Resurrected

I knew it was a temple, even though I had never been inside a temple before in my life. I didn’t know God at this time but a temple in China is typically considered a “safe, lucky place.” I was curiously drawn to go inside, and I went by myself to explore it, leaving Mr. Lin behind. The room was very dark, and filled with a bad smelling incense and heavy silence. Instantly my body felt an icy chill. I had goosebumps on my arms. I felt my whole body start to shake the moment I took my first step into the temple. Feeling suffocated and taking very fast breaths, I was almost hyperventilating. I saw a line-up of many various idols against a wall. They were man-made statues that appeared to be made of copper. There was something like a hundred to a hundred and fifty of them. I turned around and scanned the room to see if there was anyone else in this big temple. There was no one there and even though it was 12:00 noon and it was bright and sunny outside, I felt a darkness closing around my heart. Surrounded by hundreds of these ugly, sloppy statues, which were staring at me with angry, glaring eyes, I began to feel terrified, and my heart leapt, feeling like it might fly out my mouth. As I was standing there in disbelief, I had the eerie feeling that something bad was about to happen. The hairs on my neck were standing up, and alarm bells were going off inside me. The calm and joyful peace I woke up with in morning, had vanished. Dread flooded my body as I stood there wondering what on earth I was doing in this sinister place. Suddenly, I was overcome with the desire to kick the idols. Even though I was very frightened, I used all the strength in my legs and feet to break them and knock them down. After I kicked the statues down, my whole body shook with terror. Gripped with fear, and shocked by the realization of what I had just done, I made a dash for it. I couldn’t tell anyone. I felt so alone, even Mr. Lin didn’t know what I had done. My heart was beating a like pounding drum. I escaped the horrifying pit, but I kept the secret to myself. I returned to the car and thankfully Mr. Lin was still waiting for me. I jumped into the vehicle and pretended like nothing happened despite the perspiration on my forehead and my shaky hands. Mr. Lin didn’t seem to notice. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap.

After leaving the temple, Mr. Lin took me to a quaint book store. I purchased a book about the city and then we made our way back to Shanghai. I started to read the book when I got home. Everything seemed normal. Around seven thirty pm that evening my parents were in the living room, and I was alone reading in my bedroom. I love to read and I especially liked to read after dinner. I was deep into reading, when suddenly everything went black, as I fell off my chair and crashed to the cement floor. For the next seven hours, I have no recollection of what happened. My father heard the loud noise of the impact of my body hitting the floor of my room and ran to see what was wrong. My parents were shocked to see me lying there motionless. My mother gasped in fear and worry at the sight of me and they rushed me to the hospital. Completely unconscious, I had no sense of being alive during those seven hours