Tcho Tcho Holy Outre House Of Gal-Bi: Tale #2, 'Obscenities In The Mirror Won't Stop'
Frederick J. Mayer
"Go Where The Wind Takes You...Jeju, an island of fantasy ...bleak, volcanic, windswept and insulated...in every gust of wind, Jeju is now imagination itself where myth and reality, and past and present, blend together. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the two...(the Island) does not unveil its beauty until you touch it."
-JEJU ISLAND PROMOTION BOOKLET
"Man is a hollow tube, ingesting food at one end and excreting waste at the other...The wisest is the black beetle that lives on the dung of others...There is only hunger in the universe. Devour everything." - AL AZIF, "Howlings in the Desert,"
Abdul Alhazred
"What hast thou seen, O wind, Of Beauty or of terror,...." - THE MAD WIND,
Clark Ashton Smith
"Welcome to Jeju-do!" ("Jeju Island"), as the airplane touched ground, greeted the visitor from every possible aspect and angle of the place. He made directly for the main "Way Out."
Outside, the Island's winds were more than a crisp nip in the air, in fact, they were very much boisterous in strength and biting upon the skin. So, he scuddled into the nearest offering taxi. The child of a Korean-American woman and successul Japanese businessman, upon entering, folded his long spiderish legs and arms into the backseat area of the jet black modern beetle-like bug designed vehicle where the visitor of Asian blood now lowered himself.
The Korean driver, as he drove, volubly, vigorously babbled almost voraciously about Jeju, even as the blusterous winds of the Island forced him to fight with the steering wheel to be able to continuously return the car back to the correct side of the road..."We are an internationally recognized Pacific island paradise, especially, for honeymooners, with our famed ' Winds, Women and Rocks'...these kinds of rough winds we're experencing at the moment are considered normal here, at least, for this time of year...."Laughingly, nearly bellowing with glee, the senior cabbie pointed out that the powerful pumping breezes helped the newlyweds and first time lovers with the "stamina and motion they needed."
The vistor thought this was probably true considering how the outside papable winds were, more or less, humping, buggering the cab's tailpipe as it thumped and bumped endlessly the bumper of his mode of transportation at that particular time and space.
The visitor was tuned out, when his ears perked up to catch what the overly pleasant driver was currently going on about, "The Koh Reis had been residing on 'Hadong' ("Dragon Land") for as long as anyone dead or alive could remember...the pervertedly sickening and mordant travesty that had befallen on the historic T'osan Shrine, produced generations of Koh Reis, who took it particularly personal to their collected hearts, taking actions to maintain a 'living' memory of what happened oh so long ago. The numerous snake worshipping local population simply refer to those periods and holidays as 'The Nights of Lloigor's Revenage.' "
The taxi's radio, tuned in to the AFN station's classic rock program, was playing the late, great Poet/singer "Lizard King's" epic reptile piece, "The shadows of the trees/witnessing the wild breezes...." The visitor requested that it be turned off.
Flick. The graceful high born sanguine fingers took the DVD, FORBIDDEN LOVE: "KuMiHo," out and returned it to where the disk belonged, then, the still in his birthday suit Dr. Koh Rei-am returned himself to his mostly Ginko dream wood waterbed and laid back on its black bungdaeki silk sheet while laying his head upon its mammaceous pillow.
Rei-am's identical twin sister, Ms. Koh Rei-mi, watched her brother's actions...while taking in the actual bed with its engraved seemingly molten polished chrome and bas-relief liquid cracked dark jade (so it seemed) moving designs and figures of a canthropophagy fornicating Lloigor and Zhar and such things. The resting place had an overhanging wooden canopy that enclosed a pure crystal mirror with a beautific sepia hue that might had come from a spray of a very frightened cuttlefish.
However, it was the ancient accipiter that stood at Rei-am's bedside that, truly, drew her focus. It was only the size of a full grown Western male's extended middle finger, yet clearly sculpted to represent grand Queen Zee Rei and a Zee Goe-mool entwined into a position some may view as obscene. There was a true sense the object pulsed like a modern mammal's flushed male member just about to release in climax. The accipiter had a eerie aura of something extremely special about it...something definitedly made to connect, communicate and, yes, protect.
