ahh, there you are Nian Zu! I hope you had a good walk on the beach – you've been away for long enough. Was it cold out there? You didn't tire yourself out too much did you?”
His mother didn't say anything about his face or his eyes. Nothing at all. She had noticed nothing! This was very perplexing. What was going on?
Somewhat hesitantly, Nian Zu answered.
“It was ok thanks, just very cold. I guess I should have put an extra jumper on out there. I did feel a bit tired and I sat down on a piece of driftwood to have a rest. I sat there for quite a long time, thinking about stuff. The wind seemed to get colder and I started to shiver, so I came home. And here I am.”
“I do worry about you, you know that don't you? All of this stress at work and your illness has taken its toll on you. You should take things easy just as the doctors said.”
Nian Zu was again taken aback. His “mother” wasn't usually this concerned about him. What had changed? Was it something else that had changed his “mother”?
After a few moments, his mind still racing and with the reaslisation that there wasn't anything he could do he answered.
“Thanks Mum”, Nian Zu replied, disguising his surprise at her concern, “I'll be ok. You're right, perhaps I did tire myself out a bit today. I'll just go upstairs and have a lie-down. If I fall asleep, will you tell me when dinner's ready please?”
“Of course I will, you go upstairs and have a nice sleep. Here's a cup of your favourite hot chocolate, that'll warm you up inside.”
Again, Nian Zu was amazed at this sudden concern and kindness that he was being shown. This wasn't normal. Something had happened both to him (the chinese face and eyes) and to his adoptive mother (the kindness and concern). Perhaps the strain in their relationship after being told that he was adopted was beginning to recede. Perhaps, the blame for the strain in his relationship with his adoptive parants was his? Perhaps he was imagining it all?
His mind was still racing with thoughts as he sat on the edge of his bed, sipping on the deliciously warming and soothing cup of hot chocolate. He thought upon everything which had happened in the last twenty minutes or so since he came home. He finished off the hot chocolate, changed his outdoor clothes to a T-shirt and shorts and lay on his bed. He looked at the clock. Ten past three. Soon after, he fell into an uneasy sleep.
As he slept, everything that had happened to him that afternoon went swirling through his mind over and over again like a nightmare. The nightmare came to an end with the words in the chinese language repeated over and over again. Strangely, he could understand them!
這是你內心的力量。它是你的內在力量。電源工作正常。 一切都會好起來。
(It is the power inside you. It is your inner strength. The power is working. All will be well.)
Nian Zu found himself once more plunging into the river with his eyes firmly closed. He felt himself falling and flaying his arms around. He felt himself gasping for air. He opened his eyes and found himself awake, in a sweat and still lying on his bed. Looking at his clock again, he noticed that it was still ten past three! Once again, he felt his head swirling and his mind racing. Then, with the force of a thunderbolt, he came to realise just what was going on. It was the power. Unconciously, he was using it!
He didn't like his given name? It was changed from Jackson Dexter to Nian Zu and everyone accepted that he'd always had that name. He thought that had been having a strained relationship with his parents. Now, everything was fine. He was yet to see if he had still a strained relationship with his adopted father, but if he had used the power un-conciously on his mother, it would undoubtedly be sorted. His ancestors were chinese so he had developed chinese a chinese face and eyes and he found out in his dream that he could understand the chinese language. He needed time to process everything which had happened to him on the beach that afternoon and he'd discovered that whilst he was asleep, no time had passsed. The power he possessed was very potent and he had to be careful. He had to learn how to use the power conciously and this he aimed to do.