Praised By My Nightmares
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The next morning, I woke up to the sound of my alarm. The clock read 8:30 AM and it was time for me to get ready for school again. As usual, I took a shower before getting dressed in my uniform. After that, I went downstairs with my parents and drank some orange juice from our kitchen counter.
When we arrived in the living room, I saw my little sister playing her Nintendo 3DS on the couch. She looked so cute sleeping there! Her eyes were closed but she had one hand holding onto her DSi and the other arm stretched out as if she wanted someone to hold her hands.
It reminded me of when I used to sleep like this too back when I was still young…
“Good morning!” Mom said cheerfully. “Did you have fun last night?”
I nodded. “Yeah,” I replied. “It’s been ages since I’ve played video games.”
Mom smiled happily. “That sounds great! Did you win? What game did you play?”
“Oh…” I hesitated for a moment. “Um…it wasn’t really a game. It was more like an interactive movie or something.”
Dad laughed nervously. “What do you mean by ‘interactive’?” he asked curiously.
I shrugged. “Well, I can choose what happens next depending on how I act during the story. There are no enemies or anything, though. And I’m not sure about winning because I didn’t beat the final boss yet.”
My mom frowned. “You’re telling us you just watched a movie without fighting anyone?!”
I shook my head. “No, it isn’t like that. You see, each character has their own unique personality. If you talk nicely to them, they’ll treat you well. But if you bully them or say rude things, then they might end up hating you.
So basically, I could make friends with everyone and help them solve problems instead of killing people.”
Dad sighed. “Sounds complicated…”
I giggled. “Not really. Just think of it as a Choose Your Own Adventure book.”
“Hmm… I guess that makes sense.” Dad agreed.
We all sat down together on the sofa to watch TV until breakfast was served. After eating, I helped my dad clean up around the house while Mom prepared lunch. Once everything was done, I decided to go outside for a walk.
With nothing else better to do, I headed towards the park near our home. As soon as I entered its entrance gate, I heard voices coming from somewhere nearby. They sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I’d heard them before. Then suddenly, I realized who it was.
“Hey, Tatsuya!” A boy called out to me. He seemed cheerful despite being surrounded by his classmates. “How come you came here alone today?”
“Huh? Oh, um…” I turned around to face him. “Is this your class?”
He nodded. “Yep. We’re going on a field trip to the park later. Are you joining us too?”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” I answered.
His group of friends cheered loudly. “Finally! Someone new is coming!”
“Cool! Let’s introduce ourselves first! This is Shota, Yuka, Takahiro, and Yuko!”
“Nice to meet you guys.” I greeted them.
They introduced themselves one after another. Everyone except for Takahiro and Yuko was a girl. All five of them looked very friendly, which made me feel even more excited about the upcoming trip.
After that, I continued walking through the park. Eventually, I found myself standing in front of a small hill. From above, it looked like a mini mountain. Since I hadn’t climbed any mountains recently, I figured now would be a good opportunity to check it out.
I started climbing up the slope. Soon enough, I reached the top. The view from up here was spectacular!
There was a pond right below the hill. On the opposite side, I spotted several trees. In between those two points stood a stone wall. Beyond that was a grassy plain stretching into the distance. I felt like I could see forever from this spot.
As I stared out across the land, I noticed a red car driving past. At first, I thought it was heading straight towards me, but then the driver changed direction and drove off to the left. I wondered why he stopped there. Maybe there was a parking lot nearby?
Or maybe he was waiting for someone? Whatever the case, I decided to take a closer look.
When I got close, I saw the passenger door open. Inside the car, I caught sight of a girl sitting behind the wheel. She had long black hair tied back in a ponytail, and her skin color reminded me of the sunset.
Her eyes were blue, and she wore a white dress that covered most of her body.
The girl glanced at me for a second, then quickly closed the window. I tried peering inside again, hoping to catch a glimpse of her face, but the glass was tinted so darkly that I couldn’t tell anything. I decided to wait patiently until the person arrived.
A few minutes passed, and finally, a man stepped out of the vehicle. His clothes were similar to hers: a full-length white coat over a button-up shirt and slacks. Unlike the woman, however, this guy had short brown hair and a beard. He also appeared much older than her.
“Excuse me,” he said politely to the girl. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yes, thank you. My name is Maria. It looks like we’ve collided.”
“Oh no, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thank you. And yours?”
“Takashi Akagane. Pleased to meet you.”
Maria smiled slightly. “It’s nice to meet you too. I have some business with Mr. Akagi, so I brought him along.”
“Mr. Akagi?”
“That’s what my father calls me. But my real name is Maria.”
“Ah, sorry. Of course.”
“No problem. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.”
With that, she opened the door and slid out of the car. Before leaving, she gave me an apologetic smile. I returned the gesture and waved goodbye.
Once the car disappeared from view, I took a seat next to the pond. There were plenty of benches surrounding it, so I picked one at random and sat down. After taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly.
I’d been feeling pretty tense lately, so this peaceful scene helped me relax. I leaned against the bench and gazed out across the landscape. Then, as I did, I suddenly realized something.