The piece had been in the family so long no one knew when it became a fixed part of the Rei clan. The venerable great grandmother Rei gave it personally to Rei-am, not both of them. No one questioned...and, it was said her "little Rei-am" had the "Gift"...not to mention, everyone always felt her brother was "truly great grand mama's offspring/child."
"Before Space and Time, Lloiger and Zhar delivered us, their star spawn, our progenitors, eventually, to what became 'Earth.' Yes, Rei-am, you and your ancestors are all part of those descendants. Those of the plateau came under the control of the hideously sadistic Shamen of Yog-Sothoth, who maintained their power through the aid of these beasts who bore a semblance of winged canines. The cruel of soul shamen wore these solid jade amulets that made them both masters and slaves of those air-borne creatures. If they ever removed those amulets in the crude likeness of hounds, even in death, these so-called 'holy men'were instantly themselves prey to the 'Dogs' (who were ever so possessive of the neck pieces)."
Quenn Zee Rei continued via the overhead mirror, "We are a vicrous, tenacious and territorial fighter species and, whenever possible, never turned to flight, on the overhand, Tcho Tchos are not dumb. Those grotesque animalisms of beings to hounds huge and sere skeletonly boney just ran amid the natural winds as well as creating them with fetid, opaque fluid issued breath and wings... nothing escapes them and even our baby Tchos were fodder for their unspeakable sanquinary lusts and carnel brutalities as the demonic falchionish fangs and fastidious flatuational, flaying huffing orfices aptly able to disembowel and dismember the little ones... flinging the varied and various tender viscerals and parts to the self-created winds...Sport! They would rake the babes, split raggedly their small torsos, hanging still 'living' intestines large and small, looking like exposed swollen grape hued vaginas...lolling, sandblasted rough tongues penetrated, raped repeatedly those target insides...
Instinctively, the young pointedly fought back by thrusting their tiny chubby index fingers at their tormentors who used them as mere appetizers, snacks and toys. Sadly, at that tender age, the Tcho Tcho people's natural blade nails of that certain digit haven't developed fully. Oh, be unquestionally proud of your hertiage!"
The Queen moved on, "Those mal-formed of mind Shamen of Yog-Sothoth whose jade amulets' leather braided straps are made of what remains of our young thus ruled (Rei-am saw/"experienced" within his bed mirror these spoken of abominations and obscentities) ...the cracked jade tailsmans like those you and your sister wear upon your very flesh represents our freedom, if for only a few, from the powers of the solid jade...Eventually, there came into existence myself."
There in the doorway stood Rei-mi in her trademark modified Korean hanbok made of scarlet and ocean green colored suede. She was an accomplished statesperson, not to mention, a successful "no sh*t" politican, who rightly earned the somewhat positive nickname of"Liquid Stone Lizard Queen", as she could, with merely her eyes, charm a noisome magpie out of its brood filled nest.
The newly arrived visitor quickly and properly greeted his long standing friend. She darkly flashed a sly serrated beautific smile and returned, "Professor Injukyoski Kie-te, welcome you are always, but, what brings you here?The 'happening' holiday activities are taking place in Jeju City." "Come now," grinning like a traditional Korean tiger after being given a pipe to smoke by the native rabbits, "I always come here nearly directly after that brother of yours returns from one of his 'travels,' just to glean something from, learn of Rei-am's latest 'experiences." Rei-am will be out shortly, sit." And, the twosome of near equal height placed themselves awkwardly at the low lying Oriental rubian tree born table that was set-out in the typical Korean manner...all of the numerous parts/dishes of the whole meal are put out at the same time. "Your wonderful mother has outdone herself, as usual"...Kie-te grinned with utter delight as a potpouri of savory, delicious scented fetors beckon.
