Chapter 10: Girl
A rainbow kaleidoscope of colours spin in circles. Dancing like kois in a circular mystical dance around the girl. She is mesmerised.
Where is this she wonders. She turns towards the boy, her eyes glowing. The boy looks back at her, smiling, his eyes seem to tell her to keep watching.
The girl doesn't know how long they watch this spectacle, but she is enraptured by it. She doesn't know if she is lying down or sitting up, or standing or spinning. She doesn't know what time it is, or even if time is going forwards… or backwards. It is neither nighttime nor daytime. But she watches transfixed, with the boy next to her, comforted by his presence.
Eventually a face and body slowly appears from the swirls, a face familiar yet unfamiliar to the girl. It looks like herself... or her grandmother... or perhaps mother the girl excitedly thinks! The girl feels overwhelmed by emotions. It has been many years since she has seen her mother, and many more years since she was able to see mother being able to move.
"I am neither and both your mother and grandmother. I am all the generations," the girl hears a voice coming from all directions, as if reading the girl's thoughts. "I can hear your thoughts, yes. I know what you have gone through too, and I am sorry for not being there for you," the person says sadly.
The girl quickly turns to the boy next to her.
"I have already been acquainted with him. He can hear me, but not as you hear me. He is a good boy, he has done a good job waiting and bringing you here. He does not hear our conversation, I am currently already talking to him actually," the motherly figure says. The girl sees that the boy seems to be absorbed as if listening to the figure as well.
The girl feels overwhelmed, there are so many things that she wants to say, so many things that have happened since… sad things, happy things…
"I haven't left you daughter. And I know what your feelings are and what you want to say," the figure extends further out and walks towards the girl. One of the figure's hand reaches forward and strokes the girl on the head before cradling the girl's head in the figure's arms.
The girl feels a sense of warmth and happiness flow through her body, as if being hugged and stroked by her mother when she a child. The feeling of nostalgia overcomes the girl, and she tries to speak, but no words come out. Let me join you, her eyes plead.
"You are here already with me" the voice says, "we are all here. We are always watching, will be watching, and have already watched."
The girl looks questioningly back at the figure.
"You still have an important task to do. Until you have done so, you cannot join us," the figure tells the girl, "nay, until you have done so, the whole world will not yet be complete."
The girl becomes aware of the boy next to her again. He reaches out his hand towards her, as if offering encouragement. The girl reaches out and takes it. Although she feels no warmth in the hand, she feels a sense of comfort.
The figure smiles, looking at the boy and girl together. The swirling colours stop and slowly form shapes.
"The strands of time have been snagged," the figure tells the boy and girl. The colours move as if illustrating her words, "musubi links and holds the whole world together, but events connected to you both have occurred that has caused the strands to fray. Forces exist; the kami, the mushi, they not only live amongst the threads of musubi, they help weave and thread the strands of time to help maintain world order. But they are clumsy and callous beasts. They use the strands of time to makes a foot path through an ocean, or they flatten a mountains when trying to go past it. When blinded by its desire to repair, they are not aware of the birds or the animals, and they happily devour all that is trampled under their machinations. They are trying to fix things again, the events of past and the future are becoming the same, a loop or snag has occurred, which will either be fixed by them, or by you."
The boy and girl look at each other. They somehow understand.
"I think you both know that you are incomplete. Your lack of voice, you may have already noticed, being just one part" the figure tells them. "I don't need to say much, you both know what you need to do; follow yourselves, fix the world."
The girl and the boy nods. Despite her desire to remain with the warmly figure, the girl knows that there is now a purpose for her existence here. Despite the cryptic words, the girl knows that there is a task that she must do.
She feels the boy's hand grip her hand a give a little squeeze. She looks at the boy. They both are connected and involved together.
The lights swirl again, the boy and girl watches the lights as they slowly close their eyes and fall into dream...