Intermission: Laughter Bubbling Up from the Sea Floor

Intermission:
Laughter Bubbling Up from the Sea Floor

 

THE SUN NEVER ROSE in the spirit realm. Once the lights went out, thick, oppressive darkness blanketed the town. During those hours, nothing, not even private residences, gave off any light. Not even the moon could pierce that inky veil.

The lonely hollows of the trees, shadows cast by stones, puddles, old and decaying wells…these were the places from which countless eyes gazed out at the world. Though they stayed out of sight, they were so numerous you could feel their presence tickling the back of your neck.

If you listened carefully, you could even hear the sound of someone breathing right next to you. The moment you let your guard down, these spirits would pounce and scoop out your entrails.

That was the world of the spirit realm, the underbelly of the human world, the darkness lurking beneath the light. The true world.

 

***

Off near the river, just outside the town limits and away from the faint shine of lights, a glow shimmered on the surface of the water.

One spirit was doing his best to escape the heat.

Nue was a strange spirit, sporting the head of a monkey, the limbs of a tiger, and a snake for a tail. In the west, many would have called him a chimera. According to legend, this was the sort of spirit that Minamoto no Yorimasa had slain. Now, he slid his incredibly long tongue out between his fangs to drink from the river and eat a stolen peach.

Spirits were generally pretty good at tolerating the summer heat, but it was particularly miserable today. Nue, who usually lived with the rest of his pack in the much cooler mountains, had come down to experience the liveliness of summer in town, but he had quickly come to regret it.

His family had given him a little money as a farewell gift, but he’d lost it all when a talented merchant talked him into making an exorbitant purchase. In return, he’d received a delicacy unlike anything he’d tasted back home. Still, it lacked that special something human flesh offered. And now he had to sleep outside, which theoretically he didn’t mind, but his wallet was so empty that he could afford no measure of comfort at all.

Maybe he should have just stayed cooped up in his home village after all. He had only come down here in the first place because of his desire to kill Tsuchigumo, the monster who had slain several Nue children. He shouldn’t have stayed.

Nue sighed deeply and gazed up at the moon. Somewhere back home, his friends and family were looking at this very same moon, but he couldn’t reach them. He cried out, his howl echoing on the empty wind. Usually, he heard howls in response from his kith and kin. Now, there was no one around to hear him.

When his loneliness drew his head back down, he found a silver thread had entwined around his front legs. The thread, whiter than the light cast by the moon, extended from the water’s edge to Nue’s legs.

He tilted his head and tried to untie it. As soon as he touched the thread, something yanked, dragging him toward the river like a fish on a line.

“Augh!” he screamed.

Nue tried to resist, digging his feet into the ground, but more threads burst from the water to wrap around him, covering his entire body in the silver thread. Whatever was pulling him dragged until his toes dipped into the mud at the river’s edge. A tingle shot up his spine at the touch of the cold water as he screamed with all his might.

“No, stop! If you kill me, my clan will have their revenge! They’ll chase you to the ends of the earth, tear out your intestines, and cast you into the bowels of hell just like we did with Tsuchigumo!”

Of course, this was all a front. No one back in the village would know about his death out here, and so they would do nothing about it.

Right when he figured it was all over for him, the force pulling him into the water weakened. At the same time, an unfamiliar voice rang in his ears.

“Did you kill the spider? Hmm, well, that’s gonna be a hassle.” The voice somehow combined the boisterous snarl of an older woman and the sultry murmur of a younger one. Undercutting it all was the distinct bite of annoyance. “Oh, so you all joined together to kill it? Smart move, smart move…” she mused.

The silver thread began to unravel and draw back into the water. As soon as he could, Nue screamed wildly and scrambled away from the water’s edge.

Soon, all that remained were the sounds of leaves rustling, insects chirping, and a woman’s sigh.

“Stupid spirits,” she said. “They flock together just like humans do. I really hate being chased down like that in the name of revenge. Now, I wonder, is there a stray still hanging around somewhere? Tee hee hee…”

A fish splashed up out of the water, and an instant later, the woman’s voice faded away, along with any trace of what she had done.