Swinging on the Altar
I was sitting there in my room, laying on my bed, enjoying some much-needed rest. I lay there in the hazy light of dawn, staring at the clock as it ticked, ticked, ticked, ticked on. I lay there on my bed, silence being the only thought that filled my head. I closed my eyes once again and began to listen to the sounds around me. The slight breeze of the summer winds through my curtains, the puffing noise of the scented mist coming from my glowing machine, the steady sound of shadows fading and whispering their last words to me, and the slight ting, ting, ting, ting of my floating altar hitting its teapot.
Ting, ting, ting, ting?
What an unusual sound for me to hear. What an odd sound for this time of day. Or perhaps not? What altar is swinging? Which being is calling for my attention? The shadows that just slipped off to sleep? Or the creatures of my dreams coming back to take me?
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
I slowly sit up, and turn my head to the altar shelf, where I keep my hanging altar and their offering plates and teapots. A black one with a lotus plate is swinging, gently swinging, causing the ever so soft, ting, ting, ting, ting I keep hearing. I pause for a moment, holding my breath and once again closing my eyes.
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
The fans are off, the breeze has since stopped. So why is the lotus plate gently swinging and tapping its teapot? Is he calling me again? Or is it something else? It must be, for he shouldn't have any current need for me. But as I keep my eyes close I can still hear it.
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
I open my eyes and quietly murmur “are you calling for me?”. I turn towards my altar and see that the lotus plate has stopped swinging, now it is staying perfectly still. As if it had never moved in the first place.
“Ting, ting, ting, ting.”
I softly sing into the room around me. I look towards the floating altar once more, and it begins to swing.
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
It answered me, stopping as soon as it had started.