The monk is a former rowdy!

"Pack up! we must hurry up," cried Madonna, Rose's elder sister. "It's going to rain soon. We can't keep the shop open. And we don't want to mess up with the thug."

Their father's hot-and-spicy noodle shop is famous in the rainy town. Today Rose served with her sister because their father is sick. It was her first day at the shop.

"Which thug?" asked Rose curiously.

"Look, If others hear I'm speaking his name, we'll be in great trouble," said Madonna. "He is a giant who could hold you like a soda bottle and toss your head like its lid. He usually comes at this time. So get back to work!"

Those words terrified Rose. After working for a whole day, she returned to packing things with only a little energy left.

As she turned around, she was horrified by what she saw. A monstrous nine-foot-tall man was standing close to her. In his massive arms, there was a tattoo of an angry bull. Rose can't help but taking a few steps back and stood speechless.

"Hi Kid," the figure broke the silence.

"What you want, sir?" Rose replied. Her voice already sounded like a squeezed squirrel in fear.

Madonna abruptly jumped into the conversation and hid Rose from the giant's sight.

"How can I help you, Sir?" Madonna echoed what Rose said before.

"A bowl of hot-and-spicy, please."

Madonna started filling up noodles while Rose sneaked out to see what the giant man was like. The man noticed that and winkled with a smile. Rose quickly pulled her head in and hid behind her sister.

"How much for it, girl?" the giant asked Madonna.

"No problem, Sir!" she responded with fear.

Rose, however, noticed a genuine, consistent smile on his face. It's his massive muscles that gave that terror look of him.

"Little strange for a thug," thought Rose for herself.

The man then kept some money on the table and walked away. As he walked across the street, the entire road was frozen to pin-drop silence.

As the giant reached the end of the street, people resumed their work. Yet, Rose kept her eyes on the rowdy guy.

The rowdy gave some noodles to the dog at the end of the road and then vanished.

"It could have ended up badly," said Madonna in relief. "Now, he is the thug I was telling you. Pack up quickly before the rain."

As Rose and Madonna started walking, a sudden rain had come, and people were running everywhere. With both hands full of things, Madonna couldn't hold her sister closely. Little Rose realized she couldn't see her sister in the crowded street, where everyone is taller than her.

The only thing Rose can do is to run in the direction of their home. But Rose didn't learn the roads yet. She walked through the path, which is flooding almost like a river. Though Rose couldn't recognize if she came this way in the morning, she keeps moving in that direction.

Suddenly Rose found herself in the face of a jungle. The road ends there. As she turned back, she notices that the little path is now flooding wildly. The water level is rising. Little Rose couldn't help but scream for help.

In the darkness, nobody from the town can see her. The water is now to Rose's knees. With it brings dangerous debris.

Suddenly, a gigantic hand grabs Rose from her back. Yes, it held her like one would have a soda bottle. It was the thug, the giant, the rowdy.

"We can not cross the flooding river now. I will take you through the jungle. Come with me." The thug said in an authoritative tone.

The journey begins.

Rose didn't have an option; The rowdy took her into his shoulders and started walking. Little Rose couldn't get her hand around the giant's bald head. So she grabbed his ears. At first, the man giggled and then continued walking.

Within minutes they've been walking through the thick dark forest. Raindrops rarely reached the earth with the high-grown trees and bushes. There was no road. But the giant kept walking.

"What's your name, kid?" questioned the rowdy.

At first, Rose couldn't find her voice, but she conversed pretty naturally with the giant in a few minutes.

"Why did you become a thug?" asked Rose.

"I didn't choose to be one. But I turned horrific somehow."

"You mean, you are innocent?

"Haha," laughed the giant. "I was big and tall even at your age. People started calling me a troublemaker. And I started to believe in that."

"You know, kid," continued the giant. "Man becomes what he thinks all day long."

Rose started to laugh. She couldn't believe what she heard. Who could become a thug only by his thoughts?

"Are you saying I could become a thug too?" questioned Rose. "And I only have to believe that I am one?"

"I'd rather insist you believe in something better" came as the answer. "Because it's such a powerful technique."

Rose started to laugh out louder now. Yet, the giant seemed not surprised by it.

The rowdy pulled a little shiny stone from his pocket and gave it to the kid. Rose took it in one hand while the other one was still holding the giant's ear. Then she looked at the stone balancing against the giant's huge bald head.

