> Research literature on the SUICIDE MAN.
You've already done that, nothing turned up. Whatever he...
it is, it's not any Youkai you've ever read about. No Oni, no western demon or Arabic monster.
> Follow the Note. Take the doll.
It's 9:00. You took the RUBY DOLL. Whatever it's connection to this is, you don't feel comfortable letting it out of your sight just because some stranger said so in a note he slipped into your pocket. Still, if he bothered to mention it it must be important to him. You move to set it down behind a corner, but a strange noise stops you. Turning, you find a fox sitting on a bench.
It's a cold spring, and small piles of snow are still scattered about, melting. A frosty wind blows from the north, ruffling the foxes fur regally. It seems to bask in the cold.
Hello, you want to say.
What are you doing here?You hide the RUBY DOLL and return to the fox. It's only when your foot slushes into a half-melted pile of snow that it's ears prick up. It still doesn't turn to look at you. As you sit down next to it it seems to smile, and then make it's strange cry again.
You've never really heard a fox before. You lived most of your old life in the city, and there aren't many foxes around the school. It sounds like a dog on helium, and you can't help but laugh, an almost silent wheezing that goes missing in the chill wind almost before it can even reach your own ears.
Something about the fox makes you introspective, and your thoughts turn to your own life, before the NIGHTMARES began...
You can still hear your own voice, the laughter and quick speech of a little girl. You're running right now, playing and laughing with old friends on a playground. The rusty swingset creaks and moans, but it holds together. Your friends and you spin around and around on a merry-go-round.
Mother watches from a bench, eyes closed but still smiling. Her hair is growing tinged with grey already; what a handful you've been to her! You're always so active, bright-eyed and full of energy. You're constantly getting cuts and scrapes and bruises and bites, but you never come home crying. Every new wound is a miracle to you, a sign that you're alive, that you're still here. Your mother couldn't ask for a better burden.You breath into the cold air. It's not quite cold enough for your breath to form mist anymore, but you rub your hands together anyway. The onset of summer is good; the students at Yamaku rarely get a chance to play outside, the festival will do you some good. There's a small crack as a pile of ice topples over. The ice on the roof is turning into puddles. You'll welcome summer, but you'll miss the snow.
"Okāsan, why is the snow white?"
You mother looks at you, a smile crinkling her face. "I don't know Daisy. I guess it's just the color ice turns when there's air in it."
"Snow is ice?" You ask, amazed. You'd always thought of Snow and Ice as two similar but different things. They seemed so different before... But now, they seem so alike.
"Yes it is!" Your mother chuckles. You gather up some of the Snow-ice into a ball and toss it at your mom. It doesn't connect, but she falls over anyway. You laugh, and she laughs with you, gathering up more snow into a ball. She makes sure to miss too.
You played in the snow for hours that day, and when you got inside both your fingers and both your lips had turned blue. But Okāsan made some microwavable hot chocolate, and everything was right."Okāsan..." you murmur. But as always, the slight, breathy whisper you can make has no voice, no texture, and no power. You couldn't be heard by someone right next to you in this silence, much less in a normal environment like a school classroom. The doctors don't know why, but your voicebox is almost completely dead. It should work, but it just doesn't, and you can't project much more than a whisper.
And on a windy day like this, your breath is lost, blown away without any more than a rustle.
You realize the fox is gone. It must have slipped away without you noticing. Ah, well.
There is a noise at the door to the roof. Someone is coming.
Author
Topic: DAISY [Act 4: Voiceless] (Read 67286 times)