The professor, for some unknown reason in the world of manners (perhaps, he was acting as many a giddy young boy wanting to show off his latest toy), pulled out a quasi-long bambooish and stone pipe of some age, filled it with some of his personal aromatic blend and, soon, a billowy blueish smoke danced slowly upward. Rei-mi zeroed in with a KuMiHo keen vixen sense, eyeball to eyeball without moving anything else, snarled, "What is that?!"
Pleased with his possesion, Kie-te proceeded, "When I was in San Francisco, I went over to this outstanding, somewhat seemingly quite old bizarre curio shop placed among the taller stately new buildings to be found lately on Kearny street, near the city's theater district. The odd shaped shop is run by this tall, lanky individual getting up there in physical age, thus lending his lean body frame a hunched appearance. However, his Shakespearian trained voice reveals a sharp mentality.
He pointed out this fantastical hand crafted pipe by none other than the legendary artist/sculptor Klarkash-ton himself! The crookedly statuesque curator backed his 'treasure' as being authentic while musing about how he had personally met its creator...quite suddenly, he added in a sullenly somber tone, 'with your purchase,' as the sharp owner's vision quickly swept around the area without ever moving his distinquished head, 'I'll gladly pass onto you this arcane doggishly styled in design jade neck piece.'
Deal instantly sealed. I brought it with me in hopes Rei-am could provide me some background. At the moment, the semi-precious stone pendant is in a safety deposit box at the hotel I'm staying at while on Jeju."
"We don't smoke here."
The prof.'s Japanese male side stared with smoldering anger filled violated self...inside his brain echoed, "How dare a female speak to me in such a manner!" Rei-mi' hands had already moved into satin smooth action...her thumb had covered the bowl of the valuable smoking item, smothering, killing the contents to solidly dead funeralish ashes.
Ms. Koh's artistical slenderly long fingers had a live octopus with the tentacles of the thing swiftly cut off with operation perfect teeth that retained a scapel sharp edge to her lovely incisors...the appendages wiggled as babes just emerging living from mother snake's womb, then gone...Rei-mi's index finger nail blades freed the sea creature's eyes and extended nerve strands from their sockets...flip, flung, flop and fresh ink filling the air, the eyes et. al. flew into the awaiting stainless steel bowl filled with its traditional Korean preferred sticky rice...Kie-te realized the honor being offered him and held the said bowl within his cupped together hands outward to her and started his head into a deep bow...
Rei-mi struck...the "offending" item was shoved half-way down Kie-te's windpipe; with the tenderness of the physical vixen's paw's underside, she simply told the professor, "They have professional sword swallowers in India."
The pipe gingerly and quietly was put away. Wham! Bam! Suddenly, the outer windows of the house violently and with verve vibrated as if struck with serveral sonic booms..."Wa!," went Kie-te... Rei-mi with a sultry breath style coolly stated, "We live near a dead volcano's lake; I suspect that part of Lloigor got through a fissure or somethin' akin and took a jaunt, digested something that didn't agree with His innards, thus He is passing, wind."
The professor inside his cranium thought about what the taxi driver had said and the "Nights of Lloigor's Revenage"...
"Just of wind, not so much a wind now as a quaking as if the air itselfwas heaving, churning."
Pow! One of the emergency exits seemed to be literally exploding with senior and just hired staff members alike rushing out the door. Smokers all settled down..."Strange way to celebrate the memory of Buddha and His philosophy of moderation in all things with excessive sybaritic eating, drinking and whoring"..."perhaps, it's because it is the 'Year of the Dog'"...the hotel's cover band of the solar month, "The Yarikuri Band," pumped out through the steel door opening their take on a Gary Numan techno-pop hit..."Here am I like a target in flesh/ Time for you to call out the dogs"...throughout Jeju City's main tourist hotel's veteran staff personel, all silently sensed these freezing whorls of "gods' breath"/winds were not at all typical of the famed "Winds, Women and Rocks" of the Isle's main tourist attractions. There was something wrong, not quite right in the air...the proweling harbinger wind just before the workers all swarmed back inside, seemed poised to strike...out emerged the musical line from a Doors' classic, "No one here gets out alive now"...as the exit was wind pounded shut, Slam!
