July 16th Bon Send-off Day [SS] Reunion in VR

I select one anniversary from the daily list and write a short-short story inspired by it to share with you. Here is today's chosen anniversary.

[What day is it today?] - Bon Send-off Day

A custom of lighting fires outdoors to send off spirits.

On the final day of the Bon festival, fires are lit to send off the spirits of ancestors. There is also a custom of sending them off to rivers or the sea, known as 'Toro Nagashi' (floating lanterns) or 'Shoryo Nagashi' (spirit boat procession). Offerings from the altar are also placed on spirit boats and sent off into the river or sea. In many places, the send-off fire is held on July 15th. Some regions observe it on August 16th (a month later) or July 16th of the lunar calendar. Kyoto's 'Gozan no Okuribi' is famous, where bonfires are lit on the five mountains every August 16th.

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[SS] Reunion in VR

　Where I live, Bon festival events are held in July. Therefore, today is the day I must send back my beloved, who has returned to visit. I have decided to always take paid leave from the day of the welcoming fire to the day of the send-off fire every year for Bon. Thinking that ten years have already passed since my beloved died, it makes me very sad to see my own face aging. Because you, who appear before me, remain exactly as you were back then.

　It seems there is a large bonfire held in a nearby square on the day of the send-off fire, but I have never gone to see it. Because you, my beloved, are right by my side, and I want to see you off from here. The progress of technology has reached even the world of souls, and the world of spirits, which I thought was the furthest thing from science, has now become connected. I was surprised myself. Because I was able to reunite with you during the Bon festival of the year you died in the accident. Thanks to that, I have become uninterested in any new romance. Still, I have no regrets. Except for one single point.

　I will be forty years old this year. You died at thirty-eight, didn't you? We lived together for only a little over five years, starting when I was twenty-five. Now, I have surpassed your age. Back then, I was eight years younger than you. But even when you look at me now, you smile without a single look of displeasure. I wonder if I can be at ease.

　The VR goggles I've been wearing since the welcoming fire will not be used again until next year once I send you off. But thanks to these, I feel the happiness of being able to meet you every year. Because it is linked to the hologram device there, I can feel your presence right beside me in my room with my eyes and skin. When you touch me, I can feel it too. Thanks to the virtual contact sensor. Just that alone makes me feel very happy.

　It's about time I have to send you back to the land of the dead. I am very reluctant to let you go, but I pray that you will come again next year. Every year you tell me that I don't need to welcome you anymore, but for me, you are the first and last person. If I could, I would go to that world right now. But if I did that, I wouldn't be able to be taken to your side, so I am desperately holding back. Until my time comes to be taken. So, please, I beg you, come to me every year. Because during Bon, you are mine alone.

"Doctor, the patient's condition is strange. Her hands are trembling slightly. And she is shedding tears. She hasn't moved at all until now."

"Ah, I see. You haven't been assigned here long, so you didn't know. This patient was in a car accident ten years ago while riding with her husband. The husband died instantly, but this patient, his wife, managed to cling to life. However, ever since she was told of her husband's death, she has been in a coma, bedridden, and hospitalized ever since. The shock must have been too great. By applying the latest medical technology that controls dreams, cases of waking up from comas have been occurring frequently, so we started using it on this patient as well. Right on the day of the Bon welcoming fire. Since today is the day of the send-off fire, she might be seeing her husband off. She is supposed to be having a dream of spending time with her husband using a VR device that realizes spending every Bon with him and a hologram to materialize him. I hope this will be the trigger for her to come back to us."

"Oh, I see. Doctor, her face looks more peaceful, if I'm not mistaken."

"Indeed. It seems she has entered a stable condition again. The dream control might have ended. Next time her parents visit, tell them about today. This treatment was realized because of her parents' strong wishes. It might be better to order a control program so she can have pleasant dreams again from now on. Let us continue our efforts so she can recover what she lost during the years she was asleep through her dreams. Also, please continue the massages so her muscles don't atrophy."

End

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