Chapter 2
The White Snake
You need a man
Four months from yesterday
Late morning in
Fujian, China
The shop found itself empty. An occurrence welcomed by the lady proprietor.
The early morning crowd filled the small herbal store before the beginning of their arduous day in the tea fields. After serving their customers the sisters could find time to straighten out the shop.
"Xiaoqing? Xiaoqing?" A woman's voice floated through the numerous wooden shelves and glass counters populating the small room. Countless jars and bottles, labeled for specific remedies filled the walls of the modest holistic market.
"Oh, I must do this myself." Grabbing the broom the serious looking woman turned in quick succession spinning as if caught in a cyclone. Her silken skin remained unblemished as the blur of dust clouds circled around her. Moving along the surface of the parquet floor, delicate feet twirled inches from the ground. Flip-flops with red thongs matched her nail and toe polish. They skimmed the ground as if an invisible force buffered her from the floor.
"Thank the heavens." Moving to the pile of dirt acquired in a morning full of customers, she whispered holding the broom with one hand as she maneuvered the dustpan. "It is a hard life for these people. They live and die in the soil." The sigh showed her compassion for the poor farmers that sometimes took a direct route to the medicinal shop named The Blessed Brew. Her serious expression turned to one of pleasant realization. She appreciated the collection of earth and small bits of dried bark often collecting on her shop's floor, proof of the villagers' undivided devotion.
"Sister, why do you spin with the power of the whirlwind, only to bend as a crippled maid to pick up the dirt?" Xiaoqing looked the age of twenty or maybe a few years older, no more. Her questioning on the use of magical powers often disturbed the older sister. The people of this area in Fujian Province saw them as two beautiful siblings, no more than ten years apart. Xiaoting knew she owed this to magic.
"Lu!" Though her call forceful, Bai Suzhen kept the volume vacant of her anger.
"Sister, I know when you are upset. You call me by my real name. The way mother intended" Xiaoqing walked to the grim-faced figure with a slow twirl. The hem of the flared dress lifted exposing her upper thighs.
"It is the memory of our great sadness at not knowing a man." Bai's eyes blinked in a deliberate fashion as she spoke.
"I chose Xiaoqing over Lu because it means the color green. A monk can become suspicious." She shook her chest. Placing her hands under them she lifted the shapely pair. "Anyway, it is just till some human man uses his pole in me." Almond shaped eyes widened. Xiaoqing enjoyed acting the morally challenged of the two.
The young sister christened herself with the title to show, the final act of transformation cannot be complete without sex.
"We must control our powers. Every time they are used, well?" An annoyed look could not take away from the older sister's smooth face. Even the tension gained from a sibling that did not care for their safety could not age the untainted skin. Bai moved to the door, turning the hanging sign around.
The young woman heard this complaint before. Bai insisted they perform medial tasks free of magic. Using mystical powers will upset the Chi of nature. Imbalance in the natural world would signal their existence. Ignoring her older sister's presence, she spread her fingers lifting them to her emerald colored eyes. "I love this shade." Then placing her lime-shaded fingernails to the fitted waist of the matching dress, she swooned. "Oh, my dear elder. Do you think I look voluptuous?" A longer than normal human tongue slithered into the air. A tight black braid dangled down her back. As with the older sister, Xiaoqing's hair did not stop until touching her waist. Waiting for an answer, her eyes sparkled as they split down the middle of their iris.
"What were you doing in the back so long?" Bai grimaced during a deep sigh. The older sister knew the answer to her own question.
"Oh, my old lady sister." Xiaoqing battered long lashes showing off her new eye shadow.
Bai sneered as she spoke. "That book. That book by that woman." She took the full dustpan and emptied it into the metal bin. Looking up Bai saw her reflection in the oval mirror hanging from the pale white wall.
"Look at yourself, sister. You can be the most beautiful of all females, snake or human." Xiaoqing said. The casual and sometimes arrogant tone of the younger woman softened. Moving down the rows of small see-through jars she held her sister's arms. The two of them admired the other's reflection in the mahogany framed mirror.