"Genocide was degreed," Queen Zee Rei expressed soulfully. "Watch Rei-am," she commanded, "Look, damn you, see!" As Rei-am took it all in, the Queen started to sing "Requiem for the Tcho Tcho Children," long thought lost, "Remember, remember, remember us/ Remember, remember where we all belong/Remember!"
The insane Sadoguanian related "Brain Felines" tore into with their canines, belched and played with the glutonous gobbling and quivering rabid, crimson foaming rats the size of cats, who, through decaying yellow teeth, lapped and sucked corporeally glutinous un-nameable, un-mentionable things wallowing within peritonius spawned blood... staining the soil, slowly seeping down to the very bowels of the earth till it deficated it all back.
"It is said," whispered the mighty Queen, "this is when the Tcho Tcho had their first taste of canine flesh and bone."
"Fact," continued Rei-mi in her most sentorian statesperson style, "Korea is Asia's number one, probably in the world too, exporter of their unwanted chidren, mostly females, for adoption." "Fact: The ratio of males to females in South Korea was almost 2 boys to every 1 girl. Hence, the national government created the law, I can proudly say I had a part in drafting, which prohibits any advance knowledge of an unborn babe's gender released, in fear and to protect them, from being aborted if it is 'discovered' to be a female fetus."
Eyes aflame as in stage of white heat, Rei-mi stated, "My Tcho family heritage side had/has its faults, however, it is needless to say we would never have allowed such a waste purely based on gender... we have always found something useful for all members of our society!" The professor sullenly became reflective upon his own mother's background. Viewing the re-action of her guest, she, without missing a beat, offered, "Here, try some of the various freshly gathered, harvested caviare, roe and unhatched fish eggs from the sumptuous seas surrounding the Island." Kie-te ate.
The accipiter within Rei-am's abode started a very slight motion like that of a new born nearly sated suckling at its mother's breast as she blew ever so lightly, lovingly over the child's hair down.
Finally, the stout yet supple body of a canine type made it into the room successfully, partially, because of the numerous, almost finger thin tapors placed about the dinning room area that cast many a shadow...they were all well scented that made the place have the odors of an usual Jeju floral garden in Spring...there was just enough balance between the nearly aborted human babies' fat and the desired level of adipose wax, so not to overpower the issuing frangrances. Though, the smoky mists made the doggish creature's eyes water, snout dribble sticky mucilage and maw drool, he never lost sight of his prey and waited patiently in a dark filled room corner, while the remaing ilk and kin of his kind huddled together outside... their pelts grown accustomed to the freezing cold that unrelentously hunted and searched for what was sought.
Ominous rhythms of the night belching in time within menacing gusts of Pacific stalking velvetine red airs...As some hotel staff prepared to leave at the end of their part of the graveyard shift, whispers arose, "...Some say they heard beseeching cries coming from the windswept beach of a lost, frightened toddler." "I heard talk of the very wind itself with its blowing quick bursts of related self-produced whistles being the source of the high pitched wails"... "Listen, quiet, can't you hear it? Listen!" They never heard Dawn's scream.
"We, I and those who followed me," Queen Zee Rei pointed out, "made our way through the sharply mountainous regions of Southern and Western Asia...and, a group of Hounds led by their Dame Bitch Y'knu-rk with skeletal rangily athletic abilities and elasticity of form were still able to feed/attack/amuse themselves on us at will, despite our evasive maneuvers through the knife edged outcroppings that sprouted out of the very mountains themselves, as if they were living, grasping claws for anything coming via the skies above them."
"Evoco, evocare, orison"...Queen spoke above the rising chorus, "It basically seemed the ripped apart end of our branch of the Tcho Tcho family tree...evoco, evocare, orison...It is those of little knowledge that call our entities 'the Twin Obcenities'...Lloigor and Zhar heard our pleas...evoco, evocare, orison...as you say in today's slang, 'They were royally pissed off'...They 'spoke' to me within my troubled dreams."
