Chapter 1
Sweat dripped down his face endlessly as he continued panting and rushing through a hollow corridor.
No sound. Only heavy footsteps and heavy breathing.
“I.. have to… I have… I must tell him-”
This same phrase was continuously repeated from his bloodless, hard lips.
Eyes semi-open, he kept running towards the darkness which gradually revealed a door.
The man’s eyes blurred even more as the door came closer, His arms and feet swinged uncontrollably inconstant paces.
Suddenly his breathing shortened even more, the man violently raised his hand and felt his chest, the pain he could feel was unendurable, his cry did not last long. His eyes locked, his vision vanished and his grip slowly loosened.
“…I must-” his voice was followed by a loud thump.
His zygomatic bone hit the hard ground and fractured. All in less than a second.
Nothing but silence dominated the long, hollow corridor.
…
Everything was black and white.
The atmosphere was cold.
Hanae looked at her hands, they were numb and white, she slowly looked up as her hands hid in her pockets, scared to feel the cold air which surrounded them.
Hanae’s eyes finally look at what they were trying to ignore this whole time.
Mrs Sato raised her hand to touch her face again and again, she gave up with the crumpled tissue paper she had been using to wipe her tears and instead she uses her pale and wrinkled hands.
Hanae looks away.
Her eyes now on the tombstone once again, she repeatedly read the words and letters which lay on it.
The rain became more aggressive as minutes passed, Hanae could feel a movement coming from where her mom was, constantly moving her hands up to her face and then down to her pockets.
The rain carefully hit the tombstone which read:
“Sato Hiraku
17th October 1958
27th February 2021
A son, brother, husband, and father.
So dearly loved”
After around four hours, Hanae couldn’t stand anymore, her black shoes were so wet she could feel the wet socks with her feet.
She looks at her fingers once again and now she can see that they are getting darker.
“Hey Hanae” She hears a voice she really did not want to hear.
Hanae looks around for her mom to come and save her but she was too busy wiping her tears and hugging Hanae’s grandparents.
She had no other choice but to face that irksome figure.
She slowly turns to face it “c’mon, don’t look at me like that Hanae” the man says smiling as if he was at a party.
This man was Hanae’s uncle, Mr Sato’s dear brother.
Hanae never covered the fact that she despised him, not only was he hideous, with those dark wavy hair, if only they were longer, they would’ve successfully covered that evil face which mainly consists of sharp black small eyes, his half-framed glasses and obviously his dark beard, lighter than his hair. Hanae principally hated him because of him as a person.
His physiognomy never complemented with the words he said. He was just so uncanny and preternatural to Hanae; he would arbitrarily raise his eyebrows now and then as he spoke with that quiet but manipulating voice.
It always surprised her how his young children loved him as a father.
Uncle Sato has always been obsessed with money and never hesitated to ask for some.
Hanae’s dad was too kind.
Just like they all say ‘the good ones always die first’.
“You must be so upset Hanae, we all are” Uncle Sato continued, words released from his thin smiley lips meant nothing to Hanae who was now looking at his wife, Yua but everyone called her Ruka, Hanae’s mom told her to never mention that word but she was old enough to understand why.
Ruka was very popular, she is now 40 years old but she would still be followed by some philogynists every day.
Hanae wasn’t surprised at all when she saw how she was dressed: long black dress which didn’t even seem to cover any skin.
This couple has been around for years tormenting and annoying everyone else in the family. Hanae’s grandparents didn’t like Ruka either, it is still a mystery how they got married.
Hanae slowly walks away from Uncle Sato who stands there looking at her and his smile fades away just like her figure as the rain wets his glasses and injure his vision.
“Why?” Hanae asks herself.
Everything is black and white, there are no colours visible.
She can see black figures everywhere, fusing together as they hug and then come apart as they move on to the next figure.
Ruka is crying, or at least she is acting like she’s crying.
Mrs Sato is crying too.
“But why?” Hanae whispers to herself “why am I not crying?”
She can hear people chatting, sobbing, crying “think positive” someone says, “Be optimistic” another voice, “he is in a better place now” and another, “All we can do now is stay positive”.
Hanae can’t process all of these words coming out of these mouths.
“Optimistic?” Hanae continues asking herself
Optimism is feeling hope and believing that everything will be good but how can everything be good if the bad has already occurred?
‘bullshit’ she thinks to herself ‘they’re all here to perform their acting skills’.
