Eyes of the Oracle (part one)

Once again, Lisa had no luck with the cash. She had decided to take the risk, borrow $300 000 from the loan sharks and multiply it at the IR, that was her plan. But now, she was left with zilch. She had tried everything, pray at the church, pray to the kitchen god, any god she could think of, all turned a blind eye to her fate. Now not only was she bankrupt, she had loan sharks to deal with as well.

She was stricken with tonnes of choices and decisions, she could run away to another country and start a new life there, but how could she even afford to travel? She could recoup her losses by starting a small business, but that wouldn't stop the loan sharks from coming after her. She could go to a temple and become a nun! no...no...no. Or she could just kill herself...that would solve everything wouldn't it?

Lisa decided that was it. She would end her life. She had lost everything, her business, her family, her pride... She climbed to the top of her flat, and looked below, the ground of the carpark looked very serene...

"Giving up on life is not how one should live, isn't it?"

Lisa turned around and was surprised to see a young man, dressed in casual t-shirt and jeans, staring at her through sunglasses.

"What do you know? Please, just leave me alone..."

The man didn't move, and pretended not to hear what she said.

"Call me Kin, I've followed you from the casino."

Lisa was becoming hysterical.

"I don't owe you people anything! Leave me alone already!"

"I didn't follow you to get money, I followed you because I saw something above your shoulder, which made me curious. I was right, it was a sign that you were going to kill yourself."

Lisa quickly glanced over her shoulder. She didn't see anything.

Kin chuckled.

"You can't see it, but I can. I can't describe it either because it eludes words."

Lisa gave him a sour look.

"I have no idea what you are talking about..."

Kin took off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of glowing transparent eyes which emitted occassional sparks. Lisa screamed but found she couldn't move! Kin put his sunglasses back on and began explaining as if it was the most natural thing to happen.

"If you go to some science centres, and then to their life sciences section, you may see statuates of bird heads or bee heads. They are huge and you can actually see from inside them. For the bees, you see multiple images just like the bee does, and for the bird, you see a binoculars type of image. To these animals, this is their reality. For you humans, the world you see is your reality, however, I was gifted with a special ability. My eyes can see true reality...my eyes are the eyes of the oracle!"

Lisa was scared, and was wondering at the same time why she couldn't move.

"Humans can manipulate things that are available to perception by the 5 senses. I can see more than just what 5 senses tell me, so I can manipulate more. I have binded spacetime around your body, that's why you can't move. I can't tell you how even if I wanted to, because all this is beyond the human language. However, I do feel cut out to give you a lecture on how precious life is."

Lisa finally regained some courage to speak.

"What kind of monster are you?!"

Kin didn't look the least bit offended.

"I had people calling me that ever since I was a kid, but somehow, I could see what was going on in their heads, and all I felt was pity. I didn't have any friends, but I didn't need any, for I could see how everything really is, and I could do anything. I saw the pain that comes in relationships, and how the joy that comes with it is illusory. I desire not and want not, I would thus prefer to call my eyes a gift."

Lisa then felt the bind around her loosen, she could move again. The first thing that she did was run! Kin made no attempt to follow her, so she ran as fast and as far as she could. Finally, after running at least ten streets and dead beat from exaustion, she sat down in an alley to catch her breath. Just her luck, the loansharks were doing business in the same alley.

"Oh no...please, give me more time!" she pleaded with them.

"No money, heh...we'll let you off for 3 days if you pleasure us a little..."

Just as Lisa was about to lose her chastity, everything came to a halt. And by coming to a halt, it really was to a halt. The loansharks stood frozen, not moving.

"I stopped time," came a familiar voice. Kin was back, standing right beside her.

"How the hell!" Lisa found she couldn't move again.

"Lisa, just listen to what I have to say... Your life was a gift from God. You are expected to carry on living no matter how great the odds. How can you just give up on life that was so hard to come by? Even by borrowing from the loansharks you were already giving up. If you die now, you won't be having a very pleasant afterlife."

Kin then grabbed Lisa's arm and took her out of the alley to a park. He was so strong that he practically dragged her around like a rag doll. When they arrived, he unfroze time.

"Call this number," he said, passing her a slip of paper with a handphone number written on it. "This man is looking for a new employee. It's a very simple job, but it can help you survive. Just tell him Kin found you."

Lisa was still too shocked to say anything to him. She looked on as he walked away from her, went behind a tree, and disappeared!

Trying to dismiss what she had seen, she looked at the slip of paper and decided to call the number.

"Hi...my name is Lisa, Kin found me..."

There was a long pause...

To be continued...