The Way of the Party
The Chronicles of Hatchie Fu
The Art of How to Party
For ten days and ten nights the Hatchie Fu novice had left the village every morning and every evening to ascend the steep mountainside path to his Master’s cave. Twenty times he made the ascent, twenty times he found the cave empty, twenty times he descended with disappointment sitting in his stomach like a stone.
On the tenth night, he returned his lodgings. His heart was aching, and he could find no rest. He sat all night in profound meditation. In the absence of his Master, he concluded at last, he could not pursue his search for the way, and the Cookie, the Cat Fight and The Party would be denied to him. He wept for his loss as morning came.
After the sadness, anger filled him. His Master was a fraud, he thought, who had run away with no explanation. The novice decided to leave his vocation and to leave his village. He would strike out in new directions. Hatchlings were always in demand as novelty firelighters in wealthy human households, and he was sure many other opportunities awaited a Hatchie with a sense of purpose. He packed his few belongings, some cookies, and the Cat Fight attachment he thought he would never need again, and left the village on the road to the nearest large town.
All day he walked, and it was evening when he entered the gate of the town. Lamps were being lit as day faded. Cookie clubs were opening for business, and the sound of merriment spilled out into the dusty street. There was no joy in the novice’s heart, and he trudged past half a dozen cookie houses, barely noticing the happy noises. As he passed the next establishment, however, he heard a sound he recognised immediately. It was his Master’s laugh! He felt a dozen emotions run through him at once as he hurried to the door. Anger, anticipation, joy were all there as his hand closed on the door latch.
He entered the club. His Master sat in pride of place in the centre of the room. He had a glass of milk in one hand, and his free arm was wrapped around a buxom young Dragonette with a plate of cookies in her hands. His face was wreathed in a huge smile. The sensei was tapping his feet in time to the music as he watched a chorus line of other Dragonettes dancing on the stage. The novice was consumed with rage as he strode across the room, intending to slap the smile from the false face of his Master.
And then, with every step, the novice felt realisation hit him in waves. Someone handed him a cookie, and he bit into it. A glass of milk came his way next, and soon joined the cookie within him. A Dragonette’s smile warmed his heart, and he felt the beat of the music resonate inside him. By the time he reached his master, tears of joy were flowing down his face.
His Master smiled as the novice made his bow. “What have you learned, O Novice?” “ I have learned, Master, that after a rough few days, you need to party like you never partied before!”
The Master smiled as he watched Enlightenment dawn in the novice. “Sit, then, drink milk, eat cookies, be one with everything”. The DJ played Led Zeppelin, and the Karma was astounding. Three days later, Master and student returned to the cave, partied out, slept peacefully for a very long time, and woke into a world full of brilliance.
The moral? Party on, dude!
As told to Earl Semaphore
