Heavenly Creatures

That night, we decided to camp in the woods rather than head out to our next destination. It had been a full day in Earth time, after all, and Tara must have been tired.

I picked several nice limbs and created three hammocks for us, though I didn’t get the thanks I deserved for my selfless actions.

For the first time in a while, I dreamed.

“We can’t let him study with us,” the teacher said. “He’s a monkey.”

“But he’s such a smart monkey,” the students chimed. “Teacher, let’s help him.”

“Acch,” the teacher said, throwing up his hands and leaving the room.

The students turned to me when the teacher had left, eyes shining.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, monkey,” a male student with a strange bullish nose said.

I jumped around the dojang as the student manipulated the air to send small hurricanes towards me. Wood splintered as the student destroyed a column.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” a female student said. “He doesn’t know anything yet.” She sent a blast of cherry blossoms towards the boy, who fell flat on his back. The other students laughed.

The scene changed. I was staring into the koi pond when the female student from earlier came up beside me.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

I touched my ears as I stared into the pond water. “Why am I so different from the others?”

The girl patted my head. “Oh, monkey, don’t worry. We love you.”

“Not everyone likes me,” I said.

“Some people are bullies,” the girl said. “But anyone who’s good likes you.”

“If he wasn’t good, he wouldn’t be learning heavenly fighting,” I said. “Don’t try to patronize me. I’m different from them.”

The girl sighed.

“Listen, monkey, I don’t know much. I’m still a child. But I do know that all beings are created equal under heaven. If there is something different about you, it’s because heaven made you that way. I like to think there’s a reason for it. And you’re different in good ways, too. You’re one of the best fighters, and sometimes others can get jealous.”

“Do you get jealous?” I asked, turning to look at the girl, my heart skipping a beat as I looked into her eyes.

The girl smiled at me, but not in the way that I wanted.

“No,” she said, taking my hands in her own. “You’re my friend.”

I startled awake.

“Are you okay, Sun?” Tara whispered from the hammock beside mine.

I grunted. “Fine.”

I turned over in my hammock, disturbed. Why was I dreaming of my life? I hadn’t dreamed in over five hundred years. It was being with these two, surely. I swung silently out of my hammock and climbed to the top of the tree. My tail flicked to and fro in agitation as I watched the sun rise.

It must have been seven o’clock in the morning when Tara finally woke up.

“Are we going?” she asked. Her expression changed to one of delight. “Hey! You have a tail.”

I flicked my tail again, annoyed at myself for not hiding my appearance. I had been too immersed in my past to notice. By the time I climbed down, I was back to my human form.

“Don’t get used to it,” I said. Tara and her sister giggled.

“Where to?” Tara asked.

“Seoul, South Korea,” I said.