The Chinese word spelt in English as 'dong' means 'east', and the word 'xi' means 'west' or happiness depending on dialect or how it is written. When we put both these words together, we get a completely different meaning. 'Dong xi' as we would write it in the western world, means 'things' -- 东西. Sometimes some things can be all too easily accepted into our lives without knowing what such an acceptance could bring, but then again without such things where would we be today?

Throughout life there are things that we expect to come across, we can plan for the things we expect, we can arrange our lives to suit any incoming expectations. There are places we know we need to go, there is a lot we know we need to do, relationships we need to survive through, relationships too we come to trust and build upon. There are relationships that will form to go on and have long lasting impacts on our lives even if they only have the briefest of existences.

Of course, on the flip side of this, and all through our lives, things will happen that we cannot expect to come our way. There will be things we cannot plan for and relationships that we cannot see coming, no matter how sure we can be that they will or will not come into being. We cannot plan for how any of these things may affect us, we cannot prepare ourselves for the impact of such things and indeed truly cannot see them coming but come they do.

Sometimes the unexpected moments can impact us in such a way that such moments could end up staying with us our entire lifetime no matter how brief a time any of these moments take to pass at the time they occur.

Ten days, for example, is just a fleeting moment in time compared to the average length of a full and lived human lifespan. Yeah, with the amount of time a whole life can see through its entirety whether that can be an average lifespan or something like one, it would really take something special for anything that may occur within any given ten day period to have a lasting effect on such a life as a whole.

***

Eric Russell, not one to shy away from a good bargain or two, was out walking one bright warm spring afternoon, walking that is, without having any particular destination in mind. Being free and able to head out to wherever the wind may take him he would walk at a leisurely pace.

So unusual this is, as for everything that Eric does, or at least usually does, has a purpose. Usually that purpose would be one which leads to gain either financially or in some other manner. Coming into his mid-twenties, Eric is really only getting going in life, there is much to do and plenty of time in which to do it or so is the expectation.

That wind, or whatever it may be, that does take him on this moment of wandering, would just so happen to take Eric to downtown Chinatown where there would be many a wonder to fill each and every one of the senses with wonder.

The smell of freshly prepared raw and cooked foods from the numerous outdoor food stalls and from the surrounding array of Asian and Thai restaurants filled the air, as did the scent of a variety of fresh fish lying on crushed ice for sale from the market stalls. Mixed spices and the aroma of the sea, an eclectic and invigorating mix of scents to rejuvenate the soul and make any tummy rumble. Eric politely passed the many invites to enter such establishments or to buy from the stalls, invites which came in both Chinese and English.

Temptation, hell Eric was seriously tempted by all that he saw, and he would at least love to sample a lot of it if not at least succumb to some of it, but with Eric being just who he is, he would hold out for that perfect bargain, the one which suggested to him that he would most definitely be getting his money's worth and then some. For Eric likes things, all kinds of things, be they inanimate or edible but more often than not he has an eye for things, anything, that can help line his own pockets with cold hard cash.

There is, as Eric knows well, as much money to be made and as many deals to be done in food as there is with most things inanimate. Sure, the number two rule of Acquisition after all states that the best deal is the one which brings most profit.

Despite being in an area primarily food related, one thing in particular would grab his attention. That one thing with which Eric would seriously find difficult to resist would be the site of an old antiques store. There would be a classic cartoon moment where if they actually could, then Eric's eyes would pop out of his head and transform into dollar signs. Such an odd place for such a store to be located but there it is all the same and yes indeed, Eric sees it.

Eric however does fancy himself as a bit of an antiques expert so he would be sure, or at least hoped to come across as being quite sure, that he could pick up a bargain or two, something he could acquire with the intention of selling on somewhere else for a nice little or maybe not so little profit.

A bell over the entrance door sounds as Eric makes his way into that antiques store. Once inside the store, he would take in as much of his surroundings as he could as quickly as he could while he had a moment or two to himself, for he would soon be approached by a rather beautiful young lady.

'Good afternoon, sir, see anything you like?' she asks.

While generally being a good-natured person, not one to respond in an untoward way or to take advantage unfairly, Eric's first impression of seeing this young lady had him thinking that he may just be in a position to take advantage of a situation, a situation where he could possibly gain personally rather than gain financially though he is well aware that first impressions can be deceiving.

'Actually Miss, I do see something I like, something I like very much as a matter of fact. Maybe I could discuss what it is that I admire so much at this very moment in time at a more appropriate moment with you over some coffee? There is a nice place I noticed not far from here with which we can try out if you like?'

