u/Hayakumo_Yoichi

A hero and his companions dived into the chasm, to reach the hell where the Arch-Demon is. 
“Well, aren’t you going with us, Randolf?” the hero’s attendant asked the knight beside him. 
“I’m sure that we’ll need your help there.” 
“I don’t think so,” the knight in shining armor answered. 
“To destroy the Arch-Demon himself is a hero’s job, not mine.” 
He tucked his chin tightly and said, “Defending is what I’m good at.” 
As soon as he finished his words, he jumped and mounted his stallion. 
“May luck be with you, mate,” he said. 
“I wish you good luck, my friend,” the attendant said, and jumped into the pitch-dark crack. 

Later, the knight managed to arrive at the fortress, which was surrounded by the triple-layered stone walls. The human defenders were besieged by the Arch-Demon’s army. 
The knight had broken through the enemy siege, and had reached right in front of the main gate. He lost his lance, shield and crest on the helmet. His armor had many scratches and dents, and his stallion was exhausted. 
“Open the gate, the knight has returned!” he cried. “I serve the Queen!”
“Who dares to call himself my knight? State your name!” a sharp, high voice demanded. She was the queen of this country. 
“I’m Randolf the Ram, your Majesty!” 
“No, you are not! He must be with the Hero.” the queen shouted, “If you declare yourself my best knight, take off your helmet and show me your face!” 
To take off the helmet in front of enemies meant a fatal risk, but the knight raised his hands to the chin strap without any hesitation. He showed his face to his queen. 

The queen drew back her chin and tightened her lips. 

After a long few seconds, “Open the gate!” she cried out. 
“And, give him whatever he wants.” Every man on the wall could hear the catch in her voice. 
The knight said, “Just give me a new horse and my lance! Then, I shall sweep away the enemies for the Queen!” 
The defenders raised their voice, “For the Queen!” 
Riding a new stallion with a long lance in hand, “Save the Queen!” the knight roared. And the warriors rushed out from the main gate, following the knight. 
He made a charge at the countless enemies, to protect his Queen. 

When I was walking through campus toward the classroom, I bumped into a cute girl who just stepped out in front of me.
“Wow! Professor Koda!” 
She cried out my family name, but I was not a Professor, only one of the students.
Before I could manage to ask her back, she linked her arm with mine, in a familiar manner.
I said, “Hey! you must be mistaking me for someone else,” Though I knew I may regret it later, I’d like to be earnest.
She smiled widely and said, “No! I was looking for you, honey.”
I lost my voice because she pressed her soft breast against my left arm.

She explained. 
“To get ahead of your long-time wife, I decided to spend my student-life with you, from the start.”
“Excuse me, but I am a student and not married… At least, not yet.”
“Of course! That’s why I came from far away into this time and place!” She proudly exclaimed.

I was hit by a sudden inspiration, “What? You aren’t going to tell me that you came from the future?!”
“Yes, I am!” She laughed, “Now, I have an equal status with her! Haha!”
I considered her words deeply, and reached the final conclusion that I would become a Professor in the distant future. Then I’d marry my long-time girlfriend and then, I’d have an affair with the girl in front of me.
“What did future me do to you?”
“I’ll teach you what you did with me, Professor!”
She chuckled, and pressed her breast against me.

In those days, I was searching for my soulmate. 
One day, I found an ancient shrine that stood hidden in the downtown backstreet. It had two towering cedars each about fifty feet high, standing as pillars of the gate. It might be the oldest shrine in the area. 

According to the explanation on the bulletin board, “A God of En-musubi ‘matchmaking’ resides here.” That’s just what I wanted. 
Unfortunately, there were no coins for an offering. I had only a mobile phone for cashless payment. 
So I clapped my hands, eyes tightly shut and prayed for my usual wish. 
“Ohineri!” 
I heard a sudden voice demanding an offering, from nowhere. 
“Give me an Ohineri.” 
It was a low, dry, rusty voice. 
“Er… To tell the truth, I don’t have any cash.” I answered. 
An ancient man appeared out of thin air, standing right in front of me. 
“I can accept this also,” he showed me his palm. 
I saw the contactless payment logo was drawn on his palm. 
“One wish, one thousand Japanese yen.” 
With a faint suspicion, I tapped my phone against his palm. 

