Legacy

Someone once said a bird in a gilded cage is a bird that’s still in a cage.  That was something Damon O’Brien, age 26, a fine handsome red haired specimen of Irish manhood would be finding out firsthand.

Damon was on vacation from the old sod and touring the United States for a month.  Damon had started on the East coast and worked his way west seeing all the sights he could, only taking time out for a wee nip now and then.  Damon marveled at the statue of Liberty and the Trump Towers in Chicago.  The Grand Canyon took his breath away.  The Rocky Mountains and the Redwood Forest was almost more than his eyes could take, such beauty.  Required a nip or two to make sure he was really seeing those things.

Then Damon got to Hollywood.  One of the things tourists were invited to see was the Palace of Wu Man Chu, a unbelievably scenic restaurant way back up a canyon in the West Hollywood Hills.  Damon thought the brochure made it an appealing idea and he went to see for himself.

There was a slightly wavy pathway with steps leading up to a very large veranda.  It was beautifully planted and decorated with oriental statuary.  In the center was a very large boulder, semi crystalline in composition and had an almost magical aura about it.  Damon stopped and admired it.  While doing so he looked back down toward the parking lot and was awed by how far he could see.  He could see the road as it wound through the canyon, and in the distance a bit of Hollywood.

Damon went on in and was seated.  The menu was a bit strange to Damon as he was not familiar with Chinese cuisine.  So to play it safe he ordered the house special.  It was brought to his table in quick time and even though Damon wasn’t sure of what he was eating altogether, he did recognize rice and chicken.  The rest was good regardless of what it might have been called.

The house special also came with a large pot of  hot tea.  Now Damon was not a big fan of hot tea, but he knew it was Okay when properly sweetened Irish style, so he whipped out his silver nipping flask and added a few drops, well maybe quite a few drops to the tea.  That made it Irish sweet.

There was an excellent floor show featuring the Princess Mai Ling who moved gracefully using a fan to accent things while singing a old Chinese story.  Damon didn’t care one whit for the story; but from his front row table he got an eyeful of the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.  Even if she was a dark eyed oriental colleen, she was the most beautiful creature in the world.  On a scale of one to ten, Damon would rate her as a twenty.  Yes she was that good.

Damon and Princess Mai Lings eyes met and they were immediately and mutually transfixed on each other.  The mutual attraction was strong indeed.  Damon came back every day for a week.  Princess Mai Ling and Damon’s attraction to each other was intensifying beyond belief.  Damon had to have frequent nips to keep himself from becoming a babbling idiot going ga ga over that female.  Then the inevitable happened; after the end of one performance, Princess Mai Ling gave Damon the high sign with a wave of her fan, bade him to follow her.  And Damon did just that with great anticipation.

She led Damon through the front part and through the rear parts which were immense with many rooms.  Magnificent opulent décor everywhere one looked.  They passed through what appeared to be a throne room.  Princess Mai Ling said her father Wu Man Chu was the ruling Mandarin of Kamandu Pu Tu, which is the place we are now in.  Damon didn’t get the drift implied from the “place we are now in” portion of what Princess Mai Ling said.

She continued to lead him through the very expansive palace like structure, until they came out the back side into a most beautiful, unbelievably magnificent garden. One could see lush country side for miles before apparent mountains outlined the edge of things It was there they walked and talked.  One word led to another and they pledged their love for each other.  Damon immediately asked for her hand in marriage.  She said her answer was yes, but subject first to her fathers approval.

Having said that, Mai Lings father somehow almost instantly appeared, but without the customary puff of smoke associated with instant appearances.  Nevertheless, there he was.  Princess Mai Ling expressed her desires to her father.  He did a cursory look over of Damon as if he were live stock to be bought.  Damon didn’t notice that either.  Damon was to busy noticing Mai Ling.

Wu Man Chu gave a swift approval and swift arrangements were made for a palace wedding the very next day.  Damon was shown to a room for the night.  The next day the wedding service was performed by Wu Man Chu himself, it took place in the fantastic gardens at the rear side of the palace.  The ceremony was of an oriental nature that Damon didn’t quite understand, but really didn’t give a hoot about form of ceremony, just that there was one.  Damon did note however one unique aspect, that being while each made their marriage pledge they both were required to place their hands on a large boulder similar to the one way out front.  Quaint custom Damon thought but so what.

