A Heartbeat of Promises | [Tanuki's Short Story]
A small heart is embedded in my chest.
An elaborate mechanical heart made of gears and springs.
But it is not just a machine.
It is not just a machine.
Powered by a 'vow' I exchanged with a girl long ago, it continues to beat with a faint pulse even now.
I am a 'Vow-Bound Doll'.
A mere doll that gains the rhythm of life through promises made with people.
'We'll be together forever and ever'
A dusty attic. The sunset streaming through the window dyed her hair gold.
The words whispered as she gripped my hand with her small fingers. At that moment, for the first time, a small heartbeat was born in my chest with a click.
At that moment, for the first time, a small heartbeat was born in my chest with a click.
How many seasons have passed since that day?
I sit in the shop window of an antique doll store, gazing at the street through the glass.
The shopkeeper told me over and over, 'Just forget it already'.
If the vow is forgotten, the pulse stops. If the memory fades, the heartbeat weakens.
If the memory fades, the heartbeat weakens.
If I form a new vow with a new owner, it will start beating strongly again, he said.
If I form a new vow with a new owner, it will start beating strongly again, he said.
However, for me, only the color of that sunset and her words were everything in the world.
However, for me, only the color of that sunset and her words were everything in the world.
Lately, the pulsation deep in my chest has become terribly unsteady.
Tick, tock... tick... tock...
The sound of time passing is gradually slowing down.
Along with it, the memory of my precious girl is losing its outline like ink bleeding in water.
Along with it, the memory of my precious girl is losing its outline like ink bleeding in water.
What kind of voice did she have when she laughed? What was the name of her favorite flower?
The more I tried to remember, the more the memories slipped through my fingers like sand.
The more I tried to remember, the more the memories slipped through my fingers like sand.
'You've reached your limit, haven't you?'
The shopkeeper sighs and gently lifts my body.
He says a new buyer has been found.
A wealthy-looking lady is staring at me as if appraising my value.
“A new vow with this one.”
The lady reaches out her hand gently.
If those fingers touch me, the vow with the young girl will be overwritten, and my memories will vanish completely.
I muster my last bit of strength and shake my head slightly.
The lady looks puzzled, and the shopkeeper puts me back in my original place as if giving up.
Tick... tock...
My heartbeat grows even weaker.
My vision blurs, and the scenery outside the glass looks hazy.
Ah, soon, I will return to being nothing more than junk.
I will no longer be able to remember the girl's face at all.
That was more terrifying than dying.
Just as my consciousness was about to fade,
the shop doorbell rang with a chime.
A young woman in a black dress walked in.
She came straight to where I was and gently touched the glass of the display window.
“There you are. Grandma's doll.”
At that voice, for some reason, the gears deep in my chest
made a creaking sound.
The woman turns to the shopkeeper and begins to speak in a trembling voice,
clutching an old, worn diary to her chest.
“
My grandmother was talking about this doll
until just before she passed away.
‘I wonder if it is still keeping the promise from the attic,’ she said.
She had always wanted to come see you,
but it never came to pass.
”
—Grandma.
Those words struck me like lightning.
The woman in front of me opens the diary to a certain page to show me.
There, written in childish handwriting, it said:
‘
Today, I made a friend who is all my own.
We made a promise. That we would be together forever.
’
On the last page, in the trembling handwriting of an old woman.
"Thank you. My first and last friend."
My pulse was about to stop. It should have stopped moving long ago.
Yet, she had not forgotten.
The promise made in that attic.
She had held it in her heart for her entire life.
She simply hadn't been able to come see me.
I hadn't been forgotten.
That fact soaked into my dried-up mainspring,
like oil being poured into a machine.
A young woman, the girl's granddaughter, smiled at me.
"
A message from my grandmother. She said, 'Thank you.' And also, 'From now on, this child is your family.'
"
She gently picked me up.
At that moment, my heart, which had been on the verge of stopping,
made a strong, clicking sound.
And then, with a rhythm more certain than ever before,
it began to pulse once again.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
This was no longer a weak heartbeat
that might stop at any moment.
It was a pulse passed down through generations,
backed by memories known as love,
a heartbeat promised eternity.
My new time begins now.
Reflected in my glass eyes
was a warm light, much like the sunset of that day.
I challenged myself to my first long-form story. ⬇️
Please check out my other works (tap the image) ⬇️
🔻 Half a Name and Your Echo | [Tanuki's Short Stories]
🔻 The Birdcage on the Spine | [Tanuki's Short Stories]
🔻 The Face-Peeler Cannot Peel Away Love | [Tanuki's Short Stories]
Don't miss out anymore. You can read the entire collection at once. ⬇️
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