March 20, 2009

At Osaka prefecture, Japan

Takashi dashed through the playground, his little hands clutching a set of piano keys tightly. The keys, smooth and cold against his skin, felt so familiar, even though everything around him was all twisted and strange. The kids were running super slow, and their laughter echoed all weird. The swings creaked louder than they should, like an off-key chord in a song.

"Takashi! Takashi, wake up!"

Someone yelled his name, pulling him out of his dream. He blinked, and the bright classroom came into focus. His teacher, Mrs. Hoshino, was standing over him, looking a mix of worried and annoyed.

"Takashi, you can't be sleeping in class,"

she said, her voice softening a bit.

"Are you feeling okay?"

He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the classroom.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Mrs. Hoshino. Just... tired."

She frowned and glanced at the other kids, who were all trying not to look.

"Alright, but try to stay awake, okay? We're about to start music practice."

Takashi nodded, his heart still racing from the dream.

"I'll try, Mrs. Hoshino."

He loved music class, but lately, even that had been all messed up by weird dreams. As he stood up and made his way to the piano, he couldn't help but look around, half-expecting the playground to show up again.

"Hey, Takashi,"

whispered his best friend Naoki, sitting down beside him on the piano bench. "Dude, you were totally out of it. What were you dreaming about?"

Takashi shrugged. "Just weird stuff. Running around with piano keys. Everything was... strange."

Naoki laughed. "Sounded like you were in some weird video game. You ready to play our duet?"

Takashi nodded, and they started playing. The familiar notes flowed through him, pushing the strange dream to the back of his mind. The music was just so comforting, even when everything else was all messed up.

Hours later.

After class, as they were packing up, Mrs. Hoshino came over to him.

"Is everything okay at home, Takashi? You've seemed a bit distracted lately."

He bit his lip, not sure how to explain the dreams.

"It's just... I keep having these weird dreams. But I'm fine, really."

She smiled gently.

"Dreams can be weird, but they can't hurt you. Just focus on your music. You have a real talent, you know."

Takashi smiled back, feeling a little better. "Thanks, Mrs. Hoshino. I'll try."

As he left the classroom later on while struggling to put on he's bag, Naoki caught up with him.

"Hey, you wanna come over and play some video games? Might take your mind off those weird dreams."

Takashi thought about it, then shook his head. "Nah, I think I'm just gonna practice piano for a bit. See you tomorrow?"

Naoki shrugged. "Sure thing. See you tomorrow, Takashi."

Walking home, he felt the weight of the piano sheets in his bag. The dream had been weird, but as long as he had his music, he felt like he could face anything. Little did he know, the echoes of those dreams would soon spill into his reality, leading him into a dark and dangerous game he never could have imagined.

Some times pass by.

As Takashi walked home, the sky above was this deep, serene blue with streaks of orange and pink from the setting sun. The gentle breeze brought the scent of spring blossoms, and the distant hum of the city was just like, you know, a background thing.

As he was rounds a corner, he spotted a stray cat sitting by the side of the road. Its fur was all messed up and dirty, its eyes were wide and scared. He was like,

"Poor thing."

Without thinking twice, he reached into his bag and pulled out the sandwich his mom had packed for him that morning. It was literally the last bit of food he had, but he was like,

"Eh, it's fine."

He knelt down and held out a piece of the sandwich to the cat. The cat looked at him all suspicious, but then it was like,

"Okay, fine."

and went up to him and ate the food. While they were chilling, Takashi was just like,

"Dude, how do you survive out here? Like, you got no one to take care of you and no home to go back to..."

The cat was all done eating and looked at him with its big, sad eyes. Takashi was like,

"Humans are so soft. We need homes and families and stuff, but you're just out here surviving somehow."

The cat purred, this low, rumbly sound that was just like, "Mmmmmm..." It rubbed its head against his hand like it was saying "Thanks." and then it just darted off into the shadows.

Takashi stood up and kept on walking to his house. He felt kinda weird without the sandwich, but just simply says

"Whatever."

Some time passes by.

When Takashi got home, he was just

like,

"Ahhhh, the warmth of home."

He felt all cozy inside and stuff.

But even as he settled in for the evening, the image of the stray cat was still in his mind. It was like a reminder of how harsh life could be and how you had to be strong to survive. He didn't really know it then, but he would need that strength real soon.