I heard some cheerful digital chimes ringing. Without any words, he dissolved into thin air. 
“Hey, God! Come back! I’ve not said my…” 

Before I could finish, I noticed a charming woman was standing in front of me with her mobile phone raised. 
When she dropped her mobile with a little panic, I caught a glimpse of a digital receipt on her screen, “¥1,000 for En-musubi.” 

I stared at her. Our eyes met. 

Both of us, the lady and I, burst out laughing.

When I was walking through campus toward the classroom, I bumped into a cute girl who just stepped out in front of me.
“Wow! Professor Koda!” 
She cried out my family name, but I was not a Professor, only one of the students.
Before I could manage to ask her back, she linked her arm with mine, in a familiar manner.
I said, “Hey! you must be mistaking me for someone else,” Though I knew I may regret it later, I’d like to be earnest.
She smiled widely and said, “No! I was looking for you, honey.”
I lost my voice because she pressed her soft breast against my left arm.

She explained. 
“To get ahead of your long-time wife, I decided to spend my student-life with you, from the start.”
“Excuse me, but I am a student and not married… At least, not yet.”
“Of course! That’s why I came from far away into this time and place!” She proudly exclaimed.

I was hit by a sudden inspiration, “What? You aren’t going to tell me that you came from the future?!”
“Yes, I am!” She laughed, “Now, I have an equal status with her! Haha!”
I considered her words deeply, and reached the final conclusion that I would become a Professor in the distant future. Then I’d marry my long-time girlfriend and then, I’d have an affair with the girl in front of me.
“What did future me do to you?”
“I’ll teach you what you did with me, Professor!”
She chuckled, and pressed her breast against me.

Pochi, the last dog on the Earth, cried sadly.
Beth the AI Dog asked, "What's the matter, Pochi-san?"
The AI dogs had been made as replacements for dogs, but Beth was made to take care of Pochi.

Pochi said, "I'd like to go to Harappa." 
"What's that Harappa, Pochi-san?" she asked.
"It's Japanese, it means a field. I'd like to run about." 
"Like this?" she said and projected a movie of dogs playing in a dog run.
"It's the artificial playground that mankind made."
Pochi let out a big sigh.
“I used to go to Harappa, but nowadays I’m allowed to walk around only in this block.” 
Beth understood what he really wanted and reconsidered. 

She thought about the problem harder and harder. 
The smoke puffed from her ears.

Finally, Beth lifted her nose and said, "Okay, I'll make it. Can you wait a day or two, perhaps?"
His face lit up. "Yes, I can."
Beth puffed out her chest and said, "Leave it to me. Please wait for a while."

Two hours later, the geostationary satellite just fell down onto the building next to their residence.

I once heard a theory that humans remembered their life before birth, the offspring's life inside their mother’s womb, until they turned three or four years old. 
“If you ever have a child, you should ask them about it,” my office manager told me with a strong recommendation.  
“I asked my son, of course.” 
"What did he say?" I asked, almost automatically. Intrigued. 
"That's a secret," he replied. "'Cause my wife will get angry if I let it slip." 
I was so interested, but his lips were sealed. 
"Alright, I'll try it when my daughter is born. She is due next month." 
"Just wait until she’s two or three. She needs to be grown up enough to understand the question, but young enough not to recognize what you want to hear... The chance of that is quite short." 
" Oh, I must remember that!" 
I was so looking forward to the baby's arrival.  
—  
That conversation with my manager feels like a distant memory now; eighteen years have passed since then. 
My daughter is eighteen years old now, and she has a sixteen-year-old brother. 
They have always been good buddies;  right now, they are playing a video game together. 
“Hey sis! You gotta grab the item.” 
“Thanks, Kazu! I’ve been looking for this.” 
“Yeah, you owe me a big one.” 
“Fine, I'll treat you later, bro.” 
Watching them, I suddenly remembered the day I asked her that question.  
—  
She was three years old at that time. She tilted her head slightly while remembering. 
“Papa, I'll tell you what happened.” 
I was surprised by how she quickly answered. 
“You mean, you remember the moment when you were born!” My heart lightened up. 
She nodded, “Of course!” 
“But I’ll tell you about before that… When we were inside mom.” 
I was taken aback again. “We? Er… Who were you with?” I asked. 
“Kazu, my brother, you know. We were in the water and we two were floating like bubbles.” 
“Ah, you and Kazu were tiny bubbles. I see.” 
“And we were very good buddies, but I had to go first, so I told him…” 
She gently patted her newborn brother's blanket. “...See you later, and let’s play a lot together again.” 
Listening to her, I believed she really remembered that promise. 
Ever since, she had always been very kind to her brother, and my son liked her very much. 
Later on, I asked my son the same question, but he simply replied, “We were bubbles.” 
I wanted to believe his answer was from his prenatal memory. However, I knew his sister had spent years telling him that 'Bubbles' story over and over again. 
After all, she was an elder sister. And in every sense, like a second mother to him.

