Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 318

Sun Wukong
Ying Wa Primary School , Tsai , Lon Hei - 11

Sun Wukong laid back in his bed of leaves , high up in the trees . He would not have the strength to climb back down – he was now too old for that . Once again he pondered about whether he had made the right decision to give up the immortality granted to him by the Great Buddha . He had wanted to feel life – all its curiosities , the struggling , the joy … not an artificial extended life . But turning back to mortal meant having to cut off his relations to his friends – although they had decided to turn mortal with him , they were forced to separate by the difficulties of mortal lives . It also meant having to face death and journeying to the western sky . He was very , very close to death now . He was both , in a way , excited and curious for the entirely new concept , but he was also terrified that he had sinned too much – stealing the immortality peaches , killing innocent spirits in his tantrums and rages , messing up the Sky Palace … he was afraid that he might be judged a sinner on the Great Judgement – a ceremony that every living creature had to pass in order to go to heaven – and punished by getting sent to hell . He sighed softly and yawned . His sleepiness finally overcame him , and he snuggled up in the leaves , falling into a sleep from which he never woke up .

Sun Wukong ’ s spirit slowly departed from his body . The transparent apparition slowly floated towards the sky .
Sun Wukong ’ s eyes slowly opened . He gasped he was truly amazed by what he saw . He was floating in a dark space , like the night sky . Faint purple clouds hovered all around him . Stars shot past him , drawing glowing arcs in the black background . Planets hung in the sky . It was a place of extreme wonder .
Then , suddenly , a glowing shape shot past him . It looked like a giant manta ray . Feathers laced its wing-flaps . A dragon ’ s prickly snout topped the top of its kite-shaped body , complete with the long whiskers trailing behind .
The manta ray glided below Sun Wukong and gently touched his torso . It felt like touching a tub of cool water-soft and flowing , but somehow also solid . And all of a sudden , the manta ray accelerated sharply , flowing forwards just as quickly as any of the stars shooting past them . Sun Wukong instinctively grabbed hard onto the back of the ray , propelled by his monkey reflexes , and managed to hang on .
At first , he was terrified that he might lose his grip , but after a while , he got used to the speed . He gazed in amazement at all the views – stars clumping together , streaks of light like lightning crackling around him , galaxies with swirling arms composed entirely of stars ; green planets full of plants , blue planets full of water , red planets full of minerals , even a few black planets with nothing at all … Sun Wukong gasped at the sheer amount of amazing sights , at the variety of objects in the macrocosm .
Finally , he saw where the manta ray was heading – a glowing ball of light that radiated warmth . A surge of fear arose in Sun Wukong ’ s heart as the manta ray made to glide straight into the ball .
An intense heat scorched Sun Wukong ’ s skin . The light became so blinding that he shut his eyes tight . The heat was just getting unbearable when a cool feeling washed over him , comforting his skin instantly . He hesitantly opened his eyes . He took in his surroundings – he was in a spacious temple-like structure . Pillars , made of quartz , held up the roof . Gold veins glittered in the marble tiles . The manta ray had disappeared .
Sun Wukong looked upwards-and shock filled him . A bearded , white-haired old man stood on the tiles . His milky eyes seemed to pierce right through Sun Wukong . He seemed familiar … no , he couldn ’ t be …
‘ Mas ... master ?’ This man was actually the person who had taught him all his magical arts and all his fighting skills !
‘ Wukong , my dear pupil … I am not only your master . I am actually the Master of the Wheels .’ the man said slowly .
‘ Wait , what ?’ Sun Wukong asked in disbelief . It was just plain impossible that his master was the legendary Master of the Wheel .’ The Wheel of reincarnation ? How is that possible ?’
The Golden Wheel of Reincarnation was the magical device that possessed the power to transfer a spirit to different bodies , so the Master of the Wheels was basically the Master of Life . Sun Wukong ’ s last image of his master was a frail old man , unable to fight at all . How could he be the Master of the Wheel ?