🕯️Chilling Little Scary Stories 9🕯️

【 Three Memories (The Upside-Down Call) 】

This is an
ongoing event I experienced.

At a late-night convenience store,
I found a smartphone.

The screen was cracked, but
when I turned it on, a notification arrived.

The screen lock was not enabled.

“...Please.
...Take me home...”

It was
the activation signal for three apps
that would lead me to the owner.

📱 App 1: 【 Camera That Reflects the Past 】

When I held the phone's camera up to the street,
only through the screen
could I see the 'scenery of the past.'

From the perspective of a car's passenger seat,
the afterimage of the night city flowed by.

“...This way...”

Tracing her footsteps,
I was led by the phone
and drove toward the sea.

🔊 App 2: 【 Someone's Voice Memo 】

As I approached a dark breakwater,
audio began to play automatically from the phone.

“Rustle... splash...
No! ...Stop... please...”

It was
a recording of the last 'sounds and voice' she made.

I got out of the car and
walked in sync with those sounds and that voice.

Otherwise,
the path was so dark I couldn't take a single step.

Strangely, I felt no fear.

I synchronized with her
“labored breathing,” and
step by step,
I trod upon the dry ground.

📍 The Third App [Current Location of Demise]

What I arrived at was,
the tetrapods of the breakwater.

The third app, 'GPS', emits a mechanical voice along with a bright red flashing light.

...You have arrived at your destination...

When I peered into the tetrapods, there she was... cold, wearing the same clothes as the wallpaper on the smartphone.

[A Reward for Finding Me]

...I found you.
...I'm going to call the police.

With trembling hands, I tried to
take out my own smartphone.

Then, from the phone I had picked up, the clearest, calmest voice yet rang out.

...Thank you.
...You finally found me...

My relief was short-lived, when from the earphones,

...As a reward,
I'll stay with you forever...

I heard that whisper, and
I froze in terror.

Suddenly,
the screen of the phone I picked up went dark,
reflecting my face like a mirror.

Over my shoulder in the screen,
I saw her, who should have been on the tetrapods,
with wet hair and a wet face,
smiling at me.

And then, a real breath overlapped right by my ear.

...I'm right behind you now...
Hehe...

[Suspected as the First Discoverer]

Having found her body,
I was naturally suspected of
murder and abandonment of a corpse.

However, her smartphone
retained a history of the entire ordeal,
and in her photo album remained pictures of the man
who must have killed her, as well as his car.

After that,
the police set up an emergency dragnet,
and unexpectedly, the real culprit
was arrested in an emergency at a convenience store
less than a kilometer from where the body was found.

I
had my innocence proven,
and as part of my cooperation with the investigation,
I explained the sequence of events and about her
without any lies or fabrications.

It is hard to believe,
but I had no choice but to explain the truth,
even if it sounded like a lie.

Now, one year has passed since this incident.
She is in my room,
just as she said she would be that day.

At first I was scared, but
using a power like a poltergeist,
she cleans my room and cooks for me.

Winter is quite cold,
but in summer, just being by her side
is comfortable and eco-friendly, with no need for air conditioning.

Huh? Intimacy at night?
I'll leave that to your imagination.

But, it seems that someday she too
will pass on to the afterlife.

That is what she told me herself.

She said that when that time comes, she will be reborn and come to see me.

It seems even she doesn't know
in what form she will come to see me.

But, because she is so loyal
to stay with me like this,
I intend to remain single
until that day of destiny arrives.

The End

Author: Fumino Asakura
Co-author: Gemini
☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆

​✍️ [Afterword: Behind the Scenes of the Story]

​This story was written as an homage to the Japanese folktale
"The Three Charms"and the modern urban legend
"Mary-san"to
.

​I adapted the ancient wisdom of
"escaping danger with three tools" into a modern "smartphone app."

And I reconstructed "Mary-san," the symbol of terror
who slowly closes the distance,
into a "Reverse Mary-san"
who wishes to be found.

​A presence that was supposed to be a symbol of terror
has, before I knew it,
turned into an "irreplaceable roommate."

I hope you enjoy this
playful and slightly bittersweet
"adult fairy tale."

Until the day she is reborn,
and appears before him.

The strange and warm time they shared,
continues somewhere in this city even now.

　　　　　　　　　　　　Author Fumino Asakura
　　　　　　　　　　　　Cooperation Gemini
☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆〜☆
SUNO AI MUSIC
【Requiem Upside Down ~Guide of Destiny~】
Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement: Noir et Rouge
Noir et Rouge (Black and Red)
(Fumino & SUNO & Gemini)

【Lyrics】
[Intro]
(Lonely Spanish guitar)

[Verse 1]
Late-night convenience store, picked up a smartphone
A painful wish floating on the cracked screen
The first app, a camera reflecting the past
The night city flows by with a gaze from the passenger seat
(Guitar rhythm）

[Verse 2]
Darkness of the breakwater, the second voice memo
Your final voice screaming, "Stop it"
Synchronizing with that breath, I take a step forward
In the shadow of the tetrapods, the third GPS rings

"You have arrived at your destination"

[Chorus]
Finding you, now cold, my fingertips tremble
But from the earphones, clear words of love
"Thank you, you finally found me"
"As a reward, I'll stay with you forever"
When I turned around, you were smiling with a wet face

[Bridge]
A chain of suspicion, the red lights of a police car
But the evidence you left behind screams of my innocence
The real culprit vanishes, and the seasons cycle on

[Verse 3]
A year since then, you are in my room
Poltergeists handle the cleaning and cooking
It's freezing in winter, but an eco-friendly lover in summer
Nightly activities? That's a secret just for the two of us

[Outro]
"Someday I'll reach enlightenment and be reborn"
With your promise in my heart, I will remain single
What form will you appear in?

(Warm guitar solo)

(Spoken)
"Oh, the vacuum cleaner is moving on its own again. ...Thank you, I love you."

Dear Perin♪
Thank you for subscribing to the magazine😊

Dear Yasuhito Morimoto♪
Thank you for subscribing to the magazine😊

#ShortStory
#ScaryStory
#Ghost
#Poltergeist
#ThreeCharms
#MarySan
#Homage
#Requiem
#Love
#LivingTogether
#Reincarnation
#Smartphone
#Latin
#BossaNova
#SUNOAI
#Gemini