[Short Story (Fairy Tale/Slightly Strange)] Weather Wheel Hill 5000 characters
I am blind. I have been blind since I was born. In my mind, colors do not exist. Light does not exist, and conversely, the darkness that comes from the absence of light does not exist either. I have had no eyeballs since the day I was born.
My brain must have originally had the function to perceive vision. However, by the time fifteen years had passed since my birth, that function had already completely withered away, and even if my eyes were to be restored by some divine act in the future, I would no longer be able to receive that light or darkness.
Everyone pities me for this.
"Poor thing."
"How pitiful."
However, I was never affected by such mockery.
My family was wealthy, which is precisely why I was able to receive proper medical diagnoses. Besides, even if I cannot see, I can hear. If a tutor reads text aloud beside me, my studies are accumulated in my brain without delay. Even if I cannot see, my tongue catches flavors, and my skin perceives objects. Even without sight, the joys of life flow into me without hindrance.
In other words, even though I cannot see, there was no dissatisfaction or lack in my life.
"Even so, wouldn't it be better if you could see?"
Certainly, things might have been different if I could see. But I have never known that to begin with. Therefore, there is no way to compare. Ultimately, no matter what was said to me, I was truly happy.
"Let's go see the thirteen-night moon."
One day, I was told this by Hisako.
Hisako is a maid in this house, a woman two years my senior. Her family back home was struggling to make ends meet, and she has been working in our house since the year before last, relying on connections.
She was raised in a farming village and has no formal education. Therefore, she mainly handled my miscellaneous tasks. In short, things like pouring tea for me or taking my clothes to the laundry room—those kinds of small details.
It was on a windy day.
"The thirteen-night moon?"
"Yes, that's right."
Hisako had indeed told me that.
I was taken aback. And from her curious tone, I felt there was no ulterior motive. I sharpened my senses, confirmed that there were no sounds or vibrations nearby—meaning no one else was around—and felt a sense of relief. If someone, especially the head maid, had heard, I would surely have been in for a scolding.
My family held a moon-viewing party every year. The harvest moon. We would gather on the full moon to celebrate the beautiful moon. Although I cannot see the moon, as a member of this family, I have attended several times and greeted relatives. And while this house also celebrates the thirteen-night moon, I am never invited to it.
The thirteen-night moon.
The thirteen-night moon is, in short, a festival to admire the moon before it becomes full.
The harvest moon, the fifteen-night moon, falls during the season of long rains and is often hidden by clouds. Therefore, about a month later, we admire the thirteen-night moon, the slightly waning moon. It is a custom that has existed since ancient times.
Yes, a slightly waning moon, a moon slightly lacking just like me. A gathering to admire imperfection. And while the moon waxes, my disability will never be made whole.
That metaphor was too direct, so I was never invited to this festival.
That is why, on the night of the thirteen-night moon, I was always in my room. Only on that quiet night, along with the temperature that would drop sharply around that time, did I feel deeply that I was a disabled person.
"It's lonely to be the only one left out."
"Left out, you say?"
"I'll be with you this year."
Is Hisako on duty for me this year?
Hisako probably doesn't fully understand the meaning of the thirteen-night moon. Sweets and such are enjoyed at the moon-viewing party. Perhaps she is angry that she cannot partake in those leftovers because she is stuck with me in my room, even though she could have enjoyed them if she had attended the party.
However, surely someone would stop her. Thinking that, I nodded vaguely, and then for about two weeks, I had completely forgotten about it.
"Young master, it is the thirteen-night moon. Let's go out."
"What?"
"I told you before, didn't I?"
"I was indeed told that, but..."
"Let's sneak out from the kitchen. I asked the cook, and I have some sweets."
While feeling bewildered, I was led by the hand by Hisako, passed through the hallway covered in soft carpet, exited through the kitchen door that smelled of the various miscellaneous people working in the back of the house, and with the sound of the door closing behind us, I placed my feet on the soil ground beyond the quiet scent of the night.
