Glad to Meet His Ghost ~ Prologue

Glad to Meet His Ghost – Prologue

The thin mist spread across the room silently, swathing everything with its shimmery fingers. The child stirred and sluggishly opened her eyes. Her covers lay in a messy heap by her feet and all of her toys were scattered on the floor.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear up her vision. The mist grew denser, until she could scarcely distinguish her surroundings. Lightly her feet touched the floor and she tiptoed across the room, holding the wall with both of her tiny hands.

“Mom?” she called out at the vacant hall. It looked different somehow; all the doors were so far away, as if the hall stretched on forever… “Mom?” she said once again. She searched for her mother’s familiar face and let out a frightened shriek.

It was that horrible painting again. She had always been scared of it, but her parents were adamant about keeping in the hallway. It pictured a girl with braided hair, dressed in white, standing in a dark forest. It always made the child feel like she would someday end up lost and alone, someplace where no one could find her.

She turned around stubbornly, pretending she didn’t care about the scary picture. Her hand reached for the switch in her room, but when she flipped it, nothing happened.

“Huh?” She peeked curiously through the door. “Where did my room go?”

It was as if the whole room had been swallowed by the mist. The toys, the covers… even the walls had vanished.

Sounds reached her from the haze. Heavy voices and the banging of the drums. Playful flutes and more drums followed and the voices grew louder.

“Hello? Anybody there?” The child took a few hesitant steps. Below her feet the soil was damp and fallen leaves crunched with each movement.

The more distance she put between herself and the hallway, the clearer the air became. Trees around her formed a winding path going downhill, all the way to the river.

She kept walking, all the while trying to make sense of what the voices were saying. “Can you hear me?” she yelled.

Up ahead, on the opposite shore, the shrine was visible, lit up and beautifully decorated, glowing brightly in the darkness. Red and white lanterns hung all the way to the shore, flickering like fireflies. The child didn’t notice she had reached the river until she felt the water stroking her ankles. The outlines of people were visible on the other side, but she couldn’t reach them. There wasn’t a bridge to cross; there wasn’t a way for her to go to the other side.

The voices reached her clearly and she realized that behind their heavy tone there was a song hidden.

“The bamboo leaves rustle,
Shaking away the eaves,” they sang.

The child suddenly realized that she was standing in the middle of the forest, alone and lost, unable to cross the river. No, I don’t want that! she thought in panic.

“The stars twinkle,
On the gold and silver grains of sand.”

The child was wearing a white dress. It’s just like the painting… No… She looked with wide eyes as paper lanterns came floating down the river. They came in dozens, or more, with wishes written on them; some were simple and some others were too complicated for the girl to read.

“The five-color paper strips
I have already written.”

The lanterns’ light shivered as the stream dragged them right and left and eventually so far they weren’t even visible. Among the others, came a lonely group of three, white lanterns, without wishes written on them. The girl watched them cautiously as they floated downstream slowly.

“The stars twinkle
They watch us from heaven.”

The song finished, but the voices began anew, even louder than before.

The girl’s heart beat more frantically than the drums across the river. She pressed her hands against her ears, trying to block the sound, but she could still hear them clearly.

“Where is everyone?” she mumbled to herself. They had to be somewhere. They had to be at the other side of the river, at the shrine. “I have to be somewhere!” she yelled back at the singing voices. They went on, ignoring her. “They’re waiting for me!” she continued. The voices sang ever louder, the drums beating loudly in the night.

She curled into a ball, sat down, the water reaching her waist, clapped her hands three times as if in prayer and started to sing.

“Let me pass, let me pass…
What is this narrow pathway here?
It’s the narrow path to the Tenjin shrine,
Please allow me to pass through…”

Wishing lanterns bumped against her before flowing farther down the river, interrupting her signing. She clapped again three times and continued.

“Those without good reason shall not pass
To celebrate this child’s seventh birthday
I’ve come to dedicate my offering…”

She felt her body getting heavier, sinking slowly like a stone trying to reach the riverbed.

“Going in will be fine,
But returning will be scary,
It’s scary but
Let me pass… Let me pass…”

As the water covered her head, she calmly looked at the night sky. The water didn’t sting her eyes, only blurred her sight a little. The drumming song pulsed against her ears as countless fiery flowers exploded in the heavens, so bright that they hid the stars.

Please let me pass, she thought. They’re still waiting for me…