The table was full of plates of what was left of a glorious Chinese banquet - a fish's head, cold, oily soup with herbs floating all over it, a little bit of Chow mein, and all sorts of unidentified sauce on everyone's plate. I covered my mouth to hide the sound of my burping, looked around to make sure no one noticed, then went on to chat with my relatives. After a while I excused myself to the toilet which was a few blocks away from the restaurant. The hanging door chimes made a sweet ringing sound as I pushed the door open and stepped outside.
It was a lively Sunday evening. Everyone was out with their family to celebrate Chinese New Year in the breezy air of Bangkok. The restaurant was located at the very centre of an outdoor shopping plaza, in front of a playground where kids in colorful qipaos were playing tags and laughing while the elderly in wheelchairs looked at them and smiled. I took in the atmosphere- the wonderful festive feeling, the twilight glow of sunset, the gorgeous celebration lights, all of these seems to mix and turn the world into red and gold, my favorite color. I was just walking back from the toilet when the fireworks started, a bloom of purple, green, blue, pink, and red. I started excitedly to go back to the restaurant to bring everyone to see the fireworks with me.
Back at the table, the waiters have cleaned the leftovers and are now rolling in several very good looking dessert trays. Very swiftly, they have set up the table full of desserts of many variations. Immediately my eyes searched for my favorite, fortune cookies.
There they are!
"Celvin, I thought you're going to miss the fortune cookies!" My brother said.
"No way, how could I? Those fortune cookies are my life!" I replied good naturedly. Immediately after I sat down, I picked a piece, ate the cookie, then opened the fortune paper.
I frowned. The font was usually black, not red. And the message was usually not this long...
Celvin.
Your life is in danger. Do not attempt to tell anyone about this message. You must fall in love with someone by tomorrow midnight, or it'll be at the price of the lives of everyone you've ever loved. Repeat : Do not attempt to tell anyone…