The mountain stood above us as it always had, tall and serene in the distance.  Snow still capped the peak and the water that flowed from the ice fields was almost too cold to drink.  My brother stood beside me while we watched Papa talking to the monks from the monastery at the foot of the mountain.

“Have you seen Mama since she went inside?”  Ping asked me.

“No.  I wish she’d come out.”  I shivered and he put his arm around my shoulders.

“Me, too.  I want to go home, Li.  She’ll probably be out anytime now.”  Ping was two years older than me and he always protected me whenever I was frightened.

“Boys, come here.”  Papa called to us and the frown on his face was scary.

“Yes, Papa.”  Ping and I crossed the brushed earth floor of the courtyard and bowed to the two men who stood waiting for us.

The priest looked at us and smiled but it wasn’t a happy smile.  It seemed full of sorrow like he was very sad but didn’t want us to know.  It made my stomach flutter like when Papa put me up on his shoulder and I rode high above the ground.

“Your mother has asked to see you before we leave for home.”  Papa’s voice was angry but his face didn’t show it.

“If you will follow me, I will take you to her.”  The priest bowed to Papa then gestured to Ping and me to follow him.

I held tight to Ping’s hand while we crossed through a moon gate and down a path that led into a beautiful garden.  There was a big grove of bamboo that shivered in the breeze.  The sun turned the stalks almost yellow and I watched them even after we’d passed them, turning my head until the path twisted in another direction and I lost sight of the silvery leaves.

“Mama!”  Ping saw her first, sitting on a stone bench under a flowering almond tree.  Then we were running past the priest straight into her arms and she was holding us tight while saying our names over and over.

She was crying into my hair and now I was really scared because Mama never cried unless it was really bad.  I hugged her as hard as I could from between her knees.  She wasn’t wearing any of her pretty robes but pants like Papa wore.  The surprise at that made me stop crying.

“Mama, what’s wrong?  Why is Papa mad?”  Ping sat beside her on the bench with one of her arms around him.

She sighed and rested her cheek on my head.  “Ping, there isn’t much time.  Do you remember two moons ago when I fell down the stairs?”  She waited for us to nod.  It had been a scary time until she woke up and recognized us.  The healer had stayed for three days while she lay silent and still under the blanket.

“While I was asleep, the Goddess Kwan Yin came to me and told me of a task that only I can perform.  Your papa didn’t want me to fulfill Her bidding and I had no wish to leave the three of you but She will not be denied.”  Her soft red lips kissed my temple and the beat of her heart under my ear comforted me.

“Will you have to go away?”  Ping asked her.

“Yes, my son.  I never wish to leave you but time is short and when she came to me two days ago and showed me what was going to happen, I had to leave you and travel here.  Her sacred mountain is where I must fulfill the prophecy.”  I felt another tear soak into my black hair and I raised my head to look into her soft brown eyes.

“When will you come home again?”  I asked her while I patted the tears softly into her cheek.

She shook her head and looked up at the mountain.  “I don’t know, little one.  But even if it takes a long time, you must know that I love you both with all my heart.  Where ever I am, I will be thinking of you and loving you.  Do you understand me?”

Her voice was fierce and her eyes were full of fire.  Ping and I nodded slowly, he looked like he had more questions but she kissed him gently on the cheek then me.  “I need to get started, my little loves.  Obey your papa and listen to the earth when it speaks to you.  Do you remember what to do when the earth shakes and heaves?”

“Crawl under the heavy table in our room or go outside far away from walls and trees.”  Ping recited our lessons.

“Good boy.  Both of you remember that I love you.  And if She wills it, I will return to you.”  She smiled at us and hugged each of us separately before standing up and turning us towards the monk who waited at the curve of the path.

Ping and I walked hand in hand away from mama and just before we turned the corner, I looked back to see her holding something bright and shiny in her hand.  Holding her cupped hands to the sun, the glow spilled out over her like a shower of light.  My heart hurt because she didn’t look like my mother anymore and somehow I knew that I would never see her again.  The tears started then and . . .