"Mei Mei." using the term reserved for one's beautiful and innocent younger sister, "you are so lovely. Your eyes sparkle as if polished jade."
"Jie Jie," showing respect for her older sister. "Your little Mei Mei loves you." She pressed her cheek on the back of Bai's head. Rolling on the soft pitch-colored hair, the young woman called Xiaoqing kissed her cheek. "Why don't you call me my true name?" Asked Xiaoqing.
"Lu?" Her answer filled the room. "Call you that? Never!" Bai snorted at the idea. "Never, we must not use that name." She spun from Xiaoqing's grasp.
"But Jie Jie, they know you as Bai Suzhen. Why can you use part of your real name?" Xiaoqing pouted after her question. Slim red lips trembled, though a smile soon surfaced.
"Sister, many women in China carry names expressing the color white. Bai is a frequent choice. Also, changing yours is the easiest way to have you become invisible." Cuddling the younger one, she continued. "You know how human women want to pretend to be pure. It will not cause suspicion." Pressing her lips to Xiaoqing's ear, she whispered. "The people of Fujian are pure in their hearts." She swallowed trying to control the anxious dread speeding up her throat. "Their innocence of things makes them see clearly." Bai knew having a pair of sisters with the names of two mystical snakes living in their community would be noticed by the hard-working and at times superstitious people of this region.
Paying no attention to her sister's fear, Xiaoqing reached toward the eye-level shelf atop the bottom two. Her fingernails scraped the unpainted drywall as she gripped the glass bottle hiding behind the numerous jars.
"I think this will help you." She smiled handing the pink labeled liquid to her older sister.
"Memory?" Bai looked with a slight grin at her naïve sibling. "My sweet child, this is to improve one's memory. The opposite of what I need."
"Bai, I don't understand." Shining green eyes battered over the inquisitive expression. "I think at times you forget your greatness in the kingdom of nature."
"Lu," correcting herself. "Xiaoqing, I want to forget. I want a potion to erase the past." Her lips quivered as she pressed them together. Closing eyes the color of a moonless sky she inhaled through her nostrils.
"No, Bai. We are new people. We need only short times in the liquid of life." Xiaoqing's girlish grin showed her to be the compassionate child she tried to hide from the world.
"We must remember who we are. We must remember to hide our power from those that might hurt us." The younger sister recoiled from these words.
"Wait," hustling on bare-feet, Xiaoqing lifted herself off the ground landing in the backroom.
"Lu! I mean Xiaoqing…" Before the face of anger could claim the older of the two, Xiaoqing leaped to her front.
"Bai, you want to forget. Forget all. Show me you are not tied to the past and order from this book." Thrusting the soft cover of the catalogue to the growing deep hue gaining control of Bai's face.
"I can't. Oh, Mei Mei, I cannot." Whispered by the embarrassed woman.
"Then I will. Will for you." The little bell jingled signaling an entering customer. The pregnant young woman saw the senior proprietor and bowed. Xiaoqing's eyes widened as she focused on the bulging bubble under the shopper's sundress. Designed for this condition the gray material softened the line of her hips. The pony-tailed twenty-something customer kept one hand under her stomach while the other used a thumb and finger to pull up the hot pink top now challenged by her full to bursting breasts.
"Your mother said you would be in need." Bai talked to her as if the pregnancy did not show. Black eyes kept locked on the young woman's face, and nowhere else.
"No Chinese Tea Rose," the expert in such things continued. "Your mother told me you have tried it." Bai reached for several small burlap bags, each with writing in black marker identifying them.
The young woman wanted to explain. "It is because," showing a rush of color accompanied by her whisper. "Dear Bai, please. I have such difficulty." The future mother kept her head bowed
"I have just the thing." Bai showed the young woman several roots and herbs that had been put aside for her visit. "Your vitality will return and these will help your blood flow." Putting the small collection of natural remedies in a plastic bag, Bai added in a soft voice as if confiding a great secret. "This will make it softer. It is considered a tonic and good moistener so the problem will move out easy."
"Oh, thank you. Mistress Proprietor, thank you." Snatching the bag from Bai, the young woman turned to see if any other knew of her special need.
