Chapter 3 : Sea of Sorrows
In gloom, Visal and drives the bike into the sea of sorrows where he and his bike sink immediately to the bottom. Viridian and her gandharva search in vain. The sea is just another ordinary sea out in Gulf of Thailand, but for spirits, it is the destination of all human tears and sorrows. To the spirits, it is literally made of tears and as salty. Once at the bottom, any spirit or half spirit cannot be found again. Souls of suicides wander here but they don’t see each other.
For several days, he lies prone on the sandy bottom and dimly lit wet Sahara desert contemplating death that will never come to him as he has already died. He is looking for answers to all the grief he is suffering; questioning even his parents why they allowed him to grow up without them; the gods for opening his third eye and see beauty to fall in love with at first sight. After forty days, he remembers the place where he used to meditate, the Kulen pagoda. He rises and tries to swim up. To his horror, the water around him acts like thin air. It is exactly like trying to fly on the earth’s surface without wings. Even his bike can’t accelerate fast enough to fly. He cries to the gods in the muffled silence of salty sea of tears. One god can hear his cries even inside the celestial prison. Garuda has the most powerful ears of all. He heard everything that happened to her beloved Solara. He shouted to the gods, “Have you no pity? No sense of justice? What is so bad about love? You gods created love so that humans may give it to you freely and feed your existence. Why do you now extinguish the flame that keeps you warm?” Silence in heavens meets Garuda’s cries. Then after a minute, his prison opens. “It’s time, Garuda. Do as you as you are destined to do.” Garuda burst out of the clouds and straight to the sea of sorrows. He clips his wings and dives straight to the bottom, grabs Visal by his shirt and drags him out to the surface. Garuda’s wings can fly anywhere, be it water, air or outer space. “Garuda? Kulen pagoda if you please! Thank you!” gurgles the dizzyVisal, not knowing exactly who it is that is now flying him off to land across the foamy stormy sea of tears.
“Be strong now, boy!” the handsome stylish Garuda admonishes Visal as they sit on the steps of the golden Wat Kulen. Some monks are around. Garuda’s wings are out of sight. “Your real life has just started anew when you got your third eye. Now is not the time to give up. Come here. Show me your hands. I will tell you what lies ahead.” Visal holds up both hands. Garuda places them together. Visal notices it for the first time. The markings on his hands totally mirror each other. “See, you are living your fate exactly as marked. I’m right at this junction. That’s mighty Garuda, right there, saving your sorry ass from the sorry seas of sorrows. The dead are not worth dying for. It is the living who are worth living and fighting for. Your lovely Luna can still be whole.” Visal searches Garuda’s rugged eyes, “How? Beat the shit out of the evil one and make her spit out all the hearts she has snacked on?’ Garuda, with a straight face replies, “Exactly. But first, you have to be a monk to be able to do that.” Then he spreads his enormous wings and soars into the clouds. “What? Me? A monk?” Visal shouts after him. “You’ve been wanting to be a monk, Visal. You just didn’t know it.” shouts Garuda back with a laugh. The monks are smiling at Visal when he turns his gaze from the clouds to the pagoda.
For several days, he lies prone on the sandy bottom and dimly lit wet Sahara desert contemplating death that will never come to him as he has already died. He is looking for answers to all the grief he is suffering; questioning even his parents why they allowed him to grow up without them; the gods for opening his third eye and see beauty to fall in love with at first sight. After forty days, he remembers the place where he used to meditate, the Kulen pagoda. He rises and tries to swim up. To his horror, the water around him acts like thin air. It is exactly like trying to fly on the earth’s surface without wings. Even his bike can’t accelerate fast enough to fly. He cries to the gods in the muffled silence of salty sea of tears. One god can hear his cries even inside the celestial prison. Garuda has the most powerful ears of all. He heard everything that happened to her beloved Solara. He shouted to the gods, “Have you no pity? No sense of justice? What is so bad about love? You gods created love so that humans may give it to you freely and feed your existence. Why do you now extinguish the flame that keeps you warm?” Silence in heavens meets Garuda’s cries. Then after a minute, his prison opens. “It’s time, Garuda. Do as you as you are destined to do.” Garuda burst out of the clouds and straight to the sea of sorrows. He clips his wings and dives straight to the bottom, grabs Visal by his shirt and drags him out to the surface. Garuda’s wings can fly anywhere, be it water, air or outer space. “Garuda? Kulen pagoda if you please! Thank you!” gurgles the dizzyVisal, not knowing exactly who it is that is now flying him off to land across the foamy stormy sea of tears.
“Be strong now, boy!” the handsome stylish Garuda admonishes Visal as they sit on the steps of the golden Wat Kulen. Some monks are around. Garuda’s wings are out of sight. “Your real life has just started anew when you got your third eye. Now is not the time to give up. Come here. Show me your hands. I will tell you what lies ahead.” Visal holds up both hands. Garuda places them together. Visal notices it for the first time. The markings on his hands totally mirror each other. “See, you are living your fate exactly as marked. I’m right at this junction. That’s mighty Garuda, right there, saving your sorry ass from the sorry seas of sorrows. The dead are not worth dying for. It is the living who are worth living and fighting for. Your lovely Luna can still be whole.” Visal searches Garuda’s rugged eyes, “How? Beat the shit out of the evil one and make her spit out all the hearts she has snacked on?’ Garuda, with a straight face replies, “Exactly. But first, you have to be a monk to be able to do that.” Then he spreads his enormous wings and soars into the clouds. “What? Me? A monk?” Visal shouts after him. “You’ve been wanting to be a monk, Visal. You just didn’t know it.” shouts Garuda back with a laugh. The monks are smiling at Visal when he turns his gaze from the clouds to the pagoda.