know how, then she isn't ready for Guan Yin. Do I sense a connection? Contrast that, perhaps, with the man in the fish and chips shop yesterday."
Jin blinked. "You know about that?"
"Yes, and so do you. Let's remember it together, shall we?" Teacher reached out an touched Jin on the shoulder before she could react. In that instant, Jin was back in Juney's Café on Jemmerson street. She heard the murmur of conversation at the surrounding tables, heard the sizzle as Karl slapped a burger onto the grill, smelled the meat cooking. There was a well-dressed, balding man at the condiment island. He was very calmly and methodically picking up lemon slice after lemon slice from the crisper and dropping them into a large glace of iced tea.
Weird old guy ...
He was trying to get one more slice into a glass that couldn't possibly hold another when Jin reached for the ketchup and accidentally brushed against him.
"They're just lemons," she had said aloud after the shock of her touch had made him spill half his drink on the counter. "You don't need to possess them all."
In that instant he was gone as if he'd never been. In another instant Jin was back in the Gateway with Teacher.
"Your memory, Jin. Was his problem a fascination with lemons?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. It was greed and a lifetime in pursuit of things he didn't really want or need, just as a way of keeping score."
"Right. And in his case all it took was one simple statement from you to that effect, at the right time and the right place and he vanished from Medias and left no traces. If he had family, they no longer remembered him, or they did remember they believed he had been gone for some time. Business organization charts altered, payrolls and insurance rolls followed suit. You could practically see the hole closing around the place where the man had been."
"Just as it was as if I'd never owned a cat named Missus Tickles. My mother thought I'd made the whole thing up."
Teacher nodded. "Just so. They were ready. Joyce is not."
Jin knew that was the truth, even if she didn't want to. She tried another angle.
"Even so, if there's an imp on one shoulder, shouldn't there be an angel on the other? Isn't that fair?"
Teacher looked exasperated. "Fair? We're not dividing a pack of cookies here, Jin. Your friend has to be ready to understand, and to help herself or nothing is going to change for her. And just to be clear -- I didn't set the demon on Joyce, if that's what you think."
"Ummm, then who did?"
" She did. Not consciously, but she's trying to learn something, and strange as this may sound, the demon is helping her do it. There's nothing about her situation that requires a Guan Yin. Yet."
Jin scowled. "So what good is being Guan Yin if I can't even help a friend?"
Teacher shrugged. "I'm told that perfectly ordinary people help each other all the time. Or is there some other definition of 'friendship' that I don't know about?"
Jin just stared at him for several long moments before she shook her head wearily.
"Tell me, am I a complete and utter fool or do I just feel like one?"
Teacher's expression was pure joy. "Tempted as I am, only you can answer that one. I suggest you work on it."
(())
Chapter 5
On her way out Jin paused at the two guardian statues. They merely looked large, fierce, and stony, as was their habit.
"You two were in my dream," she said.
They didn't say anything. There was still enough of the old Jin present to consider that, perhaps, she should feel a bit foolish about talking to statues, but that echo was fading rapidly. Now she only sighed, and decided to get a little more specific.
"You were there, weren't you?"
YES, they replied in unison, which is the way they seemed to do most things so far as Jin could see.
"So why aren't you two standing at the entrance to Medias? This isn't the way I came."
THIS IS THE WAY YOU NEED TO GO.
Actually, Jin had the same feeling. A kind of tug at the edge of her perception. That
Jin blinked. "You know about that?"
"Yes, and so do you. Let's remember it together, shall we?" Teacher reached out an touched Jin on the shoulder before she could react. In that instant, Jin was back in Juney's Café on Jemmerson street. She heard the murmur of conversation at the surrounding tables, heard the sizzle as Karl slapped a burger onto the grill, smelled the meat cooking. There was a well-dressed, balding man at the condiment island. He was very calmly and methodically picking up lemon slice after lemon slice from the crisper and dropping them into a large glace of iced tea.
Weird old guy ...
He was trying to get one more slice into a glass that couldn't possibly hold another when Jin reached for the ketchup and accidentally brushed against him.
"They're just lemons," she had said aloud after the shock of her touch had made him spill half his drink on the counter. "You don't need to possess them all."
In that instant he was gone as if he'd never been. In another instant Jin was back in the Gateway with Teacher.
"Your memory, Jin. Was his problem a fascination with lemons?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. It was greed and a lifetime in pursuit of things he didn't really want or need, just as a way of keeping score."
"Right. And in his case all it took was one simple statement from you to that effect, at the right time and the right place and he vanished from Medias and left no traces. If he had family, they no longer remembered him, or they did remember they believed he had been gone for some time. Business organization charts altered, payrolls and insurance rolls followed suit. You could practically see the hole closing around the place where the man had been."
"Just as it was as if I'd never owned a cat named Missus Tickles. My mother thought I'd made the whole thing up."
Teacher nodded. "Just so. They were ready. Joyce is not."
Jin knew that was the truth, even if she didn't want to. She tried another angle.
"Even so, if there's an imp on one shoulder, shouldn't there be an angel on the other? Isn't that fair?"
Teacher looked exasperated. "Fair? We're not dividing a pack of cookies here, Jin. Your friend has to be ready to understand, and to help herself or nothing is going to change for her. And just to be clear -- I didn't set the demon on Joyce, if that's what you think."
"Ummm, then who did?"
" She did. Not consciously, but she's trying to learn something, and strange as this may sound, the demon is helping her do it. There's nothing about her situation that requires a Guan Yin. Yet."
Jin scowled. "So what good is being Guan Yin if I can't even help a friend?"
Teacher shrugged. "I'm told that perfectly ordinary people help each other all the time. Or is there some other definition of 'friendship' that I don't know about?"
Jin just stared at him for several long moments before she shook her head wearily.
"Tell me, am I a complete and utter fool or do I just feel like one?"
Teacher's expression was pure joy. "Tempted as I am, only you can answer that one. I suggest you work on it."
(())
Chapter 5
On her way out Jin paused at the two guardian statues. They merely looked large, fierce, and stony, as was their habit.
"You two were in my dream," she said.
They didn't say anything. There was still enough of the old Jin present to consider that, perhaps, she should feel a bit foolish about talking to statues, but that echo was fading rapidly. Now she only sighed, and decided to get a little more specific.
"You were there, weren't you?"
YES, they replied in unison, which is the way they seemed to do most things so far as Jin could see.
"So why aren't you two standing at the entrance to Medias? This isn't the way I came."
THIS IS THE WAY YOU NEED TO GO.
Actually, Jin had the same feeling. A kind of tug at the edge of her perception. That
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