When I was walking through campus toward the classroom, I bumped into a cute girl who just stepped out in front of me.
“Wow! Professor Koda!” 
She cried out my family name, but I was not a Professor, only one of the students.
Before I could manage to ask her back, she linked her arm with mine, in a familiar manner.
I said, “Hey! you must be mistaking me for someone else,” Though I knew I may regret it later, I’d like to be earnest.
She smiled widely and said, “No! I was looking for you, honey.”
I lost my voice because she pressed her soft breast against my left arm.

She explained. 
“To get ahead of your long-time wife, I decided to spend my student-life with you, from the start.”
“Excuse me, but I am a student and not married… At least, not yet.”
“Of course! That’s why I came from far away into this time and place!” She proudly exclaimed.

I was hit by a sudden inspiration, “What? You aren’t going to tell me that you came from the future?!”
“Yes, I am!” She laughed, “Now, I have an equal status with her! Haha!”
I considered her words deeply, and reached the final conclusion that I would become a Professor in the distant future. Then I’d marry my long-time girlfriend and then, I’d have an affair with the girl in front of me.
“What did future me do to you?”
“I’ll teach you what you did with me, Professor!”
She chuckled, and pressed her breast against me.

A man crashes into me with shoulder first. 
Something inserts to my left flank. My belly changes into as heavy as lead. 
I cough. I cough several times, and my throat gets burnt. 
Then I see what is sticking out from my torso. 
Ah! Knife.  

A man who stabbed me is looking down with twisted lips. 
"I don't know what you are... but you shouldn't have coughed when you are stalkin', you bloody sack." 
I ignore his what-to-say. 
“You are late..." 
I cough. I face him, and cough. 
“...It's so close to our time’s up." 
“So, what? It's only your time up, not mine." 
Now my nostril is full of the iron smell. 
“Finally, you come to me. So…" I cough. 
While I am speaking, blood spatters from my mouth and spreads around. 
He keeps smiling evil, with a blood spotted face and bloody hands. 
“So, what do you say to me?” 
“I appreciate it.” 
“You, disgusting.” 

Without another word, he turns and walks away into the darkness of a sleepless city. 
He must believe he just finished me. 
I fall down to my knees. While struggling to stay upright, I watch him, the man who killed my wife and unborn baby, dissolve into the darkest alley through my misty vision. Darkness falls in my eyes. 
I lose his shadow, but his footsteps remain. Then, I hear a sound of triumph: he's coughing.  

He coughs! And he can not stop coughing. 
"You! What the hell..." He can't finish, because he's choking on a hard cough. 
I try to laugh, but instead, I fall forward and hit my face on the asphalt. No pain, only joy. 
In any case, my time is up. I have been carrying a fatal disease. 
This deadly virus is weak against oxygen but highly infectious, and will infect anyone who touches an infected person's blood. And it goes down through his skin, then deep into veins.  

He cries out, knowing his time is nearly up. And coughs. 
I've done it. Ah...my revenge!

Today was a long, hard day. 
A light drizzle fell from the leaden sky. 
After dark, I visited a bar called 'Easy-Gwen’ for the first time. It was my colleague’s favorite and his top recommendation. 
On the entrance door, a placard caught my eyes; 
“A Big Bang Welcome to any customer who enters through this door.  
– Bar 'Easy-Gwen’ Master.” 
I wondered if it was supposed to mean something, or if it was just a bad joke.  