This place…is familiar. I can remember exactly where I am.
In fact, I recognized the whole area. This was the same park I visited last year during summer vacation. The pond, the trees, the stone wall—everything was just like I remembered.
So, how…? What happened to bring me back here?
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching. When I turned around, I saw a young woman walking toward me. She was wearing a simple gray dress, with her long blonde hair flowing freely behind her.
Her features were beautiful beyond compare, and yet they didn’t seem quite human. As she approached, I could make out the faint outline of wings growing out from her back. They were a pale shade of pink, and seemed to move slightly with every step she took.
What should I do? Should I run away? Or should I try talking to her?
Before I knew it, I found myself getting up and moving forward. When I met her halfway, I bowed respectfully. “Hello there!”
“Good afternoon, sir! How are you today?”
“Very well, thank you. You know, I used to come here when I was younger. Do you live near here?”
“Not particularly, no…”
“Is that so? Well, please forgive me for asking, but may I ask your name?”
“My name is Ayano. Why do you want to know?”
“Well, I was actually wondering if you might be able to help me find something.”
“Help you find something? Hmm, what sort of thing would that be?”
“You see, I came here once before, and I believe I lost something important while I was visiting. I think it must still be somewhere in this park.”
“Hmm. That sounds interesting, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen any such item around. Sorry.”
“But why not?”
“Because I don’t really go looking for things like that. If someone loses something, then they usually look for it on their own.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Unless it’s very valuable or irreplaceable, I wouldn’t bother searching for it. People who lose things often end up disappointed anyway.”
“I see.” I sighed softly. “And yet, I feel like I’m going to regret losing it forever. So, I guess I’ll have to keep looking.”
“Hmmm. Well, I suppose that makes sense. In that case, perhaps you should consider giving up hope.”
“Give up hope? Are you serious?”
“Why else would I say that? You’re wasting your time, after all.”
“Don’t give me that crap. Just because you can’t help doesn’t mean nobody will.”
“Well, if you insist, I’ll take a quick look around.”
“Thanks.”
As I stood there waiting for her to finish, I looked around the area. It was hard to tell whether she had already checked everywhere, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to check again.
After a few minutes, Ayano finally finished her search. “Sorry, but I didn’t find anything.”
“Huh? Really? No way…”
“Unfortunately, that’s correct. I searched thoroughly, but I didn’t spot a single trace of whatever it is you’re looking for.”
“Damn…”
There was nothing more to say. I’d wasted my time coming here, and now I felt even worse than before.
“Oh, wait. Actually, I did find something.”
“What?”
“A little bird, trapped inside a cage. He seems to be rather frightened, too.”
“Cage?! Did he fall into the water?!”
“If that’s what you meant by ‘caged,’ I’m afraid not.”
The moment I said that I noticed some movement behind Ayano. Sure enough, there was indeed a small bird sitting in its cage on top of the stone wall. I walked over to get a closer look at him.
He wasn’t much bigger than a sparrow, and his feathers were a bright yellow color. His eyes were closed tightly, and he was shaking violently.
“Hey, what’s wrong with him?”
“It looks like he got himself caught in one of these cages,” replied Ayano. “That’s probably why he’s so scared.”
“Yeah, I bet. Poor guy…”
I reached out slowly to touch the cage door. The moment I touched it, though, the bird suddenly opened his eyes wide and started flapping wildly.
“Whoa! Hey, stop that!”
“Sir, please calm down. This isn’t good for him.”
“No kidding… Look, just let me open this damn thing.”
“Wait, sir, please don’t force yourself. We need to release him as quickly and gently as possible.”
“All right, all right. Calm down.”
I held my hand out flat against the metal bars and began pushing them apart. At first, it seemed like I wasn’t making any progress, but gradually, the gap widened until I could reach through and grab the bird.
“Here you go. Hang on tight.”
“Thank goodness, sir. I thought I was gonna die.”
“Ha-ha, sorry about that. Here, hold onto this.”
Once I handed the bird back to Ayano, I took another look around. There weren’t many places where a person could hide something, but I decided to check every nook and cranny anyway. After several minutes, I found myself standing in front of an old tree stump.
“Hmm, maybe I’ll try this place next.”
I moved toward the tree trunk when suddenly, the ground beneath my feet shook. All of a sudden, I heard a loud rumbling noise. Then, the entire park began to shake.
“Wh-whaaaaaaaat?!”
The whole area was covered in dust, and everything was swaying from side to side. Trees fell over, and the bushes were ripped up by strong winds. I grabbed onto the tree trunk and tried desperately to stay upright.
“This is bad… What’s happening?!”
Suddenly, the shaking stopped, and the wind died down. Everything went quiet, except for the sound of birds chirping nearby.
“Was that an earthquake?” asked Ayano.
“Maybe. But I’ve never experienced anything quite like that.”
“Me neither. I think we better get outta here.” She turned to leave but then paused. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I found something interesting while searching earlier.”
She pulled a piece of paper out from under her shirt.
“Interesting? Like what?”
“Just come see for yourself.”
With that, she ran off toward the exit.
The End