Flashback
The Nest,
San Diego, California.
Friday, February 11.
Grand Master Long stood before the ornate mirror in his mansion, adjusting his crisp, white suit. His personal assistant, a middle aged Chinese man with a clipboard, hovered nearby.
"Master, your private jet is ready to depart for Nigeria," Mr. Cheng announced.
Just then, a soft, melodious voice called out from the hallway. "Sumimasen, Ōroku-sama." (Excuse me, Honorable Dragon King.)
Mr. Long's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to face the speaker. It was Emiko, his Japanese wife's personal maidservant. She bowed deeply, her hands clasped together.
"What is it, Emiko?" Mr. Long asked, his tone polite but detached.
Emiko's eyes sparkled with a hint of mystery. "Her Second Imperial Highness, the Dragon Queen, requests your presence in her chambers, Ōroku-sama."
Mr. Long's expression turned skeptical, but he nodded curtly. "Very well. I'll attend to her."
Emiko led him through the winding corridors of the mansion, stopping before a door adorned with ancient, Japanese symbols. She pushed the door open, revealing a room that seemed frozen in time. The air was thick with the scent of incense and sandalwood.
Mr. Long stepped inside, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. The room was dominated by a large, ornate shrine. Behind the shrine, his Japanese wife, the Dragon Queen, sat on a raised dais. Her body was partially transformed, her skin scaled, her eyes glowing like embers.
She spoke in a low, husky voice, her words taking the form of haiku:
"Neglected, I wait
Three wives claim your attention
Heart, once mine, now cold"
Mr. Long's expression turned wry. "My dear, you know I have duties to attend to. My other wives require my attention as well."
The Dragon Queen's gaze narrowed, her eyes flashing with a hint of anger. She spoke again in haiku:
"Busy, you forget
My love, my heart, my soul
Winter's chill, I feel"
Mr. Long chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "You're as poetic as ever, my dear. But I think you summoned me for a reason. What is it?"
The Dragon Queen's expression turned solemn. She began to speak in Japanese poetry format, her words weaving a mystical, dreamlike quality:
"In visions, I see
A land of ancient magic
Nigeria's heart beats
A girl, gifted, powerful
Fate's threads entwined with hers
World's balance, she holds
Find the girl, with dragon's heart
Claim her, and our future's set
Ōroku-sama, heed"
Mr. Long's eyes widened, his mind racing with the implications. He bowed deeply, his voice filled with a newfound sense of purpose.
"I will find her, my dear. I will find the girl with a dragon's heart."
***
Back in the Main Hall,
Angeline's church,
Sunday February 13
11:09 am
Angeline
"Mr. Long?" I gasped.
"Praise the Lord!" Mr. Long chanted
"Hallelujah!"
"I said, praise the Lord!"
"Hallelujah!"
"The Lord's good..."
"All the time!" they all replied.
"Firstly, I want to thank the Reverend for giving me the opportunity to be before you all today. I'm highly grateful." he said with a slight bow.
"Secondly," he continued. "I'm glad to see you again Dragon girl. I was in such a hurry earlier I forgot to get your name..."
"Angeline." she said into the microphones the eager reporters shoved into her face till the guard beside her snatched one while the other three guards shooed them away.
"Angeline... I honestly lack words to express my gratitude. To show you how indebted I am to you for living up to your name when you turned into my grandkids guardian angel. Thank you." he croaked emotionally pausing, as the congregation applauded her.
"You know," he continued turning to address the audience. "When we first met this morning I felt her spark when she correctly identified the dragons on my cars and immediately I knew she was destined for great things. She then promised to protect my grandkids, didn't you?"
Angie just replied with a slow nod wondering were all this was heading to.
"I can't give much but no good deed must go unrewarded." he said, beckoning on some guards at the door, each holding a large card the size of a crate, to come in.
"At home, whenever I am pleased with a person I give them three wishes. They only get five on their birthday." he paused as the brethren chuckled. "But today, we're gonna to do something a little bit different." He said, taking her hand and guided her towards the guards holding the cards.
"I'm going to give you five wishes, five options, but you can only take three... Are you ready?" he asked, and Angie nodded in reply.
"Reveal the wishes!"
The body guards then flipped the cards as Mr. Long read out what was on them. They looked like the poker cards in a giant's casino.
The first guard flipped his card to reveal a very fancy queen card, with dollar signs on the edges.
"Wish One: A check of $10 million dollars." He said, causing the gobsmacked church members to almost scream their lungs out.