"Do not be ashamed. Chinese Foxglove Root is the best. I use it myself." Bai confided through a smile.
Xiaoqing pretended not to hear the conversation. The need of the fatigued and uncomfortable woman did not fill her with any humored thoughts. Her sister's behavior curtailed Xiaoqing's sarcastic side. Though her mind proceeded with her confusion.
She does not even glance at the belly ready to explode. Bai refuses to even gaze at a woman with child. Returning to her normal state. Chinese Foxglove Root, when does an immortal need that? We are never constipated.
Shaking her head at the thought, Xiaoqing decided to use her I-phone to place an order.
"Maybe such things from America will open her heart and free the sadness that still dwells in my poor sister's soul?"
The gray bottom lime green dress of the younger sister swirled out of sight. Entering the back room, she took the pink device from the wooden table near a small sink. Thumbing through the pages of Victoria Secret she stopped at one particular outfit.
"Oh, yes." Green eyes sparkled as a wiggling tongue stroked her moist lips.
At that time, a flying insect decided to interrupt her frame of mind.
"Damn you little bug. I have no time." Oblivious of her words, the buzzing sound past her ears in repeated fashion. "I won't tell you again." She snapped her head using the thick braid as a whip.
Looking out through the rear window, a midday sun blocked by the lush mountain range still managed to shoot streaks of light through the backroom.
"Hurry this day you tired ball of fire." She peered through the half-closed blinds, rustling the pages in her hands. Anxious for the night, when her true form may be revealed.
"Tonight, when we bathe," twinkling green eyes widened. "My sister, I will show you." Slender lips curled as her smile grew. "I will show you how," her iris split in half. A slim black line separated the jewel-like orbs down the middle. Her human hormones began to take control.
"Oh, go away. You little pest." The mosquito continued its energetic sorties near the woman's ears. Brushing the area with her hand sent the bothersome bug flying to the front of the shop.
"Now. Where was I?" A larger grin than before appeared. "I will show you how…" Xiaoqing spoke to the blinking Sun. "Yes, my precious Jie Jie," a deep sigh. I will show you what you need." Her giggle rose in volume. "All you need to know." A slow hum increased near her left ear. In the blink of an eye a forked tongue seized the troublesome fly.
"I warned you." Swallowing her prey.
"Tonight, I will show you." Looking one more time at the crumpled page in the catalogue. "How to dress for a man." A massive tongue licked her delicate lips, returning to the precocious sister's mouth.
Bidding goodbye to the expectant mother, Bai moved to the countertop where an array of small burlap bags lay open. She made sure her medicinal potion for the future mother possessed only the finest of quality and an appropriate measured dose.
"What?" Bai asked. She cringed, as a voice in her head screamed. A high pitch squeal, something a small animal might bellow from excruciating pain. She shook as the vision flashed before her eyes. She saw a wailing gray and white human–like figure contorted, squirming and then exploding into dust.
"Lu!" Bai screamed as she dropped to her knees.
Rushing to the horrific cry, Xiaoqing enveloped her sister in a deep embrace.
"My sweet, Jie Jie." Placing a kiss on the trembling woman's cheek. "My precious, Jie JIe." An expression rose on Xiaoqing showing disgust at the foul
taste. "Bai, you are so slimy. Your skin is as slick as grease. By all that is in heaven. What can bring you to such a state?"
Perspiration belonged to the world of mammals. Even in their transformation, they found that some basic natural laws of reptiles still dwelled in their spirit.
"Oh, Lu…Lu." The woman hid her head between the youthful sister's breasts.
"Stop calling me that." Xiaoqing begged. "That is one of your own commands."
"Oh, forgive me, Xiaoqing." Bai's rapid breaths stymied her words.
"My goodness, Bai." The younger sister shook her head causing the thick braid to land over her shoulder.
"I, I just need a moment." The breathless Bai begged.
"Need a moment?" A smirk covered the unblemished skin of her Mei Mei, as a sly smile gave birth to the truth. "You need a man." Xiaoqing's voice filled the room
Thanks to cloudedend for your interest.