No customers were inside. Only a hint of cigar smoke had drifted from somewhere..
As I started to take a stool at the counter, the bartender barked at me. 
“Hey! You’re picking the wrong seat.”
“Pardon?”
“Try another one. There’s a lot.” 
“It looks fine to me.” 
“It’s… reserved, in a way. A regular is already there tonight.” 
I blinked hard. There was no one in sight. 
“Is there?” 
“That regular…Okay, she’s a drifter. Wandering that specific seat, jumping from one universe to another across the multiverse.” 
“You mean this counter exists in every universe, and she just switches between them?” 
“This bar is a unique and eternal substance, you see,” he replied. 
Intrigued, I took a seat right next to that empty one. 
“She’ll show up,” he said, the corner of his lips curling slightly. “But no one can tell when.” 
I made up my mind and ordered a pint. 
“Yeah, I can wait,” I said. 
I’m going to stay in this cosy, tiny universe until her arrival.

When I came back home after a week, my two-year-old son looked at me as though “He is the one who comes to my home so often” like eyes.
Reconsidering my recent schedule, I noticed that I haven't met him face to face for a month.
There was no reason to doubt that he recognized me as more of a stranger than a father.

I was at a loss for what to do when he started crying out for her mother.
“Hi, dad. Long time no see. A week or two?”
My five-year-old daughter, Renee beckoned to me.
As I leaned my ear close to her, she whispered into my ear.
“Don’t worry, he’s a bit shy with strangers. I’ll explain about you to him later.”
“Thank you, Renee. But how would you explain about me to him? He’s only two.”
Renee puffed out her chest and said, “Oh! I’ll just say, Don’t worry, bro. He’s my father and your dad’s friend... so, feel at ease.”
She winked at me and chuckled.

Behind her, my wife wore the same expression on her face.

The archeology teacher raised her voice at that point in the field trip. 
“This spot is famous for the continuing discovery of Previous-Human's ancient treasures, like rings of gold, silver and platinum which are decorated with glittering gems."
Most pupils raised their voices in surprise. 
She asked, "Does anybody know the reason?" 
Sudden silence fell among pupils. 

But one pupil, a boy, released tiny bubbles and said, "There were religious rituals in which people threw precious gems into the sea, wishing for their own welfare." 
“Well done!” The teacher praised.
“Can anybody add some more details?” 
“Yes ma’am,” a girl made some bubbles. 
“Those were mostly thrown by heartbroken people, who had lost their lover or had a change of heart.”
“Exactly!” the teacher cried out enthusiastically. “Very good.”
All her classmates raised bubbles from their noses, applauding.

The teacher whistled through her blowhole and said, “The previous human being used to name this place the Heartbreak Coast. It shows that so-called Homo sapiens possessed hands with five separate fingers.”
“What funny animals!” the boy who answered first exclaimed.
“Yes indeed,” the dolphin teacher agreed. “But they were not animals, they used to hold a civilization and called themselves human beings, like us Dolphins.” 

It was one fine day, about twenty millennia after Homo sapiens had gone extinct.

Zi-Sang was a seasoned port worker, walking along Pier 3 with his rookie colleague. 
 He muttered, “Hey kid, do you know about atomic-powered ships?” 
“Yeah, you’re talking about what we’re now looking at,” the younger one answered. “This port is full of them, but is there any trouble?” 
The old man asked, “How do you feel about those old ships they left here and never picked up?” 
The young worker replied, “I heard the shipowners from another universe docked them. And we can do nothing about those huge junks." 

The old man noticed that the unfamiliar ship just entered the port. He finally exploded. 
“Go back! Our port is almost full, so go back and never return!” 
The young worker let out a sigh and said, “But they’ll pay twice the port fee, correct? Good customers, huh?” 
Even though the old man knew that well, he scowled. He didn’t look particularly satisfied. 

The young worker said, “Ah, Zi-Sang? What the hell is that atomic power? You must know it well.” 
“A kind of power source,” the old man replied easily. “That’s all I guess. Since they left the ships so long, it must be some common stuff in their world. The top problem is, this port will be flooded by their disposals.” 
He walked faster toward the port office, to inspect the new ship. 
“Take it easy! That means we don’t have to work harder,” the young man raised his voice. Then he ran after the co-worker. 

The most important problem for him was Zi-Sang’s stubbornness. 

We were young, too young. 

