What would you do if your greatest desires came to life? Would you immediately take it? Control yourself and walk away from it? Destroy it? Everyone has a different way of reacting to something impossible happening right in front of them. I had no idea what I would do if a situation like this arose, but everything changed just a few days ago…
"Hey Makoto, did you hear about the rumoured magic tunnel?" Ren asked me as we were walking towards our school, "Everybody is talking about it."
"Do you really believe these rumours? There's no way that a tunnel that can show your desires exists," I answered.
"Why do you have to be such a dream-crusher all the time?! Imagine a whole bunch of cash on the other side of that tunnel. We could finally get off this boring island!"
I nodded my head and gave him a wry smile. Ren and I have had the same goal ever since we were 1st graders: leave this rural island and move to a huge city like Tokyo or Osaka. That is why we have been studying so hard for the past few years, especially for our third year of high school.
We continued to walk on the abandoned gravel road, sandwiched by lush greenery on our left and right. There's almost nothing on Yakushima Island. No entertainment, no 5-star restaurants, no sports centres etc. The only thing of note on this god-forsaken island was a small town which had a small market with small shops. There's also the school we attend: Yakushima High. Although it is located in a backwater area of Japan, it is considered one of the best schools in Japan in terms of academics.
"Why don't we go check out the tunnel for ourselves?" Ren randomly blurted out. I turned to see the expression on his face, expecting him to have the smile of a joker plastered on his face. Instead, his expression was dead serious, his caramel-brown eyes sharper than ever before. I thought carefully about my answer.
"If you're so curious then sure."
A bright smile grew on his face immediately. "That's my buddy!" he shouted, slapping my back.
"Hey, we're going to be late if we keep on walking at this pace. Let's hurry up," I warned Ren.
"Damn, you're right! Time to make like a tree!"
The school hours flew by in a flash. Instead of paying attention to any of the lectures, I was busy imagining what I would see beyond the tunnel. Once the final bell rang, I dashed out of my seat and briskly walked towards the exit. Unfortunately, a girl with a short maroon ponytail and humongous circular spectacles stopped me in my tracks.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" the lass asked in her usually bossy tone.
"Umm. Nowhere that concerns you, Yuki," I crossly replied.
"Unfortunately it does. I noticed that you were staring into a blank space the whole day and, as class president, I can't have my peers doing that."
"Don't worry so much. Just continue doing your thing and I'll continue doing mine. Deal?"
"Fine. But if you do have any problems, just know that my doors are always open if you want to talk. We are childhood friends after all!"
"Of course," I say with a smile on my face. Yuki and I have known each other ever since we were babies. Our families have been partners in the supermarket business for two generations so we are pretty close; almost as close as siblings.
Without wasting any more time, I rush out the school doors to see Ren impatiently tapping his feet and making continuous glances at his watch. I slowly step in front of him and apologize deeply for the delay. He, at first, showed a child-like expression of annoyance but, in a split second, he showed a bright smiling face. He slapped my back with the force of the Hulk (his way of showing revenge) and together we set forth towards the mysterious tunnel.
"Hey Ren," I called to the enthusiastic teenager beside me," How do you know the way to the tunnel?"
"Well since the tunnel couldn't be found on any map, offline and online, I asked some of the folk around here and even some of our classmates. I connected all the dots and it led me to the abandoned Yakushima tunnel just east of our school! Pretty interesting, huh."
"Never expected that place to be magical at all. This is the same tunnel that had blown up a few years back, right?"
"Bingo!" Ren exclaimed as he held an invisible microphone and pointed it at my face like a television host. I couldn't suppress my mild chuckling which made his smile expand.
We walked the next few meters making some small talk. Eventually, we arrived at the nation-famous Yakushima Tunnel, a hollow shell of what it had previously been. Surrounding the exterior cracked grey walls of the tunnel was colourful overgrown flora and fauna. Weeds crept through the railroad tracks and slithered into the hair-line gaps of the tunnel. Birds chirped harmoniously as we stared into the black abyss of the tunnel.
"Wow! This tunnel is darker than your hair, Makoto! Not to mention your personality, too!" Ren jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
"What an astute observation…" I replied sarcastically.
"I know right! Anyway, do you know what we are supposed to do now?"
"I thought you were the expert here."
"Hahahaha…" Ren laughed worryingly as he began twisting his hair.
"Ren…"
"I did not research anything about this, unfortunately…"
"You mean the most important part?" I said as I gave him a disappointed look before facepalming.
"Oh shut up! Let's just go in and - "
Ring. Ring. Ring. The ringtone of Ren's phone reverberated throughout the tunnel. Both of us shuddered in fear at the sudden sound. I then gave a death-like stare towards Ren to which he returned a cheeky smile. He immediately walked out of the tunnel and answered the phone. After 10 minutes of shouting from both ends, Ren returned with an apologetic expression on his face whilst clasping his hands together.
"I'm so sorry, dude, but I gotta go. My mom just called saying that she needs some help in the shop. Even though I already told her that I was busy today!" Ren began stamping his foot on the ground over and over again like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Grrr! Parents sometimes! I guess we'll have to delay this expedition until tomorrow. Tally ho, partner!" Ren apologized.
Before I could even utter a word, Ren dashed from the scene, leaving me to stand still like a statue for a solid minute. "Well, guess I'll go home" I advised myself.
As I set my right foot forward, a serene feminine voice entered my ears, "Makoto…" I turned around faster than the speed of sound, looking for the source of that voice.
But no one was there.
"Must have been my imagination," I thought to myself. I turned back to the direction I had come from.
"Makoto…"
Again, I zipped back around. No one was around the premises except me, I looked around the area once again, searching for the mysterious voice. That was when it clicked with me.
"The tunnel," I whispered to myself. Without giving it a second thought, I ran into the pitch-black darkness.