Free Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan Page B

us. Water hissed for a couple of seconds, then stopped. There was silence from the crowd, then a few giggles and confused conversation. Nothing else happened so David continued his speech.
    Oh my God, Emma, look out the window, Simone said.
    I glanced left and stared. The sky and the other side of the harbour had gone. There was just a wall of blackness next to us, as high as the fifteen-metre windows. Its slightly curved vertical surface shifted like liquid in the reflected light of the Convention Centre.
    David continued his speech, but people next to the window began moving away. More people noticed, and the chatter became louder and gained a frightened edge.
    â€˜Don’t worry, it’s just an optical illusion,’ David said, frantically waving me towards the podium. ‘It happens sometimes when there’s an inversion layer over the water, because of the change in seasons. It’s an atmosphericanomaly, that’s all. Don’t bother taking photos; you won’t capture anything because it’s not really there — it’s something like a mirage.’
    â€˜What is it?’ I asked Simone, waving back to David to indicate that I’d be there in a minute.
    â€˜It’s just water,’ Simone said. ‘A wall of water. Not an optical illusion.’
    â€˜Your dad?’
    â€˜No. Only water. It might be elementals playing around, but I can’t sense any.’ She moved closer to the glass and concentrated. ‘No intelligence behind it.’ She cocked her head. ‘Why is it doing that?’
    I walked towards the podium to reassure David, and some of the people nearby reacted loudly. A lump two metres across had emerged from the wall and was following me. I took a couple more steps towards David and the ball paced me. I continued and a snake’s head, at least a metre across, shot out of the water and slammed its snout into the window glass with a wet crack. People screamed and scurried away from the glass.
    I stopped and turned to face the snake. Something in its eyes called to me and I raised one hand, desperately wishing I could touch it. It pushed its head more slowly towards me and came through the glass as if it wasn’t there. It touched its snout to my hand and time stopped. We hung suspended in the moment, touching snake to snake. The world spiralled away from me and the water rose up to meet me, its darkness filled with the immeasurable cold intelligence of the Serpent. It pulled its head back, nodded to me, and spun to disappear back into the wall of water.
    The water collapsed, sending a black surge against the glass and then subsiding.
    I jogged up to the podium to speak in David’s ear. ‘Pretend that was part of the show, courtesy of Chencorp, please. Nobody’s in danger.’
    David raised his hands and spoke loudly over the PA system. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for the special three-dimensional installation courtesy of Chencorp, one of the patrons for this evening. That was a one-off display of the installation before it is dismantled for a world tour, a demonstration of some of today’s most advanced holographic technology.’ He dropped his voice. ‘How’s that?’
    â€˜Absolutely perfect. I owe you.’
    There was scattered applause through the room, then people surged forward and applauded me loudly, discussing the snake and water. I patted David on the shoulder and turned to go back down.
    â€˜Wait,’ he said. ‘What if something like that happens again?’
    â€˜Just say it’s an encore,’ I said.
    He shrugged. ‘Turnout will be double next time we have a charity opening.’
    â€˜All good for the kids,’ I said, and went back down to Simone and the men.
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    Before the auction we wandered around the paintings. Simone showed me a Western-style oil painting of a group of running horses, one of them palomino.
    â€˜I like this one. Do you think it