Remember More

Chapter 15

His knee bounced up.

Their eyes met. They smiled.

"Hey!" John laughed.

So did Yan. She went and tapped it once more.

It jumped again. Knee jerk reflex.

"Wow!"

Yan tried the other knee. That one jumped too. She repeated this a few times.

"Wait, wait…" John stopped her. "…I want to try something."

He bit down on his tongue and concentrated. Well, concentrated while not concentrating at the same time. He reached out with just the right amount of qi into his leg.

He willed it and without even touching it with his hand, John lifted his right leg.

"Hey!" Yan jumped to her feet. She clapped her hands together. "That's amazing!"

John tried the other one. He could lift the other one too.

"Sir! That's wonderful!" She flew in and gave him a hug.

John relaxed and dropped his legs back down. He gestured for Yan to move away. "Okay, stand back…"

"Sir? What are you doing? Are you sure that's…?"

"Just…just stand back will you?"

Yan went to move off but slipped back in beside him. She reached out to him.

He swatted her hands away. "I said…" He shooed her away again.

Yan stood off to one side, but remained close enough to catch him if he should fall.

John squared his hands on the armrests of the chair. He grit his teeth. He drew forth his qi. Grunting with the effort…

…he stood up.

He was on his feet.

All by himself.

He let go of the armrests.

He spun his head to Yan.

"Hey!" His mouth was hanging open. His eyes were wide.

"Hey!" Her hands were on her mouth. "Oh my God!" She flew in and hugged him and nearly knocked him over.

They laughed and Yan bounced up and down, still embracing her boss.

John bounced with her but only because she was holding him so tight. He eased her away. "Yan…"

"Oh my God!"

John bent his eyes to his body. He checked himself up and down and all over. Reaching downward, he placed his hands on his thighs. "I can't believe this…"

It was amazing. It felt like his arms and legs were on fire. But in a good way! So powerful, so full of energy and tingling…

"Oh man…!" Yan reached out and they held hands.

"I know…" He looked into her face. He grinned. "…my legs are shaking…"

"Me too…!"

John and Yan just stood there for a moment. They squeezed hands. They were all smiles and teeth and deep sighs and breathing.

"Wow. I mean…my legs are really shaking." John nodded his head up and down.

"Yeah, me too. It's actually like it's getting worse or something…"

"Yeah…"

The two stopped. They dropped their smiles. They stared at each other.

It wasn't their legs that were shaking.

They whipped their heads around. To the top of the hill.

A statue. A stone giant.

A rock and fourteen tons of massive, dead stone weight raced down toward them, spinning and rolling over the grass, like an avalanche or a landslide and heading right for them and pounding and rumbling the ground as it came like a stony, stray bat out of hell.

"Oh no…"

It caught a bump in the hill.

The statue caught a bump in the hill and was flicked upward, launched into the air and was now plummeting onto their spot from a hundred feet overhead.

They had followed it with their eyes and now they were gazing up into its belly.

A shadow grew around the two of them.

Yan's eyes were on the statue. Her whole body was frozen.

"Oh no!"

John's was not.

Qi in his arms. He shoved her to the side.

Yan flew off, landing fifty feet away, rolling on the ground as she hit dirt.

She got up. She whipped her head back.

John had his hands up.

The rock was on him.

She turned her head away.