AND YET… SOMETHING DID HAPPEN. Because even though I kept snoring… Even though Chubby threatened to smack me with a peach branch next time… Even though my "Qi raisin" refused to glow…Something stirred. For a moment. A warm pulse. A spark. A flicker. A heartbeat inside my core. It was small. It was Weak. But real. Chubby's ears perked. He watched me through the moonlight. "…There it is," he whispered.
I didn't hear him. Because I was already asleep again. Face-first in the grass. But still—my inner Qi…stirred. Just enough to hint at what I might become. One day. Maybe. If I ever learn to meditate without faceplanting.
*****
One evening after everyone was asleep. And because Chubby was being Chubby. We made the mistake of going into the mansion basement for a book reading session or rather him contacting his wraith friends and shadows people…weird but none of my business.