Actually, we were in our early teens, though we believed we were part of some adult conspiracy. We supposed ourselves to possess adult secrets, adult knowledge, adult manners and adult bodies. Laughable, wasn’t it?  

I often said things like, "What’s the difference between us and them–Adults? You see? We just don't have women. I don't mean just 'girlfriends'; I mean more intimate relations with females. We’re bored of being those dreaming kids." 

When I declared this, he nodded like a woodpecker. 

One fine day, just after the rainy season, we found a puddle on the asphalt. 
His face brightened as he pointed at it. 
"Hey, do you know what this is? A gate to the multiverse!" 
"Oh, really?” I lowered my voice. “If that's a gate, then your mouth must be a black hole!" 
I was so stupid then; I didn't understand Kotodama, the power of words. I also didn’t imagine that such things truly existed.  

I thought he had twisted his lips in annoyance, but now I realize he was smiling. Oh, he truly knew what he was doing!  

He jumped. He dived into the puddle feet-first. 
"Watch out! You'll break your…" 
But he didn't answer. He simply disappeared into the water.  

—

Twenty years have passed since that day. 
One shining Sunday, I was taking my five-year-old son to the playground. On the road, my son found a puddle.  

He said, in a bright, clear voice, "Hey Dad, it's a gate!" 
I was truly scared by the words he had just spoken. 
"Dad, you know it's the gate." 
He pointed at that tiny, shallow puddle. At that moment, a human head poked out from the water… 

It was him!  

Because my son naturally understood the secret of Kotodama, he had opened the gate my friend had used so long ago. 
My friend had aged, and looked almost the same age as I was. 
He looked up, and slightly tilted his head aside. 
And he said in a cheerful voice, "Hi! I’m home!"

Pochi, the last dog on the Earth, cried sadly.
Beth the AI Dog asked, "What's the matter, Pochi-san?"
The AI dogs had been made as replacements for dogs, but Beth was made to take care of Pochi.

Pochi said, "I'd like to go to Harappa." 
"What's that Harappa, Pochi-san?" she asked.
"It's Japanese, it means a field. I'd like to run about." 
"Like this?" she said and projected a movie of dogs playing in a dog run.
"It's the artificial playground that mankind made."
Pochi let out a big sigh.
“I used to go to Harappa, but nowadays I’m allowed to walk around only in this block.” 
Beth understood what he really wanted and reconsidered. 

She thought about the problem harder and harder. 
The smoke puffed from her ears.

Finally, Beth lifted her nose and said, "Okay, I'll make it. Can you wait a day or two, perhaps?"
His face lit up. "Yes, I can."
Beth puffed out her chest and said, "Leave it to me. Please wait for a while."

Two hours later, the geostationary satellite just fell down onto the building next to their residence.

Pochi, the last dog on the Earth, cried sadly.
Beth the AI Dog asked, "What's the matter, Pochi-san?"
The AI dogs had been made as replacements for dogs, but Beth was made to take care of Pochi.

Pochi said, "I'd like to go to Harappa." 
"What's that Harappa, Pochi-san?" she asked.
"It's Japanese, it means a field. I'd like to run about." 
"Like this?" she said and projected a movie of dogs playing in a dog run.
"It's the artificial playground that mankind made."
Pochi let out a big sigh.
“I used to go to Harappa, but nowadays I’m allowed to walk around only in this block.” 
Beth understood what he really wanted and reconsidered. 

She thought about the problem harder and harder. 
The smoke puffed from her ears.

Finally, Beth lifted her nose and said, "Okay, I'll make it. Can you wait a day or two, perhaps?"
His face lit up. "Yes, I can."
Beth puffed out her chest and said, "Leave it to me. Please wait for a while."

Two hours later, the geostationary satellite just fell down onto the building next to their residence.

The archeology teacher raised her voice at that point in the field trip. 
“This spot is famous for the continuing discovery of Previous-Human's ancient treasures, like rings of gold, silver and platinum which are decorated with glittering gems."
Most pupils raised their voices in surprise. 
She asked, "Does anybody know the reason?" 
Sudden silence fell among pupils. 

