As you breathed in, the air seemed thick. Your mind wondered what has changed for the few thousand years you've been gone. You could literally taste the waste on your tongue. You cringed then made a noticeable frown once you saw the trash was on the ground. You picked the few pieces of garbage and threw them away in the nearest trash can, which was only a few feet away. How could humans be this lazy?
As you could tell, parts of China was still beautiful like it was so long ago. There were still awful things about it, but most of them died down.
"Stupid humans," you mutter and walk into someone.
You excuse yourself, asking if the person needs any help. They reply with a no and you keep on walking to your destination, as they do too.
Your temple is recognizable from miles away, and you smile. From the distance, it looks like it did when your people built it. You continue your walk up the rocky path.
The soft grass is still wet from the early morning dew, giving off a fresh scent. Once you hit past the middle of the path, cherry blossoms come into your view. You grip onto your backpack and run to the pink flowers. You could smell them from where you were, and it finally smelt like home.
Once your under the trees, you picked a few blossoms, hoping the authority wouldn't mind. You looked around and saw no one, so you decided to pick a few more. You decorated your plain, black hiking bag with the blossoms, and continued your way up.
Your body was becoming tired, and you did not like this. You hadn't really prepared anything, no snacks or water, no change in clothes, nothing a normal human would bring. Instead you brought your scented candles, a few diffusers in square shaped bowls, and red oils.
It started to sprinkle water drops, and you quickened your pace. It didn't get heavier than that and you thanked the water Gods.
The time to get there wasn't long, but your sweater was drenched and it became heavy. You took it off and thankfully your undershirt wasn't that wet. You set your backpack down by the opening of your temple and unzipped it. You took your stuff and set it down in a straight line by the old shrine and stared.
Time had made the inside age, making it smell old. Cracks were visible everywhere and it made you feel old. Well you were old, but you felt young in your new body. The aging was different from long ago, and you were 21, an adult and drinking age in your home country America. You never knew such a odd country name existed until you were born in a state called Maine. Your new body was short and thin, but you made yourself have muscle. Your hair was short and red, while your old hair was long and black. Your skin was a weird white color, and you were called caucasian. It was weird, but your old skin tone was apparently an olive color. You had green eyes and really miss your brown ones. You could speak 4 languages, not including English. Your mother said you were born smart, but really you just remembered what you could do back then. You played soccer and football, always winning like you did so long ago. These things made you want to go back, but you knew you could never go back, just relive the memories.
And that is why you came here.
You lightened your candles and put your diffusers in the bowls, pouring essential oils in them. It made the temple smell like it use to, and you smiled.
You got into a meditation position and began to go back in the past.
In your mind, you opened your eyes as a little child, seeing old China. Instead of buildings covering nature, huts were set up above it. There were big holes at the bottom that you could cover with rugs, so nature wasn't shielded.
You went to your hut, smiling seeing your mom with your little sister. She smiled back and waved you off to go get water.
You regretted leaving her.
