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The Reincarnation

                                      Seo, Youn Seok (서윤석)

     Autumn was passing by. The shy cosmos bloomed along the cold creek water.  It was the season when the falling leaves were rolling on the ground. Here, in  October, nature started to show the signs of departure. People gathered together in front of Kang Kyungsik's burial place and sang the farewell hymn.  Each mourner placed a white rose on his coffin. The funeral service men lowered the coffin and filled the space with soil, a piece silver tag was placed for later identification.  Our lives originated from soil and we return to soil after death.  People left in a hurry because of the cold wind.  His wandering soul also left like a floating cloud in the sky. The golden sunset gradually faded away and the darkness was approaching the world.  When he looked back, the planet Earth with its blue seas and white clouds were visible like a small ball in the remote distance.  The mysterious mighty power put wings on his shoulders, and the wings moved up and down strongly and rapidly. He flew far away and passed the burning Sun. He flew through the vast space without stopping, passing numerous stars.  Occasional starbursts were seen initially, but not anymore. The distance from one star to its neighbor star was quite far.  A few solar systems like ours were passed along the way. There were many galaxies and even a black hole.
     The soul of Kyungsik arrived at Centuri proxima-b. That is the closest planet to the Earth, 4.3 light years away. There was some evidence that they were recovering from a recent fight.  It was a wild, flat and remote land. An oval spaceship was turning its engine on for the next journey. Spacemen who wore the triangle hats and scale covered clothes were inside of the ship.  
 Kyungsik was very delighted to see them and shouted at them.
            "Hello, I am a person from a planet of  Earth, dear gentlemen.  I am looking for my wife. Have you ever met a woman named  Jang Kayoung?  She has long hair and a sad face...."
There was a response from the ship through the speaker.
            "We are going to leave for Gallion Star which is located ten light years away. According to our information service,  your wife is not present on our planet.  But there is another planet, Alpha-Ara,  located several hundred thousand light years away from here.  And our information service says that several people from Earth reside there. You'd  better check that place."
              "Oh, is that right? Thank you for the information kindly," he responded.
     After that spaceship left,  he flew out from that planet and headed toward Alpha-Ara.  He had to travel through the darkness and loneliness.   Only a few twinkling stars occasionally appeared and disappeared, nothing else.  After several days,  he arrived at the Village Disney of planet Alpha-Ara.  It was a desert town. A few small trees were visible.  The village was filled with bungalow houses.  The residents, whose dark faces all appeared to be middle-aged.  There were no children or elderly people.  Everybody wore uniforms with buttons.  Walking toward the center of the village,  he met the chief of the town.  The chief was short and wore his armor with a knife case on the right side of his belt. Their language sounded very nasal. The chief approached Kyungsik slowly and asked,
            "Who are you? What brought you here, this far?"
            "I am Kang Kyungsik from Earth. I am looking for my wife."
            "Oh, how did you lose your wife?  You should take care of her well.  Was she intelligent?  If she controlled her mind well and she kept her purity,  we should be able to locate her at the place  where she desired."
            "Then where can that be, sir?"
            "Oh, that is the place where the vicious cycle of birth, labor, death does not exist but only real peace does.   If you loved her truthfully, you may able to find where that place is."
 Villagers gathered gradually into the center, responding to his arrival. He started talking to them loudly.  He cried hot tears and was spitting saliva from his mouth.
            "Dear gentlemen, I am looking for Jang Kayoung, mother of Mary. She is my wife.  Do you know her or have you ever seen her?  She left  Ohio six years ago."
Nobody responded. The chief was moved and called the magician, Moliyaho.  Moliyaho wore a long hat and was a very tall man. His voice was loud.  He lifted his hand up and prayed to the sky.
            "Ahbobsasa Mababsasa!" he screamed.
Short after his prayer,  the sky turned green and a surprisingly colorful double rainbow appeared.  His powers must have been extraordinary since he made the two rainbows appear without any rain in the sky. He stopped praying and came to the chief and talked to him quietly. The chief stepped forward to Kyungsik and told him with a smile.
            "We have a good information about your wife. She is on the planet Alpha-Orion. You'd better go there. This is  all we can do for you."
            "Oh, is that right?  Thank you, sir.  Thank you, gentlemen!
 
