I dunno if anybody reads this anymore, but I decided to post this story that I wrote for my ghost story Japanese class midterm, cause I'm kind of proud of it. 

“Grandma, tell me a story,” Kazu pleaded. 

            “Kazu-kun, it’s past your bedtime.  And your parents would get mad at me if I told you a story.  You know that I don’t know any stories suitable for lulling children to sleep.”

            “Please?  Just this once?  I won’t tell them.”

            “Kazu, that’s not that point.  You won’t be able to sleep after any of my stories!”

            “But Grandma, I can’t sleep anyway, so the sooner you start, the sooner we can both try to sleep.”

            There was some strange childish logic in that that she couldn’t refute.  Sighing, she replied, “All right, but don’t come crying to my bed when you have nightmares.”

            The sun was setting on the small town of Jiriki.  Jingor­­­ō looked up at the sky and sighed.  Another night in a nameless town.  For the fourth day in a row, he had failed to reach the town he intended to spend the night in. 

            “Che,” he thought.  “At this rate, it’ll take me at least another week to get to where Hiroko is waiting for me.  I should have listened to Mother and paid for the train so I could get there faster.  Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now except to try to find a place to sleep in this town.”  Having decided that, Jingor­­­ō set his sights for the town and towards finding lodging for the night.

            Walking into the middle of the town, Jingor­­­ō could see that he had wandered into what could hardly be called a town; a small huddle of houses would be more appropriate.  Following the only visible road, Jingor­­­ō looked for a house whose owner would be likely to let him stay the night.  Far from looking hospitable, however, the door to every house was closed, and Jingor­­­ō couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding.  He had never seen a town so apparently devoid of life before.

            “Hello?  Is anybody here?”  Jingor­­­ō shouted, trying to keep his voice from wavering.  He was about to turn around and leave, deciding that it would be better to walk through the night than to stay in such a lifeless town, when a door ahead of him opened and a woman stepped out.  She seemed like an ordinary, homely woman, with plain, curly brown hair and brown eyes.

            “Why, hello there.  And who might you be, to have wandered into our humble town?”  Her voice had a scratchy feel to it, and grated on Jingor­­­ō’s ears.  He winced involuntarily.

            “My name is Jingor­­­ō Yamashita, and I’m traveling to visit my fiancée in Shikoku.  Unfortunately, night has fallen faster than I had expected it to, and I find myself in need of a place to spend the night.  Could you or anybody else in this town give me a place to sleep?  I have my own food, and I can pay for the inconvenience.”

            “Traveling to see your fiancée?  Well, even so, a handsome man such as you shouldn’t be traveling alone through the countryside.  If you don’t mind, you can spend the night in my house.  It might be a little cozy, but I don’t think you’ll be able to find space in anybody else’s house.  As you can see, the town is rather crowded.”  As she said that, Jingor­­­ō realized that he was suddenly in the middle of a bustling town square.

            “That’s odd,” he thought.  “Well, I must have just been so distracted by the woman that I didn’t notice all the other people come out of their houses.”  Out loud, he said, “I’d be grateful if you would let me sleep in your house.  I don’t take up much space, and I can sleep on the floor.”

            “Don’t be silly.  What kind of hostess would I be if I made my guest sleep on the floor?  And don’t worry about using up your own food; my neighbors tell me I’m a respectable cook.”  She giggled. 

            “What an attractive giggle,” Jingor­­­ō thought.  “Her voice isn’t nearly as irritating as I originally thought.  In fact, wasn’t her hair brown?  No, I guess not.  What a gorgeous black color… I’ve always wanted to run my hands through such lustrous hair… Ah, what am I thinking? I’m on my way to see my fiancée, not dally with a random woman whose name I don’t know.  But… it’s strange.  She looks so much like my Hiroko.”  “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m afraid that I’ve been so terribly rude as to not ask for your name.”

            “Oh, it’s quite all right.  My name is Hiromi.  Shall we?”  Saying that, she led Jingor­­­ō through the growing crowd and into her house.  Despite what she said about it being cozy, the inside of the house seemed like a palace to Jingor­­­ō.  He didn’t see how they wouldn’t have enough space with just the two of them, so he put his packs down and lounged on the floor.

            “Just make yourself at home, and I’ll start cooking right away,” Hiromi said.  “It shouldn’t take too long.”  While she bustled over the stove, Jingor­­­ō casually looked around the house.  It had only one room, with the bed on the opposite side of the stove.  He was currently on the floor in the middle, and there was so much space that even spread out completely, another person could lie down with his head to Jingor­­­ō’s feet and they still wouldn’t reach the stove.

