Each day, she would work on moving a couple of rocks before going to the nursery to feed the innocent little fawns. It seemed like the hole was fathomless and she would soon unearth the center of the world. She now had to jump in the hole to get any rocks out. Was this task really going too far? What if someone from her clan found out what she was doing? Would she get in trouble? She hoped not. Only she and the forest knew what she was doing. The wind whispered it to anyone who listened. The fawns had heard the rumors and now every time she feeds them, they give her a look with their eyes as if they were telling her to leave that accursed place alone.
She could tell she was getting closer as the faint whisper grew louder to a low voice; a moan like a ghost. She wasn't afraid. Something was still alive there. She quickly threw rocks out of the way, tossing them up over the edge of the large hole. She began to find black cloth, torn up and scattered everywhere in between the rocks.
Was there mud under the rocks? Her foot had stepped on something soft but she didn't bother to check as she examined the cloth between her fingers. Her studies were interrupted by a muffled noise.
"Hello?" she asked anxiously as she looked around and then up to the top of the hole. She then noticed the sun had moved and was no longer providing direct light into the hole. It was a little late in the afternoon, signaling for her to hurry up and get back home. Mitsuko started for the dirt wall to climb up when someone called out for her.
"Girl!" it shouted from the rocks that she had just left. It was a loud voice but it wasn't very clear. Mitsuko supposed that's what the voice meant to say but nonetheless, it called out to her.
"Who's there?" she turned and gazed over her workspace in the pit. It was hard to see anything now that it was getting darker.
"Hel... Plaz..." it seemed to be struggling to talk to her.
Mitsuko squinted as she whispered what the voice said to her. "Hel. Plaz. Helplaz. Help lass? Help please?"
"Hep! Pliz!" it shouted, frustrated.
Mitsuko rushed forward, a habit after working for one of the ladies in the village for a short while. The woman would shout for her and Mitsuko had to run to get there in time before the woman got angry, which was every time.
She fell down on her knees to stare into a set of gray eyes. She uttered a squeal but she couldn't move. She was enchanted by her discovery. The gray eyes were surrounded by dried blood and tears; she had never seen such emotion in someone's eyes before. They were so full of pain and loneliness.
"Get meh out uf here," it begged, staring back at her with its sad eyes.
Mitsuko swallowed hard and began to remove the stones surrounding the eyes. She didn't know what she was going to do when she could free this person or what her excuse would be for being late for lunch. This person needed help, surely her father would understand.
She gasped when she had removed most of the stone to find a severed head, belonging to the gray eyes. Their white hair was slicked back and stained with blood, turned to a pink tint. The face was disfigured slightly; you could tell there was something wrong with it through all of the blood.
"Thank Jashin that you found me, I thought I would be in this hell forever," the head said as it gazed at her with gratefulness.