Maung Ko Ko (Amarapura) - 5 short stories about the tattoo artist

The yellow maranth flowers are blooming. The fragrance of the maranth flowers is sweet and delicate. Among the thick, green, and ripe maranth leaves, I have seen the newly born maranth fruit, the little green shoots, with a sense of awe.

My mother and I were sitting on a bench under a big maran tree. The maran tree above my head was very old. Next to me was a school bag filled with elementary school books. The school bag was green.

A sudden pang of emotion shot through my mind. At that moment, a small blue bird landed on my green bag. It must have been a bird that had fallen from a mango tree.

The little blue bird spread its wings. It chirped loudly. Then it jumped onto my shoulder. The little blue bird suddenly landed on the top button of my shirt, where one of its legs was unbuttoned. The little blue bird's claws scratched my chest, and I felt a sharp pain. Its beak pierced my chest. Suddenly, blood rushed to my chest, and the little blue bird entered my chest. It was as fast as magic. I was like an object being held by a magician.

Strangely enough, my muscles didn't hurt at all.

I thought a blue bird had entered my heart. My heart trembled.

After feeling a magical energy enter my heart, I took out a book and pencil from my school bag and spontaneously wrote a poem.

I don't know what kind of content I got. The poem I wrote is a love story between Ko Byatta and Mae Wunna on Poppa Mountain. It begins with love and ends with longing, surrounded by the fragrance of wild flowers.

"Mom, my son here can write poetry."

I shouted.

Mom read a poem from my book.

"My son's poem doesn't rhyme. Poetry has to rhyme. And you can't write poems outside of school, son. Always remember what your mother said."

I was listening to my mother's words, but I didn't feel like remembering them. Suddenly, I remembered the little blue bird.

At that moment, a blue bird sprang out of my chest and fluttered in front of my face.

"Do you think you wrote that poem? A blue bird wrote that poem?"

The blue bird said.

Then the blue bird flew up to the maran tree. The green leaves of the maran tree were shaking.

I saw yellow marigolds falling on my green school bag.

I looked at my mother's face.

Mom might have seen the little yellow flowers on my green school bag. But she certainly didn't know anything about the little blue bird.

I didn't tell my mother about the blue bird. I was happy that the blue bird had come.

I was happier because my mother didn't know that the blue bird had come to visit me.

At that time, dewdrops were gathering on the body of the blue bird.

What trees, what forests, what snowdrops did he sneak through? I don't know.

Has he crossed the Himalayan forests? Can he dare to cross the sea?

***

2

There are many large umbrellas under the big coco tree. I am sitting on a chair under a big red and white striped umbrella. I have a cold coca-cola in my hand and my beloved is next to me. She has a can of soda in her hand. That can of soda must be cold too. The coco leaves are falling on the ground, which is a sign of the weather.

"After we finish, we will walk towards Inya."

She said to me. I looked at her and nodded. Her lips, which I had always found sweet, were full of red lipstick. In her eyes, I could see the sparkle of my own eyes.

We both don't know what happened. The chairs below us, as well as our bodies, seemed to be filled with magnetic energy. Before either of us, her, or the two chairs could decide whether it was love or lust, our bodies were intertwined. The two chairs moved towards each other. In the breeze, yellow cocoon leaves fluttered and floated in the air.

At that moment, a blue bird landed on my shoulder. My hands, which were holding the coca-cola can, were trembling from the love spirit. The blue bird landed on the coca-cola can and chirped. I saw the love spirit, which was supposed to be riding in the coca-cola can, jump out of the can and climb onto the coconut tree.

The blue bird is calmly looking at me.. And then... and then.

I saw the bird and was shocked and awestruck.

My body stiffened. "What happened to you? Did my high heels step on your foot?"

"No. There's a blue bird coming in front of me."

"Where is it? I can't find anything about the blue bird you mentioned."

“When I was little, I was sitting under the big maran tree in our yard with my mother, and a little bird fell from the maran tree, Ni Ni. Now it has fallen from the coconut tree and is resting on my shoulder. Now it is resting on my candy cane.”

Her eyes looked at my face, and panic set in.

"I don't see the bird you're talking about, my dear... I think you've really gone crazy."

The bird glanced at me with its small eyes, then suddenly flew away. The bird did not fly up to the coconut tree, but flew towards Inya Lake.

She and I didn't even set foot on Inya Lake, she went back to her house in Yangon and I went back to the dormitory. After that, she left me, as is the custom of women.

***

My hair grew longer. I started smoking more cigarettes. I sprayed my days with purple dye.

I walked alone and carefree in the university campus, beside Inya Lake, in Pansodan, in Hledan, around the waterfront, on the road to Shwedagon Pagoda, under the diamond trees, and under the kankaw trees.

Yellow leaves are falling on me. Raindrops are falling on my hair. White snowflakes are falling on my purple shirt.

That year, I failed the exam and ended up in a dormitory near the university.

One day, I was wearing a white shirt and was looking at the white orchid flowers in front of the house. The wound that Ni Ni had given me was almost healed. At that moment, a blue bird came to rest at the base of the orchid. I was very happy to see it. It was like meeting a good friend who was really good to me.

Once, a blue bird sang to me. It was a new song that I had never heard before. It was a song that had no sadness, no sorrow. I was filled with joy and happiness because of the melody it sang. The bird was injecting glucose into my body.

"Come and follow me"

The bird did as it was commanded. I followed it wherever it called. To a large university library.