Chapter 2: Story Time

Kubo chose to begin his tale with how his mother and father met.

As he plucked a few notes on his shamisen, several pieces of paper rose from the stack and folded themselves into the shapes of a crescent moon and three stars. He continued to play the instrument as he began narrating, using his best dramatic storyteller voice.

"Long ago, the Moon King had three daughters. The eldest was Sariatu, and she shone brighter than any star in the heavens."

One of the stars, made of golden yellow paper, transformed into the shape of a woman with long flowing robes and hair. She fluttered weightlessly above the ground, ethereal and dignified.

She made a graceful bow to Coraline, who was now seated on the stony garden path with her knees pulled up to her chest. The girl giggled and murmured an amazed "Wow!"

Pleased with her reaction, Kubo continued his tale. "The Moon King was proud of his daughters," he went on, his fingers playing up and down the strings. "But as he watched over the earth below, he grew unhappy. For you see, his greatest fear was that a mortal would find the three pieces of a magical suit of armor, and grow powerful enough to threaten the heavens. One mortal was very close to achieving just that. His name was Hanzo."

A piece of orange paper leapt from the stack and turned into a fully armored samurai, standing proudly and wielding a paper sword. He also bowed to Coraline, and she giggled again.

"Hanzo was a mighty samurai," Kubo narrated. "Noble and brave, he was on a quest to find and unite the three pieces of magical armor. And so the Moon King sent his daughters to kill Hanzo."

Suddenly the floating paper woman drew a paper sword from the folds of her long robes and pointed it at the paper samurai.

"Sariatu arrived before her sisters. 'You have offended my father,' she said. 'Now you must die!'"

The yellow paper woman lunged at the orange samurai, and their duel began. As their swords clashed, Coraline bounced up and down happily and waved her fists in the air.

"Yeah!" she shouted. "Fight, fight, fight!"

Smiling, Kubo humored her and let the duel last a bit longer than he planned. He played a suspenseful, fast-moving tune on his shamisen to accompany the action scene, and the two puppets leapt, spun and twirled in a dance of swords.

Coraline laughed and clapped, cheering on both puppets. "Go, Hanzo! Yeah! Get him, moon lady! Show him what you're made of!"

"As the battle raged on," Kubo continued. "They saw that they were evenly matched. Neither could defeat the other, and both were too proud to surrender. Then, suddenly, Hanzo stopped."

The music stopped as well and the two puppets froze in midair, swords locked and face-to-face. Coraline held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Kubo spoke in a low voice that was almost a whisper. "Hanzo looked deep into the eyes of Sariatu and uttered four simple words. These words changed her life forever."

Coraline leaned forward, fists balled under her chin and eyes shining with eager anticipation. "What was it? What did he say?"

The boy smiled as he answered. "'You are my quest.'"

He played a series of sweet, gentle notes on his shamisen. The two puppets slowly lowered their swords and embraced each other. "With those words, Sariatu saw the humanity in his eyes. It was more powerful than anything in her cold realm. Hanzo had fallen in love with her, and she with him. And so they spared each other's lives, and she chose to remain on earth with him."

Coraline's enthralled expression turned to one of disappointment. "Are you kidding me?"

Kubo paused his playing and looked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

"Are you telling me they fell in love just like that?" she complained. "It doesn't make sense. A few minutes ago they were trying to kill each other."

He frowned at her, eye narrowing slightly. "That's the way my mother told the story."

Coraline blinked in surprise. She had forgotten this was a true story, not something he was making up. "Oh. Sorry."

"Thank you," Kubo said. "Now hush. The story isn't over yet."

Kubo resumed playing his shamisen. The sweet, gentle melody continued, and more papers flew together, constructing a large fortress as tall as himself. The paper couple entered the front gates hand in hand.

"Hanzo and Sariatu were soon married, and they lived together in his fortress, the Beetle Clan castle. And in time, Sariatu bore a child. A son."

A door opened at the top floor of the castle, and the paper couple emerged with a small red bundle shaped like a baby wrapped in a blanket. His little paper arms wiggled with joy as his paper parents gazed down at him tenderly.

"They named him Kubo," he said softly. "And they loved him very much."

Coraline was smiling again, hands clasped under her chin. "Aww, that's so sweet. Did they all live happily ever after?"

Kubo's face turned serious. "I wish I could tell you they did. But that isn't what happened. When the Moon King discovered his eldest daughter had betrayed him, his rage shook the heavens."

He strummed a series of dark, solemn notes. The two floating paper stars that remained changed into the shapes of two women. They looked similar to the first woman, but they were made of blue paper instead of yellow. Then the blue crescent moon twisted into the shape of a monstrous beast, like a cross between a serpent and an insect with many legs. Together, all three puppets swept down onto the castle, which quickly began to crumble.

Red and orange streamers erupted from the roof, engulfing the castle in flames. As the samurai fought the two women, the monster snatched the baby from his mother's arms. The tiny paper woman reached out desperately to take her child back, and Coraline gasped in horror at the sight.

"With his two remaining daughters," Kubo went on gravely. "The Moon King attacked the Beetle Clan castle… and he stole the left eye of the infant Kubo."

Coraline stared at him in stunned silence for a long moment. Her mouth opened slowly to speak. "The Moon King…your grandfather… He stole your eye?"

