A Radish Odyssey (MAMAMOO AU)

Phase One : Full Moon

(December 1992)

"Ajahn... what are you doing?" a tiny hand reached out, weakly tugging on the edge of the head monk's robe. He turned to see a sleepy faced girl who was still rubbing her eyes with the other hand. As her vision recovered, the first thing that captivated her eyes is the scene that was painted behind the monk, "Whoa! The Moon! It's so red!" she gasped in awe.

The monk let out a soft chuckle as he cradled her in his arms, so she has a better view of it, "Yong-ah, you're not supposed to be up this late."

"Ahem! It's 2 in the morning, it's early." She corrected wittedly.

"Right. It's early and you should be in bed, otherwise-"

"The monster will come and eat me. I know, I know. You've said it like a million times." She cut off the monk's words while rolling her eyes, "But Ajahn you're here too, in fact all by yourself. What if the monsters come out and eat you? What were you doing anyway?"

The monk carefully set her down and ruffled her hair gently as she stood still looking at him intently. He then diverted his attention gazing towards the Total Lunar Eclipse while replying, "Nightmare."

"Ajahn, did you wake up because of a nightmare?" Yong asked, which he nodded in reply, still not saying anything more, so she continued to pester, "Ajahn, why is there a Red Moon in the sky?"

The monk then replied, "When the earth is between the moon and the sun, lunar eclipse happened, that's why we see Red Moon." Yong pretended to understand by nodding and enquires further, "What nightmare did you dream of? Monster?"

"Yong-ah... tell me. What do you think is the scariest thing in the world?"

She shut her eyes tightly, evident that she thought it through before her eyes lit up and answered enthusiastically, "I know! When Tteok Tokki ran out of tteokbokki!" her answer immediately reduced all the tension of the world as the monk let out a roar of laughter to a point where he had tears in his eyes. She puffed up her cheeks to show her frustration when he took it lightly, but he only responded by pinching them to subside it.

"Then Ajahn, why don't you tell me what is the scariest in the world? Beast? Demon? Ghost?"

After he wiped his joyful tears away, he took a deep breath before answering, "human."

"Human?... So, you dreamt of human?"

"I dreamt the same dream for the past few decades – Red Moon and a baby. Something tells me that it is a premonition, a prophecy that something horrible will happen... And that baby is the key to save the universe."

"So, you're out here all by yourself waiting for the baby? Ajahn, we're thousands of feet high up in the mountain in Jeju, where would a baby-"

*Uwaaah... uwaaah...*

As though her words casted blessing, wails of an infant could be heard in a distant, even though it's subtle. Their eyes widened and as soon as their eyes met, it's a cue for both Ajahn and Yong to make a dash towards the sound. They arrived at the entrance where the cries get clearer as they approach.

Ajahn pulled the heavy wooden door open, true enough, there lies a baby in a wooden weave basket. There is no one else, not even a note. He bent down and carefully cradled the baby in his arm, and the cries subsided almost instantly.

"I want to see! Ajahn, let me see the baby too!" Yong exclaimed excitedly. He slowly squat to let Yong have a better look, "Ajahn, is the baby a boy or a girl?"

"A beautiful baby girl." He replied with a smile.

"Does she have a name?"

He briefly looked around her and under the blanket that would give them a hint but didn't find anything, so he answered, "not yet." He pondered for a while before looking into the baby's eyes and said, "Today is a lunar eclipse, I shall name you after the water-moon Avalokiteshvara, Gwaneum." The baby gave the head monk a few seconds to indulge his satisfaction of naming before releasing an ear-piercing cry of frustration.