"Enjoy 'Great Tits' Professor?" "Most certainly," offering his best leecher's smile, "not to mention, the 'Lesser Nippled Tits,' among others." "Well, mother Rei creates some of the most outstanding fermented tits...though, she gets her basic method from the West's top chefs...what they commonly call 'Fore gras'..."force feeding through the esophagus, till near bursting"...lifting aporcelain bowl of freshly produced tits with all the trimmings, Rei-mi encouraged, "Have some by all means."
"What was left of us stopped at the first dead volcano lake that we came across...selecting certain Tcho Tchos, I with them, entered the appointed place to encounter bits and pieces of living parts of Lloigor and Zhar...we engaged in the highly secretive, secretionous sacred ritual involving neuromantic mystical apac and premative, orgiastic sensuality."
"At dawn," flowed the Queen's words, " just like great goddess Nut, at the very same moment, we both expelled something holy from inside us...in my case, the birthing of the first 'Zee Goe-mool'."
The Zee Goe-mool is made from the "genes" of those involved with its birth, hence, it has the strength and power of Lloigor and Zhar, the cunning and hunting skills of the Tcho Tcho race and the intelligence level of Queen Zee Rei. It distantly resembles a cross of the dinosauria "Protorosaur orientailis" and "Dracorex hogwartsia." In recent times, it is sometimes confused with being Lloigor Himself. It can take on about three of the Hounds and near always wins, but, since they usually travel in packs...a pack versus a single is a 50/50 situation, though, no death of a Zee Goe-mool by a Hound(s) has ever been heard of yet. The Zee Goe-mool is basically passive, although, because of its in-born hatred, odium of the Hounds, it will fight them to the death. There is a kind of alarm system inside a Zee Goe-mool that when they "hear" it without fail come to the aid of the Tcho element.
Quietly, as if a hiss of reptilian warning, the Queen Zee Rei spoke to Rei-am, " It is possible when you hear of today's Tcho-Korean, whether they know it or not, getting a bit over zealous when they hang by their heels the specially raised dog to devour and torture that way for a week before setting fire to the canine while it still lives...think...the humans may be re-living the Tcho Tcho blood memory still flowing deep within."
"Professor you should reconsider and come with Rei-am and myself to the 'Open Mic' night this Sunday held in the Itaewon district of Seoul"..."Itaewon, the seediest, decadent part of Seoul's debauched self"..."It's evolving, according to an associate of yours, Dr. Anne du Voor and, according to her, Kim Shi-in will make a rare appearance that night"..."Who?"... "my brother agrees when they call her the best original poet of her generation, as well as, translator of older poetic works... and, so you can't possibly resist, when she's out dancing, whether alone, in a group or with a partner, Ms. Kim displays a passionate love of dancing that is contagious, all comsuming ...she is honestly...how did my brother put it?..."
"Hot." It was Rei-am's voice and he stood there in his normal tight eel leather pants and turtle neck sweater he picked up while visiting Sweden's "Lake Storsjon." Like his sister, he wore very little in the way of jewelry...but, like her, he always wore a certain cracked jade tailsman under his clothing, upon his heart and a solid gold band around his left hand ring finger... both of them never took those two items off their body. Quickly finishing proper portentous greetings, Rei-am was sitting at the table about to unthinkingly reach for his favorite, "bosintang"... just as quickly, Rei-mi deftly stopped his hands from grabbing the searing hot, flesh scorching, shearing stone bowl. Instead, Rei-am picked up his customized clay cup made by"Caridas", who gained infamous/famous recognition via her nude work, which was filled with "Suk Cha " tea...seeing this, his friend Kie-te remarked stoically, "Rei-am."
"Did you know that the fox is a member of the canine family Kie-te? He loves dogs very much, did you know, lovely sister of mine that he can't get enough of the critters...anyway, should try some ofmom's bosintang, she makes it really special by adding the delightfully perfect amount of"sable du cerveau."