The stone was a red ruby. Yet, the child did not know about its material worth. The rain has stopped now, and the moonlight was twinkling through the forest's surface. The stone was shining beautifully in that little light.

"Whenever a bad thought struck your mind, I want you to look at this stone," the giant spoke in a kind tone. This stone is a symbol of your mind. Like it shines in the moonlight, your mind needs good thoughts to flourish.

Rose grabbed it tightly. "I will never lose it," she thought to herself.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came out from the jungle and walked through a grassland. The grassland was surprisingly dry though it was raining a few moments ago.

I saw you feeding the stray dog. You seem to be a kind person; if you were a thug, what changed you?

The giant didn't answer that one.

"Look, child," the giant continued after a while. "I spoke about my past. But we must learn not to be a slave of our past and be the architect of our futures.

"Who is an architect?"

"Oh!" the giant realized he is speaking with a child. "An architect is a person who designs things. It's his imagination that turns out to be buildings, bridges, and castles.

"You must nourish your mind with good thoughts." the giant continued. "It is possible only if you pay attention to what you think. Many people constantly worry about things that happened to them, or they did in the past. It'll never help. Instead, think about the glorious future. You can build the reality you want just by focusing your attention on the right thoughts.

As they passed through the grassland, Rose saw a hut. Near the house, there were two little calves. Rose wanted to see them.

"Take me there!" cried Rose.

"Kid," the giant replied. "We don't have all night."

"Yes, we do! take me there."

The giant couldn't resist the child's orders. He took her there, and Rose started to play with the calves. They were beautiful black calves.

The giant went inside the hut and came out with two cups of hot tea.

"Is this your house?" asked Rose curiously.

"I live here."

"These calves? Are they yours?"

The giant was silent for a moment.

"A wealthy man once hired me to assist with his hunts," the giant spoke. I was my master's favorite because of my muscular body. One day, I killed a raging bull with my bare hands. I tattooed it in my arms to show the pride.

My master said to leave the calves so that they could grow big. He said once they are grown, we can kill them too for their meet.

But one day, when I casually traveled along this grassland, I saw these two calves again. They were at the edge of death. Without their mother and now lost their only protector-father, they don't even know where to find water and food.

Wild bulls lived in herds until we started hunting them. This last family did not even have a cow. That day, the bull was trying to protect these two calves from me.

I realized life is not only for us, humans. Bulls, too, have families. They are too creatures with feelings and desires. The tattoo I had to show my pride turned out to be my destiny—my enlightenment. I'm in search of it now.

I moved out from the town and brought these two calves here. I care for them until they could grow and are ready to go into the wild.

As the giant told this story, Rose grabbed his hands. It looked like a tiny drop of water in a vast desert. But for the giant, it's an oasis.

"You are changed now," Rose spoke in a husky voice. "Don't be a prisoner of your past."

She took the ruby the giant gave her a moment ago. In the full moonlight, it glowed like a beautiful star in the sky.

As the giant saw it, a slight smile appeared on his face. Then he hugged little Rose and started to weep like a child. For the first time, Rose experienced the satisfaction of compassion.

The giant and Rose started to walk again. Though neither Rose nor the giant liked how it started, it turned out to be an incredible journey. They both started to enjoy the company of each other very much.

Though they tried to find a way to cross the river formed by the rain, they couldn't. They both had to walk till dawn to find a shallow spot which is still dangerous to travel. The giant decided to cross there.

On one side of the river, behind the grassland, Rose could see the morning sun rising. She has never seen such a wonderful sight before.

The giant started to walk across the river, with Rose on his shoulders.

As they cross the river, a massive wood washed by the floods struck the giant's stomach with colossal force. The giant screamed in pain but lifted Rose high above his head to protect her. The giant somehow managed to regain its balance. But he started to bleed.

Rose never thought such a giant could bleed and feel pain.

Finally, they managed to cross the aggressive river. The giant picked some leaves, crushed them with his gigantic palms, and applied them to his bleeding belly. Magically, the wound stopped bleeding.

The giant kept walking, hiding his pain. But Rose could sense it in his every breath.

With the morning sun shining, they reached Rose's village.

Everyone who saw the giant bringing the little girl thought he kidnapped her. Yet, no one dared to question.

All their perspectives changed as they saw what happened next. The giant put the girl back on the ground. Rose gave the giant a flower she picked in the grassland and kissed 'the monk,' seeking enlightenment in his cheeks.

It was his enlightenment.