      After thanking them Kyungsik left for the planet Alpha-Orion.  Strong winds blocked his ascent, but he made it.  He ignored the cold and hunger. His mind was filled with the desire to his wife. On the way, he passed another black hole. And several stars exploded and disappeared.  It was a very long journey.  But he was able to endure all kinds of physical suffering because he knew it would be over eventually. He did not mind the cold wind blowing on his face. Although his soul was alone, he continued to travel, passing many hundreds of thousands of stars in that vast space.
He found comfort in singing,
            " Oh, look at the lightning. Listen to the universe festival.  Oh, my dear angel.  To where are you leading me?  I am listening to the whispering stars.  Oh, my angel[G1] , your sweet song makes me keep going."
Gradually, the small dot grew larger until it appeared as another planet, almost exactly like the planet Earth. He was very surprised to find out that there could be a twin brother of  Earth.  When he looked around, he saw that everything was very similar to Earth.  The only difference was that on this planet, there was more ocean, as eighty percent surface was covered with water.  Also, the color of the water was green. There were green fields and many trees. There were no ferocious beasts, only dogs, and cat[G2] s who lived together with people. Compared with the Earth, their culture was two thousand years behind in development.  The roads were very primitive, and there were no automobiles or bicycles.  Instead, s[G3] ailboats were the main tool of transportation.  There were children living in the village.  Smoke was coming out from the chimneys, signs of heating and cooking.  The climate was mild and comfortable.
 
     Kyungsik started walking up a hill and was very surprised when he found people he had known on Earth along the way.  First, he saw Dr. David Kahn, who was now working hard to prepare the seeding of the crops. Dr. Kahn was a physician who worked hard for all of his life and had been able to enjoy only one-week retirement before his sudden death.  He also saw Mr. and Mrs. Bell. They were the first generation of immigrants who came from Scotland to Ohio as teenagers.  They had happy lives together until the age of ninety-nine. But the most surprising person he saw was Dr. McBride.  He was so happy to see him and shouted,
            "Aren't you Dr. Mc Bride?"
 "Oh, my friend Dr. Kang. Long time!  I am very glad to see you again!" said Mc Bride.
            "McBride... wait a minute, why are you here?  This is not heaven here, and you are the most respectable Christian I have ever known.  I remember that you treated all your patients well and kindly as a surgeon, and you were very truthful..  Why you are not in heaven yet?"  Kyungsik asked. 
 Dr. McBride had been a very well known person in their Ohio town. He was very generous to his neighbor, and always showed his good heart to underprivileged people.  He raised and educated many poor children in their community. One of those children later became the vice governor of Wisconsin and had come to McBride's funeral, saying that Dr. McBride was like a father to him. Mrs. McBride had been a leader of the international Ministry of Presbyterian Christian organization.  Both Dr. MrBride and his wife had been among the most respected Christians.
               " Yes, I have been here on this planet for 30 years.  Kyungsik dear, I am not good enough to be accepted into heaven yet.  I have a lot more work to do here.  God asked me to stay here.  I only follow his order.  Aren't we glad to each other here today?  By the way, why did  you come here?"    Kyungsik explained the reason why he came.
            "Yes,  you may know my wife Kayoung.  I have been  looking for Kayoung for last five years."
            " Oh yes,  your beautiful wife.  It is a very unfortunate thing that you lost your wife already.  I have not seen her, but that question can be answered at the village across the river. There are many people from Ohio living there now.  I believe you may find good information there. "
His advice was well taken and he said goodbye to Dr. McBride.
            "Thank you. I hope that you and your wife go to heaven soon. "
But still, Kyungsik could not understand why the McBrides were not in heaven yet.
Kyungsik crossed the river and arrived at a fishing town.  The smell of seaweed was everywhere. Many kinds of fish were gathering in their groups within the river. There was a  fish market, filled with busy merchants and buyers.  Kyungsik noticed a woman carrying a basket of fish on top of her head.   She was very familiar to him.  Then he shouted  loudly,
            "Hey, how are you? Are you my dear Kayoung?"
Yes, she looked very similar to Kayoung, but it was not her.  It was actually Kayoung's elder sister who had passed away 10 years earlier in Seoul.  Like Kayoung, she had died of pancreatic cancer.
            "Oh, you are the husband of Kayoung.  I am Soonyoung, her  sister, can you see me?"
            "Ah!  Yes, you are Kayoung's elder sister!  I am Kyungsik, the father of
Mary.  I am  your brother in law."
            "Yes indeed you are."
            " Then, have you lived here with Kayoung together?" he asked.
            "No, I did not."
She said she had been in that village since her death ten years earlier.  After she listened to Kyungsik's explanation of why he had come there,  she went to the village office to get more information.  After a while, she came back with the official documents to show him, which included an old picture of Kayoung.
            "This is the official document about her, and the picture is hers. This shows everything we want to know.  But I do not understand why I have not seen her even once!  What does this mean, by the way?  The records indicate that she was a very unhappy woman, and her husband did not care for her well.  Hey, Kyungsik, did you give her a  hard life?  After her immigration to  America, I thought that the two of you had a good life together.  Wait a minute, they said that  she was a poet?"
            "Yes, she was a poet.  She wrote poems about sorrow and tragedy.  She was interested in creating the art of lamentation."
            "Now  I understand why she wrote about sadness."
            "Yes, she was a wellknown poet. Yes, this picture is hers.  Like you, she died of pancreatic cancer."
            "Oh, I could find her if I had known that she was here."
            "You must not have known then..."
            "This document says that you were not a good husband at all. You were [G4]  an alcoholic!"
            "I am sorry to hear that, but that is not true.  I loved her, I love her and our lovely daughter  Mary too.  I will love them both, always."          
            "But Kyungsik, these records say that you liked drinking alcohol and could not control your behavior and that you have a narcissistic personality.  Very selfish, so most friends leave you.  That is too bad. I think you need to change," she advised.
Kyungsik's  face turned red, and he asked her,
            "By the way, does it say where is she now?"
            She replied,
            " Oh, she had been here on this planet until recently, but she left yesterday. She went to Oakland, California where Mary resides.  Oh, just yesterday,  just yesterday, you know..."
            "My God,  I missed  her  by one day..." Kyungsik muttered in disappointment.
 
