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The typically busy Rama IV Road was empty as far as I could tell. Office buildings, commercial shops, and the towering Dusit Thani Hotel at the cross street Silom all looked deserted as well. Apart from a pale, bleak sun suspended high in the sky, everything else seemed lifeless. There was not a single soul in sight. How odd! For this very corner of Bangkok had always been the hustle and bustle part of the city at any time of the day, even at night. And why does the mighty sun of the Equator look exhausted? It didn't warm me. Worse yet, its wintry-like rays bathed everything in yellow like the color of an old photograph. Did some catastrophic event happen overnight? Puzzled, I let my legs carry me down this major four-lane thoroughfare.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that the image ahead was not real. Despite the exactness of the landscape, amid every tree and every building, the scene before me had one enormous flaw. The monument of King Rama VI was missing! Gazing down at the modernized capital of the kingdom which he once ruled, the imposing statue of his majesty should have otherwise been situated at the northeast corner of the intersection. Instead, a grand building of ancient Siamese architecture stood in its place. The edifice, in contrast to its surroundings, was so glaringly white it stung my eyes just to look at it. Squinting, I could not take my eyes off it.
Set high on a foundation with a steep flight of stone steps leading to a wraparound balcony, the structure could well have served as a residence of monarchs in ancient times. As I got closer, I could see a man in somber uniform standing by the entry way of a very tall and narrow double-leaf door. Although I was still more or less thirty feet away, somehow I could sense that he was waiting for me. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was mesmerized by the man's face. It was a face whose origin I could not guess. He looked neither Thai, Chinese, khaek, nor farang. As if under a spell, I stepped onto the balcony. All the while the man peered down at me in quiet serenity, his head straight and his face expressionless. Then without a word, he preceded me inside.
The man turned around after a few steps and looked me in the eyes, upon which I somehow understood his request for me to wait there. Obeying, my eyes followed the plain uniformed man as his soundless feet moved across the white marble floor until he suddenly disappeared presumably behind a white wall. I stood still, arms by my side, and mindfully scanned the immense room void of furniture. Unlike a palace's chamber where murals covered the interior walls and supporting columns, the room was bare and as white as the exterior, giving a sense of boundlessness.
Where is this place? I asked myself.
Sooner than expected, the man returned with a wooden box in his hands. He offered it to me and asked me not to open it until I exit. Bewildered, I accepted the box from him with both hands. It was then relinquished to me with further instructions to stay on course and then bear to the right where the path branched. With the box in my hands, I stepped forward in the direction I was told. After timidly taking two steps, I looked back. The man had disappeared, and I was left all alone in this strange vast room. Looking forward again, I suddenly found myself standing in a spacious tunnel with a glistening surface like fine-grained silver ore. I gasped in awe of its splendor.
As I went further into the tunnel, I picked up a faint melody floating on the air from somewhere beyond. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Although the somewhat brittle, metallic sounds of the percussion instrument reminded me of those produced by a Thai xylophone, the rarefied melody was perhaps sweeter, richer, and warmer in quality than the Thai classical music that floated out of the music room at school.
Where is this heavenly music coming from? I thought to myself.
The music grew nearer and nearer as I went further into the tunnel. Curious, I quickened my pace through many twists and turns, yet there was more distance to go. Finally I came to a fork in the tunnel. Here, I stood for a moment just to let the beautiful music permeate my mind a little longer. While I ambled down the right path as I had been instructed, the tinkling music gradually faded, and eventually it was gone.
Arriving in a high chamber, I saw daylight coming through a tall, narrow opening in another wooden double-leaf door. There, unexpectedly, I saw the same man waiting patiently. Standing still with that same emotionless countenance, his eyes followed me as I approached him. He didn't talk in my thoughts anymore, and like before, I seemed to know my place not to ask. I merely walked past him. As I drew abreast of him, I glanced up at his face and saw an empathetic expression of pity entering his eyes. Although I was surprised to see the man capable of displaying emotions, I had no time to dwell on that thought, for my attention was drawn by a huge rectangular pond down below.
The heavy doors closed behind me with an immense thud. I felt a gladsome relief upon seeing the high sun in the sky having returned to a radiant red circle. Feeling the warmth on my skin, I again laid my eyes on the pond ahead. Teeming with fish, the pond water was in a constant state of motion due to the creatures that called it home. Smiling, I carefully walked down the uneven stone steps, thinking to go sit by the water. Yet, before I reached the pond or had a chance to inspect the box in my hands, everything around me vanished.