Rei-mi spoke, "Anne wanted to remind you that the location of the Open Mic has moved"..."I knew that part, but, how do you get there"...straight up a part of the hill where there are several 'juicey' bars and it is right across from the English bookstore 'What The Book?'In fact, the place used to be a juicey bar until recently"...Kie-te waded in, "Sounds like it with a name like that, almost sounds like the owner wanted to call the store 'What the H*ll" or "Sh*T'..."he did, but its the pub where the Open Mic has moved to that used to be one"..."Oh."
The professor asked, "Isn't 'Abby's Book Nook' your favorite book place?" "They both are with Abby's having a feel like 'City Lights' in your hometown Kie-te, not to mention, Ms. Kim's special tea and the one we mentioned just now is more along the lines of a Barnes and Nobles'" "So, why the change?" "Rei-am can order books through the latter at very reasonable prices"..."Like this one, ''The Tales of Tsathoggua' "..."Hmmm..." Kie-te munched on some pristine pheasant taffy...Rei-mi, " Not a bad collection put together by this Costa fellow and some of the actual stories, like that one by a Don or Ron something...shows he has done reasearch on works rarely mentioned, much less even read....."
Then, Rei-am couldn't stand it any longer, "Look at the cover and tell me what you see"..."Either a small dinosaur or a large lizard"..."Exactly. It's not the image we are are taught to have of Tsathoggua." Here he put the book back in place on top of his well-used anthology "The Tao of Physics."
Rei-mi wondered, "Why don't they write something in detail concerning Tsathoggua's mate, Shatlak?"
"The exquiste rapture of hunger retains nourishment even from the husks of beetles...grind their chitinous cases between your teeth ...and their excrement is higher wisdom." - AL AZIF
"I heard you were down in the Nigerian delta of Africa French kissing and licking the huge and abnormally grotesque toads found therein."
"They are 'frogs' and the genius loci of that particular area. Besides," Rei-ma retorted, "what is so unusual?" Kie-te nodded. The brother of Rei-mi went on, "Reading and looking at pictures from even quite ancient Japanese wooden cut engravings show the Japanese, especially your women, really get into, involved with physical pharyngula interaction and vore...we like to say on Jeju that you all like getting 'a little Cthulhu head' "
Knowing where this was all heading, based on past experiences, Rei-mi affectionately put forth, "My brother almost got himself arrested, again." The professor continued his nodding and non-verbal communication. "Oh, yes indeedy... he was caught sleeping in the nude inside the long thought empty abattoir within the so-called 'Queen's Chamber'found in the Great Pryamind of Giza. The Egyptian guards just grabbed him by his ankles,jerked dear brother out and dragged him down the aging wood steps that led to the outside. Luckily, Rei-am has that thick bone that makes up his skull...but, dearest, did you truly have to hum a tune from not too historic Arabic culture as you went bouncing up and down?"
"Of course, we were making such a nifty beat."
"Anyway, they, with unhidden disgust, left my other half's (and, I will not suggest, my 'infamous' better half) body upon the modern Egyptian desert sands...what saved him this time, on the plateau , was the Cario newspapers that morning were filled with praise in their articles and photographs of one of the outstanding internationally revered "astral-physicists" (my brother), who had earlier presented an overwhelming well received paper that included unabashed praise for Egypt at a reknown, not to mentioned respected, conference being held in the capital city of the once United Arab Republic."
Rei-am picked it up from there (the professor was agast and, at the same time, scintillated into being a literary sycophant sponge to the unfolding tale...still, though, remaining quite quiet, so Rei-mi, simply gave him a nudge and purred, "Cat got your tongue?"), "The desert there becomes extremely cold at night... there I was prone and alone on a decaying oasis staring at the stars' empty spaces...Nut provided a divinely muscled yet caring wind, like a coarse blanket to cover my exposed self...the tiny grains made small sharp punctures, scrapes into the bulk of my body and face, thus I felt like some desiccated rubian pin cushion...in a way, it felt like millions of grainual toothed maggots all taking their desireous snaps into my flesh and my blood was putting a vermilion sheen silk sheet over me...soon, the tiny minute little mis-shapen orbs of sorts just slid across my all too fleshy skin."