The second guard flipped his card, the picture on it was a graduation cap on some books, with the emblems a fancy school on the edges of the card.
"Wish Two: An all-expense paid scholarship to any level you wish to attain in my school, Jade Stone University." he announced, causing the congregation screamed in approval, Angeline's mother a little bit louder than the rest.
The third guard then flipped his card, the picture on it was of a hot Barbie doll on a shopping spree with girly accessories at the edges of the card.
"Wish Three: A 24hr all-expense paid shopping spree." It was the turn of all the female youths in the hall to bring down the roof.
The guards holding Wish Four and Five simultaneously flipped their cards only to reveal two blank cards with a question mark in the middle.
"Looks like you've gotten two blank checks. With these to cards you can wish for any crazy thing you kids of now want... plus I ran out of ideas." He jibed fortunately, this time, everyone laughed.
"You have 120 seconds to choose your three wishes. And your time starts...now."
"Number 3, 4 and 5!"
"Are those your final choices, child?
"Yes sir" she nodded as the three chosen guards stepped forward and the other two left, the congregation clapping them off.
"Alright, you have a chosen the shopping spree along with two blank checks for random wishes. So, what will your two random wishes be, child?"
"I wish..." she started, giving him the fourth card. "That the $10 million be given to the church."
Angie hoped a trip to the otolaryngologist could be added to her shopping list because the roar of the congregation had definitely severed her eardrums.
It took a while for them to settle down but just as she was about to say her last wish when Ari and Ben ran up to her tugging at what was left of her tattered skirt in order to get her attention. The brethren chuckled as Angie crouched down to their level while they excitedly whispered into her ear. Angie's eyes widened in delight as she stood up, everyone looking upon with bated breath eager to know the last wish.
"I wish... for my last wish be given to Ari." she announced, giving the microphone to Ari.
This caused a slight murmur of indignation from the congregation, especially the elders. Angie's mother was a puffing in rage but tried to mask it with a smile but it made her look like a tiger smiling at its soon to be dead prey.
"Well, it is legal!" chuckled Master Long, slightly puzzled by the turn of events. "So, Ari dear," he cooed, ushering her to face the congregation. "What will you wish for?"
"Grandpa," she started. "You know how you've been promising to get us a nanny since last year?"
"Yes...?" Master Long concurred with a slight frown on his forehead, wondering where this was going.
"Well, look no further 'cos I wish that you employ our number 1 candidate, with immediate effect." she commanded.
The congregation began to titter in excitement, obviously knowing who it was going to be.
"Wish granted!" he beamed, with a knowing smirk. "And who is this number one candidate?"
"Big Aunty!" they squealed in unison, hugging Angeline tightly.
Angie was temporarily dazed by the zillion flashes of light, as the newsmen scrambled to get a better shot of this adorable scene. Everyone in the hall was on their feet, clapping and cheering her on as she shook hands with Mr. Long, before the guards led her, Ari and Ben back to their classes. The reporters tried to hound them with their infinite questions when they came out but thankfully Master Long's guards were able to bar them off.
Angie politely excused herself, slipping into the restroom, unnoticed by the Press, in order to recover her equilibrium. As though it'd been waiting for this moment, the tiny dragon flew out of her pocket, ricocheting around before finally landing, with a cute thump, in her palms!
"That was awesome!" it squealed. "I haven't felt this alive in centuries! Thank you, Angeline Richmen-Ozigi."
"No, I should be the one thanking you for saving me out there." she beamed in gratitude, as it floated out of her palm.
"Just doing my job as your spirit guide!" it shrugged, in pride.
Sighing in exhaustion, Angeline sank on the seat of the Water Closet, leaning her pounding head on the cool wall.
"What's clouding your sunshine, O woken one? It's overwhelming isn't it?"
"First, I was fired, now I'm hired; I woke up this morning natural, only to find out that I'll go back to sleep as a supernatural for the rest of my life... So yeah, I'm overwhelmed." she confessed still in a daze, her eyes down making her oblivious of the dragon which was floating towards her face.
"Don't fret yet, my Queen! You have a long way to go and the party's just getting started." It purred with an impish grin, as suddenly its eyes began to ominously glow yellow. Angeline turned to look at in awe as its amber eyes bore into hers. But rather being shocked, she too broke into a grin, her pupils suddenly ringed in gold, illuminating the two creatures in the little dark toilet.
What wishes would you have chosen instead?