     The cycle of birth and death comes as a natural rule of the universe.  All animal and human lives follow the same rules.  Some belief in reincarnation. Kyungsik was also filled with the hope of meeting Kayoung again.  He realized that he had to go to Oakland as soon as possible.
Soonyoung then explained to him kindly,
            "Dear Kyungsik !  Look at those two dogs there. One is Tiger, the other is Annika.  Both had received tender care of Dr. Chung and his family in their previous life. They are now waiting for the next life. We do not know whether they will be born again as an animal or humanbeing or something else.  All shall be decided by God. Nobody knows. "
            "Then who will go to heaven?" he asked.
            "Heaven?  The most difficult gate to go through. I just know of Heaven as a word, not a place."
            "Soonyoung, on my way here I met Dr. and Mrs. Mc Bride. I was very surprised to see them on Orion, because they are not in heaven  yet. Everybody in our Ohio town believed the McBrides would be in heaven because they were such good Christians throughout their lives. They lived as the Bible teaches us to," Kyungsik said.
            "Dear, Kyungsik, that will be decided only by God.  Nobody knows the future.  Dr. McBride is one example you see. Nobody can promise what will happen after our death," she continued to explain like a philosopher.
            "This land, those numerous stars, all things in this universe face their birth and death. What did you do for your neighbors?  Did you forgive any of your enemies?  You came to this far distance..."
            "Then what is God?  Heaven?  Hell?  Purgatory?  Is this planet  Orion a purgatory? Is this really the twin planet of Earth?"  he asked himself.
Kyungsik could not understand whether people could go directly to heaven or if they had to come to this planet Orion first.  But the most important thing that Kyungsik realized was the fact that he met many people who had come from Earth.  It became very clear to him that there was the possibility of meeting Kayoung again, on Earth.  So he decided to leave Orion in a hurry. His soul began to fly toward the Earth. He wanted to return to beautiful mother Earth, where birds sang, rivers flowed and all kinds of human lives appeared including the sadness and happiness combined.  His heart fluttered with that hope and his wings on both shoulders started to wave fast. He ascended rapidly and his returning journey toward Earth began at last.
 
End