Uncle Monk [1]

"Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday, dear Sophie...

Happy Birthday to you..."

Still with my eyes closed, a wide smile spreads across my face as I hear the cheerful voices of kids and some adults singing.

"Blow out the candles, Sophie..."

"But Daddy hasn't come yet," a young girl's sad voice replies.

"Daddy still has work to do... Come on, baby. Your friends are waiting."

Slowly, I open my eyes, my smile fading slightly as I hear the conversation.

"Come on, Sophie. Be a good girl... You want to eat the cake, right? It's your favorite chocolate cake."

I jump down from the branch of the tree where I've been meditating. As I walk toward the edge of the forest, a wave of happy cheers greets my ears. I assume they're celebrating the candles being blown out.

"Let's cut the cake!"

That invitation is met with excited exclamations from the kids, followed by cheerful chatter.

"Here's your cake, Sophie... Hey, where are you going?"

"I want to give the cake to my friend..."

"You know your friends can't eat cake, baby. It will make them sick."

"Uncle Monk can," Sophie insists.

"Uncle Monk? Who's Uncle Monk? Hey... Sophie..."

I hide among the trees as the backdoor of a house near the forest edge opens. A little girl with black hair runs out of the house, clutching a golden paper plate with a slice of cake on it. Not long after, a red-haired woman steps out, stopping at the door.

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy..."

The girl continues running, crossing the backyard and entering the forest. When she passes the tree I'm hiding behind, I silently follow her.

"Uncle Monk!" she calls out in her sweet, high-pitched voice.

"Uncle Monk! Where are you? I know you're here! Patrick told me this morning that you've returned..."

That little skunk... I curse inwardly.

"You know... today is my birthday, in case you didn't know..."

Of course I knew already, baby girl, I think to myself.

Carefully, Sophie places the golden plate on a large stone. "Here. I brought you some cake. Please don't be shy. You don't have to give me any..."

I shift into fighter-jet speed, quickly approaching her. Swapping the plate for a small white teddy bear adorned with a crown featuring pink seven-star diamonds, I eat the cake in seconds and leave the empty plate beside the bear. Then, I return to my hiding spot.

"...present."

Sophie gasps sharply when she notices the empty plate and the teddy bear.

"Is this for me, Uncle Monk?" she asks, her eyes glimmering with delight. I don't reply, of course. Sophie picks up the teddy bear and hugs it tightly. "Thank you, Uncle Monk. I love it," she whispers before planting a kiss on the bear.

"Sophie! Sophie!"

"I'm here, Mommy!" Sophie shouts back. She then lowers her voice to a whisper, "I've got to go, Uncle Monk. Mom's calling."

Carrying the empty plate and hugging the teddy bear, Sophie walks away from the stone.

From a distance, I can hear her approaching her mother.

"Mommy..."

"There you are," her mother says, relief evident in her voice. "Hey... where did you get that teddy bear?"

"It's a gift from Uncle Monk."

"Who is Uncle Monk?"

"My friend. He lives in the woods."

I imagine a deep frown forming on the mother's face.

"Uncle Monk is a man? A human? You mean... an adult man?" Her voice rises in panic.

"Look, Sophie, you know the rules. No talking to strangers."

"But he's not a stranger, Mom..."

I suppress a laugh. Sophie's defiant tone mirrors her mother's when I once forbade her from opening the door for strangers.

"Uncle Monk is nice. He's my friend," Sophie insists.

Her mother sighs. "Come, let's go back to the house. Your friends are waiting to play with you."

"But... my friends are in the woods..."

"Your 'human' friends, baby. You need human friends, too."

"But I want to play with my friends in the woods..."

"You can play with them tomorrow. How about that?" her mother offers.

"With Uncle Monk, too?" Sophie asks, excited.

"No. Not with Uncle Monk."

"But Mom..."

"Baby, you can be friends with any creature in the woods, except for humans. If this Uncle Monk is really your friend, invite him to our house."

"I did, but he didn't want to..."

"You see? That's because he's not a good man. A good man wouldn't mind meeting your parents."

Sophie doesn't argue further. She knows when to stop. She really is a smart four-year-old. Yes, she's four years old now.

----------

Despite my promise to disappear from both Jennifer and Sophie if I returned to this hell, I found myself drawn back to this place again—the small forest behind Mr. McCourtney's house.

There are two reasons for my return. I'm sure you can already guess the first one: I still feel the urge to keep an eye on the people I love most. Though I know they've been living normal lives, I need to be absolutely certain they're safe and well. That urge has haunted me for years. I only allowed myself to act on it a year ago, after completing my mission.

The second reason—perhaps the main one—is the discovery of a massive chi energy source in this forest. Specifically, at the very spot where I meditated earlier. I stumbled upon it accidentally. If you recall, after being beaten up by Thief's bodyguard, I came to this forest to recover before heading back to the house. It was then I noticed the crystal necklace I carried warming up. When I checked it, the crystal was glowing a bright red.

After completing my mission, I was on the verge of breaking through to the sixth level of my spirit energy. I came to this forest to accumulate the energy I needed. In just two and a half years, I managed to reach the fifth level—the same level I had before I was "reset." Nothing extraordinary happened during that journey. Just the usual sensations of being electrocuted or burned from within. So naturally, I assumed breaking through to the sixth level would be no different.

How wrong I was.

spent days meditating, and when the time finally came to break through, the town was gripped by a fierce storm. Fall in Town M is usually mild, with light winds and hardly any rain. But on that day, the sky was a swirling mass of dark clouds, and the storm rolled in as though summoned by the energy I was about to unleash.

The first crack of thunder echoed through the forest, followed by a bolt of lightning that struck a nearby tree. Splinters rained down as the trunk exploded, and a howling wind swept through, bending the trees as if bowing to some unseen force. The air itself felt alive, heavy with an electric charge that seemed to pulse in rhythm with my rising energy.

When the breakthrough began, the storm's fury turned its focus on me. The wind slammed into me like an invisible wall, pushing me back with a force that bruised my body. My spirit energy swirled in response, forming a protective barrier, but the storm didn't relent. It lashed out with gale-force winds, tearing at my chi shield, testing every ounce of my strength.

Then came the lightning.

The first bolt struck mere feet away, blasting the ground and throwing dirt and debris into the air. The second hit even closer, sending shockwaves that rippled through my body. When the third bolt came, it found me.

The impact was blinding, my body convulsing as electricity surged through me. I screamed, channeling my spirit energy to absorb the force. The pain was overwhelming, my nerves burning like fire, but I held my ground. I couldn't afford to lose—not when I was so close.

With each bolt of lightning, my spirit energy grew stronger, fueled by the storm's relentless attacks. The chi swirling around me transformed into a luminous barrier, glowing brighter with every strike. The storm seemed to sense my defiance, its winds screaming louder, its rain slashing harder, its lightning striking faster.

"Enough!" I roared, my voice cutting through the thunder.

I gathered every ounce of energy I had left, pulling the storm's fury into my core. The chi barrier around me expanded, crackling with power as it absorbed the storm's might. With one final surge, I unleashed it all in a blinding explosion of light and energy.

The forest fell silent. The wind died, the rain stopped, and the clouds above me dissipated, revealing a sky painted with stars. The storm was gone, defeated, its power absorbed and transformed by my spirit energy.

I stood there for a moment, victorious, the chi still humming faintly around me. But the battle had taken everything I had. My body, battered and drained, gave out beneath me.

As I collapsed to the ground, a faint smile crossed my lips. I had won.