Priestess Travelings

Chapter One: Where I am From:

-Jasper-

I may be eighteen, but I have spent most of my life in a Buddhist temple. This came about when I was first born in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam. I ended up being given over to a small Buddhist temple because my mother couldn’t afford to feed me. The nuns were nice to me. They fed and clothed me. Chores were part of my discipline. I wasn’t the only child left at the temple.

The village where I was born was going through a drought at the time. Most mothers dropped off their babies at hidden temples. I never held it against my mother. She only wanted what was best for me. So many children ended up with the nuns at the temple, that by the time I was five, they had to turn away mothers with their babies. Nowadays, my old village isn’t suffering as much. It’s not great, but it getting better.

By the time I was twelve, I began studying to be a priestess. I didn’t really choose this path. That just happened for me. I didn’t complain. What would be the point? For three years, I did chores, studied from books, and meditated. Most kids my age couldn’t do, but I managed to do it without complaints. By the age of fifteen, they decided to send me out on Asia. I didn’t know how to take this, of course. Until then, I had lived in the temple for most of my life. The only time I had been on the outside was to shop for food in the village market with the nuns. I remember that day they called me in talk. The little kids thought that I was in trouble. I have to admit; I was scared at first. Then I became confused after I heard what she had to say.

“Me?” I asked. “But why?”

“You are so young and you need to see the world before you can fully become a priestess,” the head nun said.

“Will I be going alone?” I asked.

“Oh, no. no, no,” she said. “You will be going with An.” I looked and saw the older-looking nun with her gruff, bulldog-like face. She always scared me when she frowned. I hated to picture her smiling.

“Relax,” Mother Hoa, the head nun, said. “You will be in good hands.” I tried to smile and look positive about this plan.

“So when do we leave?” I asked.

“This evening,” Mother Hoa said without missing a point.

“So soon?”

“Yes, this evening is part of the departure ritual of our temple.”

“And you are sure that I am ready for this?”

“I believe that you are. I have faith that you can accomplish this journey. Whether you want to return or not is your decision.” I looked over at An and quickly looked away when I saw her beady eyes on me. I bowed my head.

“Yes, Mother,” I said.

“Very good,” Mother Hoa said. “That is all.”

My going-away party consisted of a small different of rice, nem cuon, canh chua. Mother Hoa gave a speech, but I didn’t listen. I was too busy trying to wrap my mind around what was happening in my little life then. I could feel An’s eyes locked on me from the shadows. In the end, I modestly bowed my head.

“Thank you,” I said in a quiet voice. That evening, I packed up what little I owned and left the temple with An.