Ancient Chinese Secret: Part 1

Ancient Chinese Secret

Tuesday

Karen thought hers was an innocent addiction. Certainly not something that would put her life in danger. Even as she sat there, taking a bite of Unagi Kabayaki, she didn’t even really believe that it was an addiction. Sure, she explained her desire to eat Chinese food almost every night as an addiction to Peter and Judy, but she hoped that they took it as a joke– like she did.

She rationalized to herself it was more of a goal than an addiction. She had decided that she was going to eat at every restaurant in Philadelphia’s Chinatown before the year’s end. The one she sat in now– Mei Hsian Lou– she’d had her eyes on for months. It was built in 1870; the first restaurant in what was now Chinatown. She and Peter had stopped here several times before, peeking into the dining area where a massive three dimensional gold dragon undulated across the ceiling and back toward the kitchens where a row of upside-down cooked ducks hung along the glass that separated the diners from the chefs. But with a wait-to-be-seated time that measured in hours instead of minutes, they usually slumped their shoulders and left for another restaurant on their checklist.

Karen savored her bite of broiled eel before swallowing. “I can’t believe how good this is! It was so worth the wait.” She noticed Peter’s plate for the first time. “Why aren’t you eating yours?”

Peter poked at the food on his plate, looking sheepish. “I think it’s just a little too Asian for me.” He studied Karen’s face, taking in her sharp features, her wavy auburn hair, and her wide eyes that were constantly filled with curiosity, and couldn’t imagine anyone looking less Chinese. “Are you sure you don’t have even a little Chinese in your blood?”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t even have an ancestor that has stepped a foot on the entire continent of Asia,” she said as she speared another bite of eel with her chopstick. Peter had been her friend since her second year of college. She sometimes could tell that he wanted to be more than friends, but she never saw him as anything more than that. Her eyes shifted focus from Peter to the end of the room behind him. “Oh, my gosh! An adorable Chinese man just came out of the kitchens! He’s not looking this way. Hurry. You have to turn around and see him.”

Peter turned in his seat to look at the man. He was so stooped with age that he barely topped four feet tall, his thin white chin beard falling almost to his waist. He shuffled along slowly, using a cane as he walked. Suddenly stopping, the old man turned and looked across the crowded restaurant straight at Peter and Karen. Peter quickly turned around while Karen dropped her eyes back to her plate, embarrassed that they had been caught staring. She stayed focused on the eel until she felt someone walk to her table, stopping beside her. Looking up, she saw the old man.

He pointed a crooked, trembling finger toward her. His voice sounded ancient and cracked. “For one week, they all come true. They all come true.”