"Hisako, where are we going?"
"To Weather Wheel Hill."
"Weather Wheel?"
"Yes, it's a high, open hill just ahead where you can see the sky beautifully."
I pictured a map in my head. There was indeed a hill ahead on this path, but it shouldn't have had such a name.
"Look, it's very clear and bright today, so I'm sure the moon will look beautiful."
The moon will look beautiful.
What was it that pricked my heart at that moment?
Does Hisako not know that I am blind? No way, that's impossible.
While I was thinking that, my feet were touching the ground alternately, and occasionally the soft, warm sensation of Japanese paper brushed against my arm. It was probably a lantern Hisako was holding. I could only feel its warmth, but it must have been illuminating the path ahead of me. For me, the world is all equally dark, but for Hisako, the way it looks is different.
And so, my heart ached again.
Where are we heading? To the hill ahead, or to Weather Wheel Hill?
I had only ever heard of Weather Wheel Hill in fairy tales. A sense of unease like walking on a pathless road, and a slight exhilaration I hadn't felt in a long time, as if I were on an adventure.
After walking for about thirty minutes, the scent of human activity completely disappeared, and the cool, refreshing scent of trees tickled my nostrils. That gradually changed to the scent of damp soil. Is this a hiba forest? It has that unique scent. Was there a hiba forest around here?
Before long, the ground began to slope, and we climbed a gentle hill. In terms of distance, it should indeed be the nearby hill I had pictured in my head.
"We've arrived. The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"
"...Is that so?"
The moment I wondered how to reply, a long wind blew. On the hill at the beginning of winter, wind wrapped in cold air danced around.
I am blind. That's why I didn't have many opportunities to go outside. So the sensation of that wind dancing and touching me was very fresh, and I had a fantasy as if I were floating into the sky just like that.
Suddenly, my hand touched something hard. It felt like a wall. Is it some kind of building? I became a little curious. When I reached out, the wall was gently curved. I walked around it while touching the cold surface. However, even as I kept following that curve, there was no end to it.
If so, this is a pillar. A cylinder.
Considering the degree of this curvature, the diameter is probably about 5 meters.
"Why is there a pillar on a hill like this?"
"Since it's Weather Wheel Hill, it's the Weather Wheel pillar."
That couldn't be right. However, for some reason, the coldness transmitted from that pillar was soft, and I leaned my back against it. The pillar was smooth and glossy like marble, and it transferred the night's humidity gently onto my kimono.
Weather Wheel Hill.
If I were to tentatively believe what Hisako said, this must indeed be the Weather Wheel pillar. A strange sense of amusement welled up in me.
The Weather Wheel is the Milky Way.
Hisako said it was very clear. If so, she must be able to see the milk-colored stream that should be floating in the sky this season. I had indeed learned that from my science teacher. Even if I cannot see it, I am touching the Milky Way. For me, who cannot see, this pillar is indeed the Weather Wheel. That in itself might be one answer. And perhaps, the moonlight is shining here.
While I was thinking about that vaguely while exposed to the night wind, I suddenly began to feel a faint sound at the edge of my ears, and a vibration in my body. It gradually became the sound of steam blowing out, the sound of hard, strong iron touching regularly, clanking and clanking. The sound of wheels creaking, creaking.
No way.
Those sounds gradually overlapped and grew louder, and finally, with the sound of a bell ringing, something creaked loudly with a screech, and with the sound of steam rising right above my head, a large gust of wind blew, scattering the wind that had been dancing on the hill.
What on earth is happening?
Why did I hear the sound of a locomotive?
That sound just now was the sound of a locomotive... wasn't it?
I have never heard of a railway running near here. And first of all, that sound came from directly above me. From straight above the pillar I was leaning my back against.
"This is Galaxy Station."
"Hisako?"
