Konichiwa! A story all the way from Tokyo!

I hope this makes sense, I wrote it mostly on the plane haha

Having an amazing time here! Nice to have a holiday after submitting 8 different things to journals, competitions and editors last month.

Enjoy this one – I’m going to take the next issue off so I can fully relax on holiday!

‘Come on, we’re gonna miss it!’  

Her feet slapped against the packed earth in front of him. He rolled his eyes, trusting the shroud of night to hide it if she turned back again.  

‘I didn’t think this was what you meant when you asked if I wanted to come for a quick stroll!’ he shout-whispered.  

‘Shhh. Hurry up, we can stroll afterwards.’  

They summited the small rise and the lake came into view, reflecting moonlight. He stopped to take it in, they weren’t allowed out here at night, but as soon as he had she’d promptly doubled back and taken him by the arm.  

‘You can admire the moon and the lake and the stars after.’  

‘You’re telling me this isn’t what you were desperate to show me?’ She kept a firm grip on his arm and wasn’t showing signs of letting go any time soon.  

‘I wouldn’t risk a month of detention for a pretty lake, Normy babes.’ She looked at him then, her smile revealing little about their true destination.  

‘Ew, don’t call me that.’  

She laughed.  

She’d slipped the paper under his door just after lights out. When they’d had their phones confiscated last year, they’d started slipping blanks pieces of paper under the other’s door when they wanted to hang out. The paper was always blank but they both knew what it meant: meet at our spot in ten minutes. So far, they’d managed to avoid getting caught but walking this far out of bounds was sure to land them in a world of trouble if anyone found out. The last person who’d been caught out of bounds had only gotten as far as the gate. They’d been made to clean every toilet on campus and perform a monologue at assembly. This wasn’t just a boarding school, it was a totalitarian regime. Though he noticed Fran wasn’t worried about getting caught. 

‘Have you done this before?’ His voice was accusatory.

She slowed to walk beside him, ‘The first time I went, I was super homesick and trying to escape somewhere through the bush.’ she jumped over a branch. ‘I could tell I was close to the boundary, but I couldn’t see it. I ended up kicking my toe on this old statue thing. It was like,’ she gestured to her knee, ‘this tall. Then I noticed that there were like twenty of them in a circle around this random building. I couldn’t tell if it was a house or some kind of caretaker’s shed. You’ll see when I show you.’ She pointed towards the bush ahead of them and lead him along the edge for a while. She checked her watch in the moonlight.  

‘We’ve got about ten minutes until it happens.’  

‘Until what? Have you joined a cult or something?’ He gave her a look. 

A laugh erupted from her. He hoped they were far enough from the school that no one would hear it. She wiped her eyes with her fingertips.  

‘Norm, be serious. You’re not going to believe me until I show you.’  

‘I don’t know if I really want to go in there, Franny. Did you really just run in there one night not tell me about it?’  

‘A moment of lapsed judgement. Mercury was in retrograde or something, I’m sure of it.’  

‘Is it in retrograde now?’ The pitch of his voice rose slightly. He’d followed Fran into some interesting situations, but he’d never thought she was unhinged.  

‘Don’t know. We can Google it when we get back.’  

‘If we don’t get murdered.’ He muttered under his breath.  

Without warning she rounded on him, grabbing him firmly by the tops of his arms. ‘Norm. Normy Babes. Do you trust me?’ She enunciated every word – her way of imparting how serious she is.  

He scanned her face. ‘I guess, yeah.’  

‘No, not “I guess”. I need a yes.’ Her stare was inescapable.

‘Yeah, I trust you, I just…’  

‘You…?’ She prompted.  

‘Are you sure you know where to go?’

She nodded and then sheepishly added, ‘I have to admit something, Norm. I’ve been coming here every month since term one.’  

‘WHAT?’ He pushed her off him struggling to comprehend what she’d said.

‘Yeah, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier, but I was selfish and wanted to keep it a secret. But, I’m trying to make it right.’ She looked at him, all her earlier bravado gone.  

‘Every month? Since February?’  

‘Yeah…’ She at least had the decency to look embarrassed.  

‘Okay, fine. I’ll come.’ She did a celebratory jump. ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this. That you’ve been… never mind. Let’s go,’ he mimicked her voice, ‘we’re going to miss it.’  

‘This way!’ She grabbed his arm again and lead him into the bush.  

He’s stunned when he spots the ring of knee-height statues. He’d half expected her story to have been embellished. That the statues would’ve really just been a circle of rocks. He bent down to study one in a patch of dilapidated moonlight. From what he could make out, the statue was some kind of animal. Moss had grown up one side, obscuring some of its features. From what he could see, it looked like a lioness standing on her hind legs.  

‘Look at the statues later. It’s about to start!’ She carefully picked her way over to a bush on the far side of the circle and he followed trying to put his feet where hers had been. She looked to the centre of the circle.  

He’d been so absorbed by the animal-esque statues that he’d neglected to notice the structure in the middle. The light that made it through the bush canopy only showed half of the building. Made from concrete, with delicate wooden framed windows, the structure was an oxymoron. Surrounded by the statues, he would’ve assumed it would be some kind of fairy hut or cult meeting place. But the longer he looked at it, he thought it looked like a classroom. A faint path to the dark door revealed itself as they skirted around the circle – it only made his suspicions stronger. 

‘Okay sit here and find a spot where you can see the window.’ They each sat behind the bush and waited.  

‘It’ll happen any minute now.’ She was trying hard to keep still. He was trying to keep his face neutral in case nothing happened.  

‘She should be here.’ A note of disappointment. He looked at the window and saw something flash. 

‘Wait.’ Her shoulder nudged his.

He’d seen it at the same time she had. Flickering light was beginning to show through the windows. A shadow passed the window and he pressed a hand to his open mouth. Fran put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, eyes wide with excitement.  

He figured the person was lighting candles, but they hadn’t seen anyone enter the abandoned classroom.  

‘I think there’s a hidden entrance. I never see her come or leave.’ Her whisper is so quiet he had to strain to listen.  

They watched the light fill the windows until they had a complete, golden glow. For an unknown length of time nothing else happened. He looked at Fran and she smiled at him, raising her eyebrows. She pointed to the building and mouthed ‘look’.  

From the structure surrounded by statues came the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. A woman’s voice had begun to lilt and caress the bush around them. The sound seemed to emanate from the ground they sat on and push against the night sky. Any insects that had chirped or rasped earlier now ceased their chorus. He was bewitched, not daring to look away from his gap in the bush in case he missed another glimpse of the shadow of the woman with the voice of spun silk.  

The song was melancholy and compelling. It soared and dipped and held them as the woman behind the shadow in the window stood still before the glass, her back to them. 

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there listening to her, but when he finally went to stand, candles blown out and the woman long gone, he could still feel the strange song heavy in his bones.