            “Who would’ve thought that I would find such a kind hostess in such a small town,” Jingor­­­ō mused to himself.  “In fact, a house of this size is pretty surprising.  It certainly didn’t look this big from the outside.”  While he was tried to rationalize how such a large area could fit into such a small exterior, Hiromi brought over a simple meal of rice and gyoza.

            “Thank you for the meal,” Jingor­­­ō said with his palms together in front of his face.

            “I apologize for the plain appearance of the food, but I guarantee that you’ll enjoy it.”

            Nodding, Jingor­­­ō picked up the first piece of gyoza, then paused, feeling that sense of foreboding again.  He looked up at Hiromi, and saw that she was waiting for him to eat the piece of gyoza, so he shrugged off the feeling and put it into his mouth.  Inexplicably, the most delicious flavor he had ever tasted poured out of the gyoza, and his eyes began to water.  “This is incredible!” he exclaimed, unable to keep himself from talking with his mouth full.

            As he proceeded to eat the gyoza, at an increasingly fast pace, Hiromi lowered her head and replied, “Thank you.  I’m glad you like it.”  With her face turned down, and with Jingor­­­ō being too involved in eating, he couldn’t see the slight red tint that Hiromi’s eyes had taken.

            As soon as he finished eating, Jingor­­­ō felt a lethargy creep over his body.  Stronger than any food coma he had ever felt before, he found himself falling asleep almost immediately.  Lifting his eyes to Hiromi, he saw not the incredibly beautiful woman with flowing black hair, but a hazy image of a sad looking woman with glowing red eyes.  However, he had no time to contemplate the change in his host, as his eyes closed and he fell asleep where he sat. 

            His eyes opened.  Looking around, he found himself in the middle of a road.  It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining brilliantly in the clear, blue sky.  Shading his eyes, he thought he could see a shape moving towards him in the distance.  Rather than stand where he was, confused, he decided to set out towards the shape.  As he walked, he looked around at his surroundings.  Something about them nagged at him, as if something from the back of his mind was trying to surface.  He kept walking, and before long, he realized why the landscape seemed so familiar.  Seconds later, as the shape he saw earlier sharpened into his fiancée, Hiroko, he wondered why he was seeing his memory of when he met Hiroko.

            As he continued to walk towards her, he began to wonder why he had fallen so deeply in love with her in the first place.  Her once beautiful skin seemed sallow, and her brilliant blue eyes appeared dull as Jingor­­­ō recalled the image of his host, Hiromi.  Suddenly, Jingor­­­ō realized that he didn’t love his fiancée anymore.  He no longer wanted to walk the rest of the way to the boat to Shikoku, and he no longer felt any warmth towards the image of Hiroko walking towards him.  Instead of stopping and talking to her like he did when he first met her, Jingor­­­ō kept walking, pretending as though he hadn’t seen her. 

            When he walked abreast with her, just as he was about to take the first step past her, he felt a tremendous amount of pressure pushing him on all sides.  It became difficult for him to breathe, and it took all of his willpower to force himself to take the next step.  Once he did, he felt as though his world was collapsing, and all the warmth of the sun vanished.  Hiroko turned around, and he realized that it wasn’t Hiroko; it was Hiromi, complete with her glowing red eyes.

            “I’m sorry, Jingor­­­ō,” she said, her eyes somehow tearful.  “I’m afraid you won’t be able to see your fiancée any longer.”  She reached out and touched his heart, and his eyes rolled back, never to absorb the light of the sun again.

            Back in the town, Hiromi took her hand off of Jingor­­­ō’s chest and sighed.  Once again, as she did every time she took the soul of a living person, she mourned that she needed to do such a thing to find her husband.  She knew he was in the world somewhere, but she continuously failed to find him.  As she closed her eyes, the townspeople walking around the town square disappeared, and it returned to what it was before Jingor­­­ō arrived: Jiriki, the ghost town.

            Kazu’s eyes were wide as his Grandma finished the story

            “Wow, thanks Grandma!  I’ve never heard a story like that one!  How scary…”

             “I told you, Kazu, that you wouldn’t be able to sleep after I told you a story.”

            “Oh, it’s okay.  I’m kind of sleepy now.  Thanks again Grandma.  I’ll see you in the morning!  Good night.”  Kazu turned his back on his Grandma, and closed his eyes.

            She stared at the back of her grandchild, and tears welled up in her eyes.  “I’m afraid I won’t see you in the morning, Kazu-kun,” she whispered.  Her eyes turned red and she reached out to touch Kazu on the back over his heart. 

            “I’m sorry, Kazu-kun.”