That voice sounded indeed like Hisako's, but as if it had passed through a megaphone, its edges were a little blurry.
Suddenly, my right hand is taken.
That hand had the same sensation as Hisako's hand I had been holding until just a moment ago, but it was lukewarm, as if it had come from somewhere far away.
"Hisako, what is this?"
"Passenger, this is the Galaxy Railroad."
"What kind of joke is this?"
"Come, please board from here."
Galaxy Railroad?
The Galaxy Railroad?
That is indeed a story from a fairy tale. A story where, while lying on a hill one night, you realize you are sitting in a small train seat with a friend. And it is indeed a story connected to the night and death.
"Passenger, please board."
While hesitating, as I was urged, I lifted my right foot, and my shoe did not reach the ground, making a metallic sound in mid-air. When I lifted my left foot on the other side, I stepped on metal at a higher point than my right foot.
A gangway?
As I proceeded with my feet in confusion, I was suddenly enveloped in warm air two steps ahead, and my outstretched hand touched a wall.
Inside a train?
Where on earth am I?
As I was led, I entered a compartment and sat down. A soft, elegant seat with uniform fur. Before long, the entire world shook quietly, and the vibration of clatter-clatter was transmitted to my body.
That voice of Hisako's said it was the Galaxy Railroad. And this came from above. Is it the Galaxy Railroad?
I must have fallen asleep. Just like in that story.
The vibration eventually became smoothly accustomed to my body, and I looked out beyond the smooth surface where I reached out my hand. But what spread out was still the silence of the world called darkness. I had hoped a little, thinking if it were a dream, or perhaps such a supernatural event, but the sparkle of stars was not born within me after all.
After a while, just as in the story, a bird catcher appeared, and a boy, a girl, and a tutor appeared and talked for a little while. From the bird catcher came the sweet scent of sweets, and from the three of them came the scent of the cold sea.
The protagonist of that story intersects his life with them and views beautiful scenery from the train window together. However, I could not see the giant whooper swan, the whale comet, or the shining pampas grass field at all.
As expected, I hate the thirteen-night moon.
Even in stories, it points out that I am disabled. I suddenly felt a suffocating feeling as if I were sinking to the bottom of a swamp, and then I shook my head. I had decided a long time ago not to pity myself.
I was never able to imagine that scenery to begin with. Even when I heard that story a long time ago. Because the concept of scenery did not exist within me. But I am indeed riding this Galaxy Railroad. I affirmed that fact with everything I possess.
In my heart, along with the vibration, the same-colored darkness was simply shining in the pitch black.
"Passenger, may I see your ticket?"
I have nothing, I was about to answer, but Hisako snatched the ticket from my hand that had nothing.
"How far can this ticket take me?"
"Please wake up soon."
With that voice, my body was shaken. A strong movement different from the comfortable vibration of the train until just a moment ago.
"Hisako, it hurts."
"If you sleep here, you'll catch a cold."
When I came to, I was lying on the ground, and I felt the sensation and scent of dry grass on my fingertips and ears. When I raised my body, my kimono was damp with night dew.
There is nothing of the soft seat or the sensation of the Weather Wheel pillar I had been leaning against until just a moment ago. If so, was it all just a dream? I felt a little, somehow, bored.
When I got up, as before, many small winds were dancing on the hill.
"Let's go home soon. It was a very good moon."
"Hisako, I cannot see the moon."
A short silence. And the following curious voice.
"I know."
"Then why?"
"If it's a full moon, the moon is too bright to see the Milky Way."
"The Milky Way?"
"If so, the Galaxy Railroad won't come. The only people who can ride the Galaxy Railroad today are those who cannot see the moon."
The Galaxy Railroad?
Then, the dream from earlier...
"Hisako, how far can my ticket take me?"
"Anywhere. Because nothing is missing at all."
The End
It was originally a day scheduled to submit a long story, but I remembered that today is the thirteen-night moon.