A Journey Back Through Time
Kyoko ran as fast as she could, as far as her little legs could carry her. Tears brimming on the edge of her brown eyes, she wiped a stray drop of moisture from her face. She can't let herself cry yet, because she needs her eyes to carefully pick out the small rocky trail that leads to her favorite hiding place. A small sea cave that she found, when she started to need a place of solace, away from the glares of the neighboring children.
But today, her heart was broken by her Sho-chan. The Sho-chan she had always loved, and waited for the day she would become his chosen bride, like Okami said they would. Kyoko was simply just following behind Shotaro like she always does for the last two years. When a group of Sho-chan's friends started tormenting her about being his shadow, Sho-chan turned around and pushed her into the ground.
"Stay away from me," Sho had said, "You are a pest."
The sea cave is not a secret to the villagers that lives in the area, as it has a great view of the ocean that can't be seen from the beach on the other end. But, the entrance is quite rocky and a misstep will land a person right in the water, so it tends to only be visited by adventurous children. One can follow the trail into the center of the cave, and find beautiful sea creatures that live on the bottom of the sea cave. And, when the air is stifling outside, it's actually a very refreshing place for a swim. Kyoko always enjoyed the wonderful breeze that comes from the ocean into the sea cave and the gentle lapping of the waves.
"That stupid Sho, always trying to show off with his friends." sniffed little Kyoko, trying to keep the tears at bay.
She hitched her small pack up a little higher on her shoulder and climbed into the cave. The Okami had packed a little snack for her along with her bathing suit. As she gotten closer to the grotto in the back of the cave, she heard some noise. No, it was rather a series of noises that sounded like someone dropping stones into the water. Kyoko turned to go back the way she came. But, after taking a few steps, her curiosity got the best of her. She decided that she should at least find out who the intruder is, especially, if it's one of Sho-chan's stupid friends.
Kyoko puffed herself up, and gathered all the courage her little body could hold. Kyoko started imagining fighting the fierce dragon, just like in the story her homeroom teacher had read to them during class. Kyoko shook her head, there is not going to be a dragon here. She cleared the rocky area that blocks the view of the grotto like a seasoned climber. There, she saw a boy with hair that looks like a halo with the sunlight shining from the entrance of the cave behind him, as he turned his head and noticed that he's no longer alone. Kyoko started to stammer and turn red as the boy gave her a blindingly welcoming smile.
"Wh..wh..who are you?" Kyoko hesitantly asked the boy that she has never seen before, or around the neighborhood.
"I'm Kuon." said the blond boy, as he holds out his hand.
"Co..rn?" said Kyoko stammered.
The boy laughed, and said, "Sure, why not!"
Kyoko looked quizzically at the strange boy and said "Why not?"
"Yes. You can call me Corn." said the boy "Would you like to be my friend?" the boy called "Corn" asked.
Kyoko suddenly remembered what Okami taught her about manners, and said with a smile, "Sure. Let's be friends. I'm Kyoko."
Kyoko executed a perfect traditional bow, just like Okami had taught her. "I'm honored to meet you, Corn."
Kuon smiled at Kyoko and pick up a piece of stone and started throwing them across the surface of the water. The stone hopped three times, and then two more times before sinking into the moving waves.
Kyoko laughed and clapped and said "More, more. I want to see more."
Kuon, being encouraged by the cute little girl, picked up another piece of rock and flicked it across the water. This time the rock skipped ten times before it also sink into the water.
"More, more." said a giggling Kyoko. "How did you do that?"
Kuon looked into little Kyoko's adoring eyes and asked, "Would you like to try and skip some stones?"
Kyoko fervently nodded.
Kuon smiled at her eagerness. "Let's started then by finding a piece of rock that is rounded off, and flat on both sides."
Kyoko looked and looked and looked. She saw a piece of rock on the grotto floor, and exclaimed, "This rock looks like a scrambled egg."
She picked it up and shows it to Kuon. Kuon laughed as the small excited girl found some more rocks that resemble scrambled eggs.
"And, this one," said Kyoko with a serious tone, as she hold out a grey stone with white streaks running through it, "looks like scrambled egg, too."
Kuon thought he couldn't ever stop laughing at the cute antics. "No wonder they call this place the Kingdom of Scrambled Eggs."
"Yes! This is the Kingdom of Scrambled Eggs, which is ruled by a very kind ruler, His majesty, the king of the Land of Scrambled Eggs." said Kyoko.
In no time at all, they collected enough little round rocks with flattened sides, and started skipping them across the water in the sea cave. Kyoko took a while before the rocks skipped once before falling into the water. Then, after that, the rocks started skipping more and more. Soon, Kuon had a competition for whose rocks going to skip more before sinking.