Kubo looked down at the ruins of the paper castle. He raised a hand to his face, fingers tracing the edges of the patch covering the empty space where his left eye had once been. "Yes."

A deep, heavy silence weighed down on the two children. Then Kubo felt a cold breeze on his cheek and saw the tulips shuddering in the wind. The sunny blue sky turned black, and the stone path he stood on seemed to bubble and fizz like boiling water.

He looked at the girl seated across from him. "Coraline?"

Coraline didn't answer. She was pale and frightened, and her hands were trembling. The cold breeze grew stronger as the scenery of the dream world darkened and flickered like a candle about to go out. The origami castle and puppets were caught in the whirlwind, and the paper swirled wildly above the children's heads.

"Coraline!" Kubo cried.

She still didn't answer. She hugged herself, breathing in short, quick gasps, and her face ashen and haunted. He rushed forward, gripped her shoulders and shook her, trying to break her out of her daze even as he was on the verge of panic. He had to shout to be heard over the wind.

"Coraline! Coraline, look at me!"

At last, Coraline gasped and looked straight at Kubo. There were tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, but her fear seemed to fade now that she had him to focus on. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them fiercely with her fists, and the dream world gradually returned to normal. The wind stopped blowing and the flying papers fluttered to the ground, which was solid stone once again. The sky was no longer black, but it wasn't sunny anymore. It was overcast with thick grey clouds.

Coraline took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "It's okay…" she said, more to herself than to Kubo. "I'm okay…"

He didn't let go of her shoulders. Something wasn't right with her, something his story had set off. "Are you alright? What was all that?"

She looked down at her fists in her lap. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Kubo tilted his head and frowned, trying to read her face. "That wasn't 'nothing'. You were scared. Your dream was turning into a nightmare."

"It's just some bad memories," Coraline said drearily. She pulled her knees to her chest, still avoiding eye contact with him. "I thought they didn't bother me anymore. I keep trying not to think about them, but sometimes they sneak up on me."

Still keeping one hand on her shoulder, Kubo moved to sit down next to her. "I know how that feels," he said softly. "I have bad memories, too. Lots of them. It helps to talk to someone about it."

"I do talk to people," she said, hugging her knees tightly. "My friend Wybie, his grandma, the cat… but they don't live with us. And my parents have no idea. They don't even remember what happened to us… what she did to us."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Kubo offered. "Maybe it'll help you feel better."

She was quiet for a moment. "I guess I could try," she said at last. "But when I'm done, you have to promise you'll finish telling me your story."

"I promise."

She raised her little finger. The red string was still tied around it. "Pinky swear?"

The phrase was new to him, but the gesture was familiar. He hooked his little finger around hers, which also had the string tied to it. "Pinky swear. If I lie, may I have my fingers cut off, receive ten thousand fist-punches, and swallow one thousand needles."

Coraline looked surprised at his gruesome speech, as if she had never heard the true oath that went with the gesture. Then she chuckled and said in a joking voice "Ew."

She stood up, brushed the dirt off her pants, and turned to face the house beyond the garden.

"My family moved into this house back in winter," she said, beginning her story. "Wybie's grandma, Mrs. Lovat, owns it. She divided it up into apartments, and my parents and I live in the middle part."

She pointed to the section of the house she meant. Kubo stood next to her and squinted at it through the dim light. He wondered how many people lived in the house besides Coraline's family, but chose not to ask. If it were important, she would say so in her story.

"I thought it was just a boring old house at first," she went on. "Until I found a weird little door in the wall."

Suddenly the scenery changed. They were no longer standing outside in the garden, but in a room inside the house. Rain was falling outside. There were windows, a fireplace, and furniture that looked like nothing Kubo had ever seen before. Then he saw Coraline pointing to an odd rectangle shape that seemed to blend into the wall.

"That's it right there," she said. "When my mother unlocked it, there was nothing but bricks behind it."

As Coraline told her story, Kubo watched each scene play out before his eyes. It was like one of his magical puppet shows, but different. He was seeing the events unfold straight from her memories.

He saw Coraline's mother, a woman who looked very much like her but with brown hair instead of blue. She looked tired and stressed, and wore something like a large bandage around her neck. He watched as she knelt on the floor and used a black key to cut through the wallpaper covering the door. She unlocked it, and sure enough there was nothing but bricks behind it.

"That night," Coraline went on. "A mouse came to my room and led me back to the door. This time there was a tunnel that wasn't there before."

Just as she said this, the sky outside the windows turned dark as night and a mouse with black button eyes scampered to the closed door. It swung open, and to Kubo's amazement there was indeed a tunnel. It was a small one, just big enough to crawl through, and it shimmered with pink, blue and purple light.

"I went through to the other side," Coraline said. "At first it looked just like I was back in my house. Everything looked the same." She turned and gestured for him to follow her to another room. They walked toward a warm yellow light and the sound of someone singing. "But then I saw her."

The person singing in the next room was a woman who looked just like Coraline's mother, but different. She was smiling with pearly white teeth and cherry red lips. Her hair was neat and tidy, and there was no bandage around her neck.

And she had shiny black buttons for eyes.

Kubo felt his skin prickle and a cold weight in his stomach. "Who is that?" he whispered to Coraline.

The girl's eyes were hard as steel and her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. "The Other Mother."

The way she said those three words sent a chill down Kubo's spine.

To be continued…