With the ship sailing slowly over the waves with a gentle breeze passing the "Grand Junon's" deck, Tim was hungry, so he had woken up to find that many of the passengers had already fallen asleep but Ayuka was missing, so he was able to guess that the food was already being prepared and by running through the room and exiting, he finally called out his favorite word. "Food, I'm on my way!"
After bringing his feet to the front of the kitchen's door, he noticed Ayuka had not been inside and felt disappointed. "I just wanted to get some food..." By ducking out of the kitchen, he ran to the front of the "Grand Junon's" deck, where he marveled at the front sightings.
He made a wide smile with excitement blurring within his eyes and upon grabbing his scarf he had finally been ready to visit another island.
~ 12 years ago
The sun shone warmly upon the streets of the city on this day. People were busy with their own lives, including Tim, a young boy whose happiness never appeared in front of people. Tim had a young mother named Masumi Miyazaki and they were adventuring out with Tim's wish of seeing the precious statue of the queen Todora who had been an important person in people's lives.
"Mom, I can finally see the statue of the queen, right?!"
Tim was pumped with happiness and had nearly been losing control of it. However, friendly as his mother was, the giggles easily sounded out from his lips while giving him a pat on the head.
"Yes, of course! Mom isn't working today so she'll be glad to show you the statue that you've been wanting to see for such a long time."
"How long has it been? I think it's been about two years, right and finally I can see it, woo-hoo!"
He had been hopping next to his mother while cars were driving by. There were many people walking by, the sunny weather calming everyone and making each day feel more welcoming. Through their time of walking they finally exited the city's central area and continued to pass on by toward the forest that was not far from it.
It wasn't long until they reached the forest and Tim was already cheering himself up while looking out into the green forest whose leaves were quite a scenery to look at.
Birds were chirping in the forest as the soothing wind blew through, which could induce happy emotions in any listener.
As they walked up a dirt path, his mother was holding a basket, hoping to find mushrooms to cook for supper after their hike. They stopped quite often to pick up.
Others were also gathering mushrooms, while others already had them and were heading home with their families, and some were walking their dogs home.
"How much farther, mom? Are we close? Please tell us that we are."
"Once we reach the top of the hill, we'll come across a magnificent fountain with natural water splashing about. There are also blossom trees surrounding it to make the scenery even brighter and more beautiful!"
"Blossom trees? Aren't those trees that have pink leaves?!"
"Blossom trees are among the prettiest trees in Japan, and no one dislikes seeing them. You can see the pink leaves floating about with the wind and it makes you feel like you're in heaven."
Tim's smile became even wider and with it his excitement to see the blossom trees and the statue for the first time grew beyond his own imagination. "I'll finally see them! I'm so happy!"
With the most happiness Tim had ever had, he and his mother finally ventured up to the top of the hill. In the process, they witnessed the most majestic scenery that Tim had always wanted to see.
With the statue in the middle and queen Todora's grave behind it, the fountain had sparkling blue water. There was a massive blossom tree surrounded by smaller blossom trees. There had been constant wind in that area, and pink leaves floated through the air like waves on the ocean. It was a rounded cobblestone road, and there was a small wooden pedestal on which a bird flapped its wings.
Tim's eyes were glossing as the scenery reflected in his eyes while his mother held the mushroom basket in front of her tummy. "Here we are! People refer to this place as the "Valley of Blossom Fortune" as many of people are able to wish for anything they want right in front of that pedestal."
Tim waved his arms up and down while hopping on the spot, excited more than he ever was. "It's so pretty! I can't believe I'm actually here!" He ran forward waving his arms and running as if he was an airplane, then swiftly leaned over the fountain's stony fence.
"Be careful not to fall in the water! We don't want your clothes to get soaked!"
As happy as he was he couldn't resist but splash the fountain's water left and right and then ran to the queen Todora's statue. He expressed gratitude and happiness by praying in front of the grave with his mother.
"By praying to the queen Todora's grave we express our thanks, after all she was the person who had ruled over this country for decades."
