1 Chapter 1 Retirement

Michael Yao grew up in Chicago Chinatown, the son of an immigrant couple from Taishan, China. The parents spoke limited English and did not bother to give him a middle name which Michael has always wanted to have because he hates the name Mike. It is simply too simple and there is no air of sophistication about it. Michael was good at math and went to the University of Illinois at Champaign for his undergrad but changed to law for his graduate school and became a lawyer in Chicago. After 30 years of practice with kids having gone to college and a divorce with his wife Nancy, Michael wants some change in his life. He bought a piece of land in Upstate New York near Ithaca and decided to start his retirement early.

Why Upstate New York? Because the Yankees are not rednecks, the land is cheaper yet close to a university town and not too far from the Big Apple. Unlike Chicago and the Midwest, it is closer to the ocean and other national parks. So at age 58, Michael said goodbye to his friends and to Chicago.

The Town of Danby, New York, is a quiet and hilly small town about 15 minutes drive from Ithaca, home of the Cornell University. It is late fall in the year and the maple hill on his land has its leaves turned and fell. Michael has been here for two years and finally felt settled in the serenity of his surroundings. The Chinese say that mountains know of no time. One has to live in it to believe it.

The morning air tastes rich and fresh with a tint of sweetness. The forecast says there is going to be rain starting early in the afternoon. So Michael decided to clear some more brushes near the cemetery plot on his land. He's been working on the plot for the past two months. It was a curios thing that there is a cemetery in the middle of his land, guarded by 40 too 50 feet tall trees with the latest tomb stones dating back to 1810 but with most of them unmarked. To unearth its mystery Michael has immersed himself at the Cornell University Library reading up on the local settlement history, then the local Indian history, the reservations, and then the American Indian history.

With the landing of the King's troops in Connecticut in the late 1700s there were only two counties set up, each of their territory then stretched from the East Coast all the way to the West. In the Upstate region, there were the Mohawk and the Cayuga Indians. Unfortunately they sided with the wrong side during the American Civil War and were wiped out as a result with only a few fled to Canada, or at least that was the excuse. In hindsight, had they sided not with the British King but with the rebels or the revolutionary army their fate probably would not have fared any better. The massive human migration from Europe would not have allowed it anyway. So back to the cemetery lot, if the Town of Danby was not settled until the late 1700s or the early 1800s, are the buried Indians or European settlers? If they are the settlers then why would the tomb stones be so uniform yet unmarked or inscribed. If they were the Indians who would have buried them or why would the burial be permitted back then when the Indians were hunted like animals.

The brush clearing is time consuming but again a good workout for Michael. Nowadays any workout with a good sweat beats sitting at a desk talking to people or drafting complaints. His body is getting leaner and his muscles a lot more firm than before. His strength is coming back to him and Michael is feeling young again.

The gradually darkened sky signals the coming of rain. The weather lady is right this time. But why are most of the female meteorologists pregnant? How come the news anchors never are. Before he could finish the thought a bolt of lightening flared in front of his eyes followed by him being suddenly pushed forward with his forehead hitting a tomb stone...As he lies still on the ground feeling the wetness of rain or blood climbing down the corner of his eye flares of lights came stronger still through the tree tops.

But why there is no sound? Am I about to die but why I feel no fear in me...Michael's thoughts went blank.