The Sea Gem

It was a snowy Winter day in China where Princess Soong Dogun was preparing a gift for the ceremonial feast of the Sea Dragon. The festival had become a ceremonial myth celebrated since the early dynasties that had invented Shintoism. Soong was a dedicated Princess & Buddhist yet she wanted to create a underwater ancient theme for the event.Being the daughter of a peril diver,she was experienced enough to dive in the Ocean's vast waters with her band of explorers. She searched for the loot of sunken warships in search of a artifact to display in her family's Jade Aquarium secretly aquired from the forbidden city. Reaching down into a rubble of Kartooshs that lye inside a barnacle covered chest,she found a most interesting stone face that she placed in her sea net.

It was a perfect artifact to be featured in the Dragon festival. Little did Princess Soong know that the stone she found had amazing abilities. Sleeping in the room next to the aquarium that was placed in the outdoor garden atrium, Soong heard a voice calling out to her. It drifted through the misty night air and seemed to be crying. Tiptoeing out of her bedroom , she followed the voice to the Sea tank where she could see the stone inside was weeping.

It was a sad song where a yearning for his soul echoed throughout the ripples of water. "Such a sad song I hear, but who is the Sea Siren?" "I am" The stone replied. Soong could see in the jade tank the stone face seeming to move his lips. "You are just a stone, how do you sing?" "I once was a warrior several hundreds of Moons ago. I died in a sandstorm that petrified my body, entombing my soul, washing me to sea as time evolved." "How very strange indeed. What is it that you long for?" "A new life, for I am not able to ascend to the heavens of Cherry trees where my ancestors walk in among the high clouds. " "How do I free you?" "A canon, if you could shoot me out of a warriors canon, I would expload & release my soul, soaring up to the zodiac and celestials." "My father, the King has a canon, but he is away at war along with all the men in the kingdom" "Do you have acess to his canons?" "They are well guarded, let's wait until the Dragon Festival where important guests may know of what to do." THe talking stone sighed and seemed a bit sad, but agreed to wait and sea. The following day became the Dragon Festival where the Queen Mother & Princess were exquisitly dressed in Royal attire, although the King and his warriors were missing. Performers were dancing underneath ricepaper dragon costumes as kabuki music was preformed by a orchestra . Fireworks lit the night sky as other nobles such as the Empress Cixi Dowager the Manchu Yehe & Chiang Kai Shek , the Generalissimo were among the invited guests.

The Jade tank that had two giant jade dragons holding each end became the dicussion of the party. Priests from the monastary were particulary intrigued. Monks stood in orange robes among the wild peacocks that drank from the trickling dragon fountain while the brown robed Preists gazed into the aquarium that held the stone showpiece. Soong stood and explained how she found the stone and that it was like a magical genie as it could speak. The Preists were amazed and asked for a demonstration. Soong faced the tank and quietly asked him to tell his story. "I am a very old Sea Gem that wishes to be called so, petrified in time, through the Ocean's deluge of storms, hurricanes, & deep fanthoms of solitude, I long to be set free. The Preists were deeper intrigued as they watched the stome speak. They thought it too as a mysterious genie that must have been a gift from Buddha himself. Soong told that he wished to be shot out of a cannon for his soul to ascend and return to the heavens. One Preist spoke up. :I can release his soul in a better way." "And how is that?" Soong asked in her silk Obi and long pigtails. "I will burn incense from the oldest cherry trees and read from the ancient tablets a exorcism that is used to banish ghosts & evil do'ers. His soul will surely ascend with the prayers of the afterworld." Soong's eyes lit up in joy when hearing his words. She turned to the tank , asking for his approval. "If I were able to stand, I would bow in your honor." The sea gem said. The Ceremony began with candles lit with the burning of the ancient cherry tree incense. Ancient words were spoken, blessing the stone while the chanting of monks & priests became sacrid to Princess Soong. THe stone began to rise like a lodestone , floating up ever so gently and up into the sky. It looked like echtoplasm of a spirit, shapping a silloutte of a man holding his right arm in a fist that soared into the clouds. And then the Sea Gem was gone...Soongs eyes filled with tears as the room was silent. "May his soul find inner peace." The priests bowed facing Princess Soong. "We are overjoyed to have searved you, dear child. May Buddha bless you for allowing us so "

Every night since then the Princess looks up to the night sky where a face appeared on the moon that resembled her Sea Gem. It shimmered down on the people and became part of the wind, rain, snow & forests as trees grew with Sea Gem faces. The people called it, a enchantment, as the world opened up a little deeper with the help of the Sea Gem.