'Ah I see, sir' she says as if this moment were nowhere near being the first of its kind, 'please allow me if you will, I have a proposition to offer you if you are willing to accept? A challenge of sorts ...'

'Oh ... this sounds interesting, I do like a good challenge, please go on.'

'I like things floral in nature. I have this one plant in particular, and it is a very special plant. It is an extremely rare and highly sought-after plant.'

'A plant you say, huh? And what may I ask makes it so special?'

'Oh, a lot of things actually, as I say it is something very rare and unique.'

'A lot like you I see, rare and unique.'

The young lady smiles and looks downwards as she brushes a strand of hair behind her right ear.

'So, what is this proposition that you have for me?' continues Eric, 'I take it that it revolves around me taking on this plant.'

'Yes. The proposition is as simple and unique as the plant itself is. If you can take care of this plant, look after it, feed it well for ten days and ten nights then return it to me in as good or a better condition than what it currently is in, then I will accept your invite for coffee.'

Eric stares at the young lady for a moment with a strong expression of thought and intrigue fixed upon his face, this moment he finds himself in was and is one with which he definitely had not been expecting to find himself in, but then again, there always had been a certain oddness to this day, an oddness which in a way has led Eric to be where he currently so happens to be.

'That is one heck of a proposition, a challenge which I must and would be happy to accept.'

The young lady at this point takes a moment of her own and once again smiles then moves away and out of Eric's sight. She soon returns holding an average hand-held sized pot, a pot containing that plant she had spoken of ... a thick dark green stem only inches high reaching up to a single multi-coloured flower in full blossom, something that appears both simple and beautiful. As with those first impressions, appearances can also and always be deceiving.

Looking after such a flower for ten days, just how difficult could that be? Eric would be sure that a coffee date with a beautiful young lady would definitely be on the cards. He can wait ten days and spend a portion of that time caring for a flower. She hands over the plant shyly and she does this with an odd kind of nervous giggle, and he gladly accepts it. Fingers briefly meet. Once in possession of the flower, Eric begins to move towards the store exit. He pauses and turns.

'... By the way, the name is Eric ...'

'Bethany ...'

'Ten days, right?'

'Right, ten full days and nights so tomorrow will count as your first full day.'

Eric smiles and turns once again then leaves the store having only acquired temporary custody of a plant and nothing else other than the possibility of getting to take a beautiful young Asian lady out for coffee.

Not wanting to be walking around too long with a potted flower in his possession, Eric makes haste getting home. He opens his front door then makes his way through the hallway and into his kitchen placing his keys on a counter and the flower in the window on a shelf just over and behind the sink. He thought placing his new possession in full view of the sunlight, when there would be sunlight, would be a good way to begin the task he has been given.

He fills a kettle and turns it on then moves to take up his keys so he can hang them before he loses them completely, but it appears that he is already too late. Eric's keys are not where he was sure he had left them. Only seconds had passed since he had put them down.

He begins to look around and soon becomes baffled when he finds his keys next to that flower that he had brought home. There is no way that he had left the keys next to that plant. Eric was sure of that ... he is sure of that. For the first time he begins to wonder as to if there is more to what it is that he has got himself into other than what had actually been put to him.

This wonder, this feeling that something is not quite right would be compounded two more times on this day, the first of which would come with an internet search. The internet search itself had two main functions, one being to try find out just what kind of plant or flower it is that he has come to acquire.

For the life of him, Eric could not find anything at all online that could come close enough in regard to resembling what it is he has. So, it became a difficult thing to become sure and to be without doubt in identifying anything that could be in any way similar to being what he had indeed brought home.

The second purpose of his internet search would be an attempt to discover what he might need to give to this plant to ensure that it thrives. Would water and sunshine be enough to ensure that it is well looked after, or would it need something more? Sure, didn't Bethany inform him that part of his task to keep it well fed? To be sure, Eric felt he would be better off seeking advice from the local garden center rather than leaving it to whatever information he could acquire on-line.

Having gone out to and having returned home from that garden center, which is not all so far away from his home, Eric would be hit by that other moment that things were not quite what he had previously thought they might be, for that plant, that flower had most definitely increased in size by at least half of what it originally was.

This kind of thing is impossible, right? A plant to grow so much in such a short period of time is neither normal nor natural, right? It would be something he would think is impossible but here it is. Ninety minutes, less even, and this flowering plant has increased in size by fifty percent, how odd?