The River Monster,

or The Curse of the Sao La

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5. The Palace

I awoke on the ground, the evil bridge to my left. Awaiting my companion, I surveyed the area. I had emerged into a new world. The concrete bridge was nowhere to be found. Though the shore I had left only moments - hours? - before had been flat, the landscape here was mountainous. A temple was perched on a nearby tor. A thunderstorm had recently passed by, clearing the air and leaving puddles everywhere.

The chief did not emerge.

I heard a noise. Turning, I saw a figure beckoning to me. Had the chief escaped from the bridge? I had to know whether I was indeed the only survivor of our doomed expedition. With a lighter heart, I rose up and walked along the shore.

There, just a hundred yards where I had been resting, floated a fleet of dragons! In this strange world, however, they appeared to be decorated boats and nothing more. Had we been so frightened of these beasts? Had they too passed through that awful bridge and been transformed into harmless objects of pleasure? I shivered in fear of the powers which could tame a dragon.

The fleeting figure had disappeared. Turning my eyes from the water to the shore, I beheld a glorious vision. A harmony of pink stones and vegetation traced the path from the pier to the sublime palace above. It seemed to be the opposite from the hideous atrocity of my recent vision. All here was calm and pleasing. The temple was surrounded by a topiary garden and a decorative fence. Everything was united in an animal motif. Whatever horrors lived in that bridge, it seemed they could not survive in this peaceful land. I felt in awe of whatever terrible and powerful beings had made such beauty. I was afraid to enter.

The chief did not appear. I could not find the figure who had recently guided me to this paradise. Finally, I decided to continue my search inside the palace.

As soon as I passed through the gate, a strange feeling came over me. I felt rooted to the ground. Leaves and vines swirled around my legs and torso and I fell forward. I could not lift my hands from the loamy earth. I felt my body compacting and transforming into something .... else.

There was a puddle of water on the ground, and I saw my reflection. If only I had I been able to scream, to run, to laugh! For although I have never seen such an animal in the flesh, I knew that I had become a statue of my desire.

I had become a topiary sao la.