In the short amount of time that they stopped praying Tim believed that he could wish for anything and with excitement thoughts walked toward the pedestal and wondered what it could do.
"What does the pedestal do, mom?"
"If you kneel on the pillow, you can make any wish and it might be granted to you."
As he kneeled on the pillow and pressed both palms together, he looked at the photo of queen Todora. "I wish that when I get older that I can venture out beyond our country, and meet many friends along the way!"
Proud mother giggled and almost cried when she saw the happiness in Tim's eyes as a result of the wish he had made.
"There, I made a wish!"
When he turned he saw his mother crying and felt a bit upset and worried and stepped closer.
"Um, mom? Why are you crying?"
She quickly wiped away the tears and made a very obvious excuse.
"Don't worry, something flew into my eye, that's all!"
Upon saying this, she smiled and grabbed Tim's hand. He smiled back at her and began asking her questions, which she enthusiastically answered. However, neither of them knew there was something else in the vicinity and that it would strike soon.
A sudden roar reverberated throughout the forest enough to scare away the birds with Tim and his mother quickly turning around and him asking what was going on. It was an unnatural roar and it didn't sound like a wolf or any animals. The sound was much more aggressive and manly with echoes of a man involved.
"Mom, what is that sound? I don't like it, it's scaring me."
She hugged him closer and immediately dropped the basket as she ran down the road terrified with a young boy unable to understand what was happening and only ran with his mother who kept looking into both sides with a shadow speeding behind the bushes and trees.
Without being able to outrun the mysterious figure Tim's mother noticed a red glow in the darkness and immediately reacted by pushing Tim forward. "Tim, run and don't look back! Go home as fast as you can, now!"
After rolling down the dirt path and getting messy, he stopped on the ground in the distance in a crawl on all four limbs. "Mom, what are you doing?! Why are you doing this?!"
"Don't worry, just keep running! Listen to your mom and keep running!"
"No! I won't let you alone!"
But then in an instant a body came dashing in between the mother and him, covered with disgusting flesh and a long tongue. It was mostly red with thick armor on both of the arms and its smell was strong and horrible.
"What is that?"
He shouted with fear, shaking on the spot.
"How? How can a demon be out at noon?! You should be burning from the sun!"
Then the demon before her laughed with his tongue wriggling left and right as his eyes appeared maniacal and his voice too.
"Oh, don't worry dear mother! Luckily for me this area is quite well covered with trees so I'm not really affected by the sun, and I'm hungry for some fresh female blood! I'll devour you so that my lovely stomach will be satisfied!"
"It can talk?!"
A demon laughed as it gazed directly into Tim's childish eyes as it backed away on the floor, then stood up and heard his mother's reverberating voice.
"Tim, go home now! Run, I'm begging you, this creature is a demon! They are monstrosities that are on the hunt for human flesh and blood! Please run!"
"What about you, mom?! I can't leave you alone!"
She smiled in response of his words and tried to calm him down.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now go!"
His mother's eyes expressed sadness and stress, and even if she cried in the realization of what was about to happen, she kept smiling only so that Tim could believe her, and due to it he cried loudly and ran away while trying not to look behind, yet the demon's laugh haunted his mind and at that moment, the demon launched itself at the mother whose final words resonated in Tim's mind.
"Thank you, Tim. I hope I can see you again..."
She said it proudly, but there was anxiety hidden behind her expression. In the next second the squirting and splashing of blood repeated its echoes in the wind. Tim's eyes witnessed his own mother dying right in front of him, screaming her name louder than ever.
Within a second, another figure appeared from the shadows, a person he thought was a warrior. In the midst of the battle, they used a long sword to quickly slice the demon's neck. They then turned around to catch Tim, who had become scared of the demon. Rather than killing him, the person grabbed him by the arms and ran through the forest.
Tim's eyes could not turn away from the bloody mess that lay on the path, a corpse of his dead mother lying motionless in the puddle of cold blood, her organs and other body parts ripped out.
On the day he lost his mother, his eyes witnessed a true horror, with the demon's stare haunting his memory to this day. ~
To be continued...