But one pupil, a boy, released tiny bubbles and said, "There were religious rituals in which people threw precious gems into the sea, wishing for their own welfare." 
“Well done!” The teacher praised.
“Can anybody add some more details?” 
“Yes ma’am,” a girl made some bubbles. 
“Those were mostly thrown by heartbroken people, who had lost their lover or had a change of heart.”
“Exactly!” the teacher cried out enthusiastically. “Very good.”
All her classmates raised bubbles from their noses, applauding.

The teacher whistled through her blowhole and said, “The previous human being used to name this place the Heartbreak Coast. It shows that so-called Homo sapiens possessed hands with five separate fingers.”
“What funny animals!” the boy who answered first exclaimed.
“Yes indeed,” the dolphin teacher agreed. “But they were not animals, they used to hold a civilization and called themselves human beings, like us Dolphins.” 

It was one fine day, about twenty millennia after Homo sapiens had gone extinct.

I worked hard, then bought a so-called “engagement ring” with her birthstone, though it was not so gorgeous. 

It was a romantic sunset, and we were on the dusky shore... Yes, the situation was perfect. So I proposed to her on bended knee, held a jewel case with both hands towards her eyes and had an expectant smile on my face. 
She picked up the ring from the case and… threw the ring overhand to the sea! 
“What the hell are you doing!” I cried.  
She giggled and said, “Oh my goodness! It’s just by mistake.” 
While she was chuckling behind me, I ran into the gradually darkening sea. I swam hard cutting through the waves. 

A long time passed. I finally found the ring. I was lucky because the dim sparkle of her birthstone had guided me. 

I had decided that I would wait for her return down here.

Zi-Sang was a seasoned port worker, walking along Pier 3 with his rookie colleague. 
 He muttered, “Hey kid, do you know about atomic-powered ships?” 
“Yeah, you’re talking about what we’re now looking at,” the younger one answered. “This port is full of them, but is there any trouble?” 
The old man asked, “How do you feel about those old ships they left here and never picked up?” 
The young worker replied, “I heard the shipowners from another universe docked them. And we can do nothing about those huge junks." 

The old man noticed that the unfamiliar ship just entered the port. He finally exploded. 
“Go back! Our port is almost full, so go back and never return!” 
The young worker let out a sigh and said, “But they’ll pay twice the port fee, correct? Good customers, huh?” 
Even though the old man knew that well, he scowled. He didn’t look particularly satisfied. 

The young worker said, “Ah, Zi-Sang? What the hell is that atomic power? You must know it well.” 
“A kind of power source,” the old man replied easily. “That’s all I guess. Since they left the ships so long, it must be some common stuff in their world. The top problem is, this port will be flooded by their disposals.” 
He walked faster toward the port office, to inspect the new ship. 
“Take it easy! That means we don’t have to work harder,” the young man raised his voice. Then he ran after the co-worker. 

The most important problem for him was Zi-Sang’s stubbornness.

Zi-Sang was a seasoned port worker, walking along Pier 3 with his rookie colleague. 
 He muttered, “Hey kid, do you know about atomic-powered ships?” 
“Yeah, you’re talking about what we’re now looking at,” the younger one answered. “This port is full of them, but is there any trouble?” 
The old man asked, “How do you feel about those old ships they left here and never picked up?” 
The young worker replied, “I heard the shipowners from another universe docked them. And we can do nothing about those huge junks." 

The old man noticed that the unfamiliar ship just entered the port. He finally exploded. 
“Go back! Our port is almost full, so go back and never return!” 
The young worker let out a sigh and said, “But they’ll pay twice the port fee, correct? Good customers, huh?” 
Even though the old man knew that well, he scowled. He didn’t look particularly satisfied. 
The young worker said, “Ah, Zi-Sang? What the hell is that atomic power? You must know it well.” 
“A kind of power source,” the old man replied easily. “That’s all I guess. Since they left the ships so long, it must be some common stuff in their world. The top problem is, this port will be flooded by their disposals.” 
He walked faster toward the port office, to inspect the new ship. 
“Take it easy! That means we don’t have to work harder,” the young man raised his voice. Then he ran after the co-worker. 
The most important problem for him was Zi-Sang’s stubbornness. 