Now as consort husband to the Princess Mai Ling, David had much authority.  Only Wu Man Chu and the Princesse’s authority was higher.  It was a large household with many, many servants who catered to Damon’s every beck and call.  Also being part of the kingdom hierarchy so to speak, Damon was wealthy beyond measure.  The area behind the palace stretched for at least fifty miles and had many streams to fish and much game to hunt.  There were stables of fine horses to help traverse those areas.

Damon was living high on the hog, he’d completely forgotten Ireland and the outside world for that matter.  And best of all, Damon’s wife the Princess Mai Ling was not only the most beautiful wife any man ever had, she was the best in every way a wife could be.  She filled most of his days with her glorious presence and Damon loved her dearly. She was spellbinding with her beauty and actions.

The one fine day after about twenty years of the good life for no particular reason, Damon wondered back to the front side of the palace.  He was surprised to see no tables and chairs at all, but figured it must be off season and the restaurant was temporarily closed.  Damon wondered on out to the large veranda to look around.  That other big boulder was still there, and Damon gave a quick look off in the distance and noted he could still see a long ways.

However at this point it didn’t register that Hollywood was no longer in the distance and the parking lot and road were gone as well.  Damon hadn’t really looked all that hard.

On the way back inside he passed a pool of water with pretty fish in it.  He looked down and admired them.  Then as it was a sunny day, he also saw his own reflection.  He was shocked, he had obviously aged.  There was a bit of gray starting up in his otherwise red hair, and a wrinkle or two on his face.

Suddenly reality hit him like a wet squirrel in the face.  Something was astray, as Princess Mai Ling hadn’t aged a single day.  Damon also wondered if that was why there were no mirrors in the palace except for the ancient polished copper ones that were barely adequate to shave by. They didn’t reveal much detail, but that pool of water did.

Damon went tearing back towards the rear of the palace and as he passed Wu Man Chu, that old Mandarin Ruler sensed what had happened as it was written all over Damon’s face.  Now Wu Man Chu not only thought of Damon as a son, but he too loved Damon.  He sat Damon down and told him this story.  Many years ago my kingdom was next to my brother’s kingdom, the Kingdom of Fin Fang Fu.  My brother to my sorrow was Fu Man Chu and he was evil.  He sought to subrogate my Kingdom and rule it with his evil just like he had done with his own.

To prevent this I used ancient magic to transport my kingdom to a different place geographically and then to doubly insure he couldn’t find us, I also transported it to a different plane of reality.  Unintentionally a side effect of that magical spell also made us immortal and totally stopped the aging process.  However those entering that plane of reality later would age normally as have you.

Damon said, then it’s obvious that Princess Mai Ling has had many husbands and will have many more after I’m gone.  Wu Man Chu said that is correct, but her love for you is genuine and her eyes would never reflect your aging.

Damon then said, I guess I wasn’t supposed to realize I was aging.  That is correct said Wu Man Chu.  But I have realized it said Damon and now I feel like while I’m obviously well loved, I’m also like a bit of a pampered pet that will someday be replaced.

Wu Man Chu said that’s true in a way, but that’s a hard way to look at it.  Damon said I understand that, but I want to go back to my world and try to make a life thats real with what time I have left.  Is there anyway that’s possible?  Wu Man Chu said yes; but I will dearly miss you.  I will explain it to Mai Ling for you, she will understand. `

Take this ring and place it on your finger, then touch the boulder on the veranda and you will be transported back to one day before you were married.  You will then see the parking lot and your car. One point of good news is that the location reversal process will not put you back to the other reality, it will be twenty years earlier than now and your youth will also be restored.

Damon did as he was instructed, he was pleased with the result.  Damon knew that he’d always have fond memories of Mai Ling, but with the sensing of feeling like a pet, he knew he’d made the only choice he could for both their sakes.