Guest Kie-te sipped more of his provided, popular and chilled Korean health drink "Pocari Sweat", and, Rei-am his mental reguragitation, "I awoke as the ageless goddess released a seemingly enema induced stream of reddish gold which the holy scarab proceed to mold into a beautiful golden sphere that she commenced to roll across day's skylight with her hind appendages ...did you know that the primal future "Egyptians" received their reigious inspiration for their eventual sacred insect by watching the common dung beetle at work? This beetle incorporates any and all available semi-solid excrements of others to continually create her ball which she must always keep moving during the day, otherwise, she will, with the help of the sun, bake her own future offspring alive inside the ball."
Rei-am's facial image bore a striking resemblance at that moment to aeons aged closed mummy eyes, finally, he freed the caked sockets, his double eyelids fully opened...across his line of vision there appeared a black jewel reflecting in the sun, dung beetle; index finger nail stiletto sharp was out and swiftly the creature was eaten...one smooth action and the remaining little sphere of life was sliced like a famed Jeju orange, soon following its creator. The eternal desert is an onerous place of great beauty...
Rei-am comically chucked a typical dung ball sized Jeju tangerine to each of his fellow consumers...the professor with the dung beetle legendary myth and reality fresh in mind, caught, checked and placed it placidly down and continued chewing his savory Shiitake mushroom sidedish.
"Beauty has many mirrors to ensphere...."
- THE MIRRORS OF BEAUTY, C. A. Smith
"Rei-am still does that...just disappears without a word, doesn't he," the professor stated sulkily. "Yes, I'm afraid," responded, in a sultry manner, his sister, but, he has always been that way, its his nature, that's all. My brother means no offense." Kie-te mused, "he, this place and general area has a certain aura about...." "Like those special electrifed colors?" "No. I mean more like the ancient Greek root of the word...breath,to blow...sort of the gods breathing protection."
"Why don't you stay the whole night at Holy Outre House of Gal-bi...", Rei-mi suggested, "you'll be warm...safe... in the morning you can learn what happened over the night. Then, you and Rei-am can go down to your hotel where you are keeping that special pestilent...err...precious piece of jade jewelry." The professor nodded. "Excellent. Come, take your specially made Pu'er tea, fifty years old from China, we'll go into the other room and you can tell me what you encountered during your recent visits to the Southern and Eastern parts of Asia."
Rei-am went back to his Soul Chamber and sat upon the edge of his waterbed...gazing at the looking glass over it. He now realized that the obscenities in that mirror won't stop, as most of what he received, preceived there weren't generated from inside it. No, they were projected through his eyes...eyes, mirrors of the soul, windows to the soul... issued from his bloodline and genes of his heritage.
Feral eyes keenly watched...the lone remaining octopus slid, slipped out of its confining container smoothly, moisturously heading for the table's edge...prepared pair of eyes observed...slithering motion of swimming, plop, octopus free upon floor...squish, down came the paw with grace, strength and practiced restraint of a hunter.
Whasung, Rei-am's and Rei-mi's "pet", learned well from watching the humans consume, one fluid motion, salacious jaws yawned wide, strong deft tongue and the octopus was on its way to the gastric juices awaiting it. And, from the gleam of those partial Korean Chindo canine's brightly clear eyes, he seem to say, "Good doggie...intelligent one!"
Outside, the semiviscous winds powerfully penetrated, washed over Jeju Island and released from the sky body overhead a hernias spread canine-like yowl and barking rage of frustrated fury.
-o-
It is with true feelings that I thank Kang Yoon-zin for her untiring willingness to answer all my various, numerous questions concerning her Korea and things past and present, not to mention, her translation aid. And, of course, her "dogs."
Thank you also to the Itaewon Woodstock bar owner and staff who graciously provided me a sanctum when I needed it to finish this story...they'll never know how important they were to all this material coming into existence.
Last, but hardly least, I dedicate this short story to the memory of "Conan," a canine who was more human than dog.