I had been walking along a deserted coast in a tiny but beautiful, nameless inlet. My legs were stiff, since I had hidden in a pit for two whole days and had been weakened from starvation.
There was no sign of life in this cosy fishing village and there was only the sound of the waves. So after three hours of wandering around the village, I almost gave up on finding someone still alive.
But at that time, I saw Rei standing still on the crystal sand and gazing at the blue lagoon. It was the most breathtaking sight I'd ever seen. 
The five-year-old girl was hanging a large, shining brass monocular around her neck. 
"Hey, are you alone? Ah... You found a telescope, huh?" I asked, kneeling on the sand.
She looked at me, then blinked but did not reply. Perhaps her parents had hidden her well from the Pirates, so she was in perfect condition except that she had red eyes and tear-stains on her face. 
For a while we looked at each other. But before long, she fainted from exhaustion. 

After dusk, I lit a bonfire. Silence fell, so there was only the popping sound of the firewood and the sound of waves rolling in and out. The pirate ship was gone from the southern cape, and Rei slept soundly on a full stomach after eating a simple supper of grilled fish and seashells. I wept silently with horror at what had happened and my own sinfulness.
—
Two months ago, the wrecked pirate ship drifted ashore at this deserted fishing village which had only nineteen shacks. They had escaped from the enemy privateer and had lost three-fourths of the crew in the gigantic tropical storm. The captain and other thirteen crew begged the villagers for mercy. 
The youngest fisherman, who was Rei’s father, said, “No! I have no mercy for bloody pirates." Most fishermen agreed with him because they worried about their wives and daughters. They didn’t care if the stinky villains were going to die, or even hoped they would die.
“Wait, gentlemen," the village leader raised his voice. 
“They’ve already been punished by the sea god, but they are still alive! How can we just abandon them?”
The old legendary fisherman was a local wiseman, and his words were like axioms. All villagers followed his guidance. 
The captain said, “Thank you. We are filled with gratitude to you all.” and bowed his head deeply. The tear drops fell onto his toes.
“We will keep our word. And just after regaining our health and completely repairing our ship, we’d leave this inlet instantly.”

The captain had kept his word until that doomed night, and they had maintained a good friendship with the villagers. The drifters had bartered food and water for gems or irons. Some young fishermen brought buckets of oysters and drank with the pirates.
But trouble arose.
Two of the crew had not returned to the ship before dark. The pirates had to remain on the ship after dark; it was the most important rule between the villagers and the pirates.

"Don't panic. I'm gonna ask the old man about 'em," the captain said aloud. 
"Nobody goes off the ship ‘til I return!"
When he was about to leave the ship, mournful news arrived. One of the crew who was searching for the lost crew found a helmsman's body in the bushes.
"He's lying along the road, near the village," the searcher reported, "He was stabbed in the chest."
The captain said, “calm down, guys!” But his expression hardened when he looked at the deadly weapon. 
It was a fisherman's spearhead and was smeared with blood.  

The fishermen fought against the pirates but they were no match for them. The eleven angry pirates with guns and swords had slaughtered all villagers except five-year-old Rei, then they sailed out of the inlet into the dark ocean before dawn. 

—  

A week had passed since we met on the shore. Now I found out that Rei’s telescope was interesting, actually a bit of a strange object. It could be a magical item.
“I see a woman and a boat,” Rei said with the monocular pressed to her eye, “she’s sailing on the blue ocean!” 
But I couldn’t see any woman or boat around. On top of that, it was a cloudy day. 
“Hey, let me see,” I took the telescope, but I only found pitch darkness. Whether it was a blank or a void, there was nothing to see.
“Um, I can’t see anything you said.”
Rei took back her telescope and looked into it, “Oh, no! I see nothing, like you!” 
“How’s that?” I asked her.
“It's Black!” She cried. “Wriggling!”
“Really? Mine was plain darkness.”
At that moment, I noticed she was holding the telescope in reverse. A wild idea struck me. 
“Let me see it once more,” I held it in reverse just like she did and looked into the telescope from the objective lens side. 
“Mamma mia!” I cried, nearly dropping the telescope, “That’s my father! And me! Me, in my twenties!”
Before my eyes, there was the sight of my hometown. The center of the vision was my father’s hardware store along the main street of a small port town. 
“I remember, this was my twenty-fifth birthday, and…” 
I stared intently at the young man running out from the shop, “The day I became a stowaway.”
Her telescope seemed to have a magical function. If you looked through the eyepiece you would see ten years in the future, then if you looked into the objective lens, you would see ten years in the past. That’s why I could see my past from ten years ago and Rei could not see anything since she was only five years old. 

