All too soon, it was time for the Chans to go to Mr Chan's mother's house. Janice was anticipating this, as she couldn't wait to meet up with her cousins, who would be flying back from Japan just to eat the reunion dinner, and she could also catch up with her grandmother, whom she had not been in touch with for some time. Also, she absolutely adored her Grandmother's house, for the house was built on a huge piece of land and it was a rather large Japanese-like bungalow overlooking an enormous Japanese garden. (A/N: If you think that houses like what I've just described don't exist in Singapore, then you are wrong, 'cos the house I've described just now is my uncle's house cum office, which is located in Pasir Ris)
"Janice-san! How nice to see you!" Her cousin, Sakamato Akiko, shrieked when she saw Janice.
"Nice to see you too! How's Osaka?" Janice queried excitedly.
"Osaka's still pretty much the same, but we still prefer Singapore!"
Akiko's younger sister, Sakamoto Chiyo chirped in.
"We were so happy for you, Janice-san, when we heard you've became a Slayer!
Also, we're also very honoured to have a witch in the family, just like Harry
Potter!" Akiko's elder sister, Sakamato Tsukushi, added. ( A/N: Tsukushi
is actually the Japanese name for Shancai! I found that out in a Hana Yori Dango
aka Japanese version of Meteor Garden website.)
Upon hearing that, Janice couldn't help but blush and mumbled a ' thanks'. She was very much aware that Lily was glaring at her because of the attention she's been getting. In Janice's opinion, Lily looked as though she has just been told to eat ten bottles of Skele-gro in five minutes. Giggling slightly, she went to the kitchen to help out with the cooking.
"Pey Shan! My, you have grown taller! Come, let Ah-Ma* take a good look
of you..."
*(Ah-Ma means Grandmother in Hokkien, which is a form of Chinese Dialect)
Janice's grandmother exclaimed when she saw Janice entered the kitchen. Her grandmother preferred to call Janice as her Chinese name as she felt that Western names were too common and that Chinese names had a deeper meaning than Western names. Janice couldn't help but blush at the comment, for she was rather embarassed.
Dinner that night was scrumptious. Besides the traditional steamboat*, which
was a must in Janice's family, there were also dishes like curry, steamed fish
and chicken, vegetables and also, sushi. It turned out that Mrs Sakamoto, Janice's
aunt, had made them to inject something fresh into this meal. Throughout the
whole meal, Janice was bombarded by questions from her uncles about what wizarding
life was like.
*(a steamboat is a boiling pot where food pieces such as scallops and abalones
are added into).
"Do you guys really carry wands, like in the Harry Potter books? "
Uncle Edward, one of Janice's seven uncles enquired during the meal.
"Well, yeah...it works exactly the same way too." Janice replied as
she dipped a prawn into the bubbling steamboat.
"Interesting, I presume you guys have a wonderful headmaster like Professor
Dumbledore then? " Uncle James said as he dug around the steamboat for
his slice of abalone.
"Well, yeah, you could do that. He's pretty much a nice person... I guess
he's pretty busy, because I've heard he's sort of the advisor for the Minister
of Magic here... and he has to travel to the Ministry of Magic in London...
From what I've heard, there's havoc, 'cos Voldemort's back and he's gathering
supporters again..." Janice said, while she dipped her piece of crabstick
into the steamboat.
"Hmm..the Dark Lord's back eh? Never mind. I'm very sure that Dumbledore-san
can defeat him. After all, he's defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald before!"
Tsukushi said confidently. (A/N: That's what I hope so too… Dumbledore
defeating Voldie)
After dinner, everyone just simply lazed around. Janice's uncles were simply gathering at the dining table talking about the family business and about some new landscaping projects they had received. (Janice's uncles owned a landscaping company, just like my uncles... hehehe) Janice, however, was trying to learn some basic Japanese from Tsukushi and Akiko while Lily was watching television with her grandmother and Aiko, who was trying to pronounce some of the Chinese words on the screen.
At ten, they were busy again, as they had to prepare to usher in the God of Wealth. They had to prepare everything, including the offerings to be made to their ancestors. There was much activity going around, as they had to place the offerings in the right direction by using the compass. Paper money and the old portrait of the God of Wealth had to burned so that they could paste the new portrait. Constantly, they would have to dial 1711 to check the time to ensure that they would not miss the arrival of the God of Wealth. At 10.47 exactly, which was said to be the time the God of Wealth's presence could be felt, Janice's uncles quickly burned some joss sticks and burned even more paper money. Prayers were then quickly said and within minutes, the ceremony was over.
As Janice was feeling rather lethargic, she went to one of her uncle's guest's
rooms and fell asleep on the bed instantly.
It was none other then herself.
I'm seeing myself? What am I doing in this tower? Who am I talking to?
Janice thought, bewildered. Where's Landy? Where's Amelia? Where's the whole
gang? Cautiously, she approached 'herself' and tried to communicate with
'her', but it was useless, as her hand simply went through 'herself' as though
'she' was a ghost. She tried shouting into 'her' ear, but it didn't help either.
Janice then realised that she had somehow stumbled into a dimension where no
one could see or hear her. Cautiously, she went to the tip of the tower to see
what was below. What she saw made her gasp in horror.
A huge, fiery orange hole was swirling in the ground below. There was also something thick bubbling at the bottom of the hole. Lashes of orangey fire kept on jumping out towards them. It was as though someone had dug the earth so deep that the core of the earth could be seen. What is this hole doing here? Janice then realised that the sky, instead of the usual dark midnight blue, was a thick swirl of bright purple. The sky also looked as though it was about to fall on them at any moment. Lashes of lightning as white as platinum, kept on lashing toward the tower just like the flames below. Biting her lip, she approached 'herself' again and tried to communicate with 'herself', but it was no use. It was then did Janice start to take note of what 'she' was doing.
Janice could see 'her' mouth moving, but there wasn't any sound coming out, as though someone had turned down volume completely. Also, she took out something and kept on pressing towards Lily, who simply refused to take it. Lily, however, kept on pointing at herself and saying something, which Janice could not make out. One thing Janice was sure of, however, was that both of them were arguing over something. That is something between us that will never change, Janice thought. She couldn't help but notice that this 'Janice' she was seeing looked different from her present self, for Janice could tell that that this version of her looked taller and more mature. Also, she seemed to radiate an unusual aura around her, as though this 'Janice' had been through several turnouts and obstacles in life. Janice couldn't help but notice that there was sadness in 'her' eyes whenever 'she' spoke, as though 'she' knew that something bad was going to happen later.
Just as Janice was watching the two of them, 'Janice' suddenly turned her back and started to sprint towards the end of the tower. Instinctively, she followed 'herself ' and started to sprint towards the end of the tower too, but before she could yell to 'herself' to stop 'her' from jumping down, there was a sudden flash of bright light-
What is going on?
Janice suddenly found herself in bed, gasping for breath. Sitting upright, and
still gasping for breath, she recollected what she had seen in the dream. Herself,
Lily, the huge hole on the ground, the lashes of lightning, Lily crying, the
sadness in Janice's very own eyes... somehow the scenes she saw in her dream
flickered oddly before her very own eyes, as though they were slipping away...
Slowly she got out of bed and pushed aside the curtains of the room delicately.
The garden was pitch dark, as it was four in the morning. But she had never
felt so awake in her life before.
Is this dream a prophecy about my future?