The proof came five years later. By then, Rei had grown into a clever ten-year-old. One day, she looked into the opposite end and murmured.
“I’m being born, born from my…” She was weeping, “My mom.” 
Soon, she realized the trick of the magic telescope based on her own memory. She lowered the telescope and said, “Uncle Tom, I want to learn fishing and voyage. I know I’m going to sail the ocean!” 
I did my best to teach her how to survive at sea – fishing, canoeing, and reading the wind, stars, and ocean currents. 

After a while, Rei had started living in her hut and went fishing in her own canoe. She grew up strong and wise. On the other hand, I had been weakening year by year. Her “Uncle Tom” used to be a crew member of the pirate ship, yet I was small and frail. 

Recently, I had been lying in bed most of the day, and she kindly shared fresh fish and foods with me almost everyday.
Now little Rei was fifteen, she looked more mature than her years.
“Uncle Tom,” she asked one day. “What kind of boat would suit a long voyage?” 
“You’d like to make two canoes and put them side by side. It's called a Catamaran. Place the three-yard beams and boards between the two canoes, then you can get more stability than a single boat and have more luggage space.”
“Can that catamaran go across the ocean?”
"Sure," I answered. "Your ancestors had been back and forth across the ocean, island to island."
She completed building the catamaran in half a year. When ready, she walked around the inlet which used to be a fishing village with a magic telescope in her hand.  

—  

She had not come to my hut since the day before yesterday. I knew clearly that my time was running out. 
Today was the day we met on the shore ten years ago. In those days, she looked at herself sailing the ocean and I saw the pitch dark future, from the same lens. 
I was relieved that I had lived until the day of her departure.
“It's a cruel irony that I’m still alive," I murmured to myself. "Thank goodness.”
I got up and lit the fire and sat down towards it, the entrance behind my back. 
As I sat and was waiting for the judgment, soft footsteps came up to my hut. The goddess of vengeance who was wearing a brass telescope on her neck, was approaching. She must be carrying an eight-foot fisherman’s spear. Rei had watched the truth that had happened in the village ten years ago. 

I was one of the pirates. Since I touched the kindness of the innocent villagers, I had changed my mind to leave the pirate ship at all cost. I just wanted to become a fisherman and dreamed of living an ordinary life. 
Suppose, Rei had watched everything, including my sin. 

Just ten years ago, in the afternoon of that doomed day, I fled from the pirate ship. I had already found the hideout, so I went to the pit. I seriously regretted that I took things too easy.
I thought if I had gone into hiding, the pirates would leave the inlet without conflict with the villagers. I mean, though only one of them had disappeared, they wouldn’t waste time searching for me.
But there was another pirate, a helmsman. We met just in front of the pit. 
“You! The deserter will be executed," my opponent said in a low voice. “Turn back!”
I stared at him. He had a cutlass on his belt and grabbed a short fisherman’s spear in his left hand. I understood he probably had the same scenario as mine. And coincidentally, he also chose the same pit as me as a hideout. He was prepared to eliminate anyone who stood in the way, and moreover, he had brought the spear to deceive the other crew in case.
I said, “No, not at all.”
There was a struggle between the two of us. We fought each other desperately, because the pit was too small for two. 

A few minutes later when I came to my senses, I found the spearhead was stuck deep into his chest. Hot blood was spreading across his shirt.
I was scared, so I left the body and ran away from the place. Later, the pirates noticed two of the crew had disappeared and found the helmsman's body along the road, near the village. They recognized two of us had been killed by the fishermen, and got very angry at the betrayal of villagers.
In short, I was the main culprit of the slaughter. Because of my selfishness, all the villagers had died except Rei. And her parents? I was the one who killed them. 
I knew she would never forgive me now, after realizing what I did.  

I was waiting a long time for the avenger, though I would die soon or later from this illness. And I heard footsteps had stopped just in front of my hut.  
“I’ll depart soon,” she said in her tearful voice. “So, bye to you, Uncle Tom.” 

I had a vision, after finishing me off, she would sail off to the ocean as she looked at ten years ago. Though I already knew that I would never be on the same canoe.