akina was a young girl
who'd grown up in rural japan
and she just met paul
a final
year architectural student
with the summer vacation
coming up
she invited paul to japan
to visit her
native country with her
following
a long flight to japan
they took a bus to her hometown
about ten kilometers
east of osaka
on the way
paul kept questioning akina
about her village
their local traditions
and history
his excited questions
were as long as her answers
were short
traditionally
their cultures were as
different as night and day
paul was very outgoing
chatty and curious while
akina's eyes remained fixed
peering at the countryside
calmly listening to paul
after the bus
suddenly stopped on the side
of a country road
akina told paul
to politely
get their bags from the bus
she talked about her village
and how their
traditions required that
no motor vehicles
were permitted beyond
where they'd stop
now they would complete
the rest of the journey by foot
only minutes away
through a beautiful forest
akina explained more
about their traditions
as they happily approached
the ancient village
where she'd grown up
in the distance
paul was
able to make out a village
of very
old tiny homes
built side by side
he could now
recognize
the feudal
japanese architecture
from the edo
and azuki mama periods
paul had grown
even more excited
as akina talked about
how the newest
of the homes
were built in the eighteen
sixties
but the majority were far
more ancient
built from stone
and wood
with moss
and algae covering
the outside walls
the village wasn't very large
it was surrounded by thick woods
and it appeared
as a completely different world
during the bus ride akina
had introduced her village
as a traditional village
specialized in paper making
and silk weaving
paul had listened
filled with admiration
and he felt extremely thankful
and blessed to be
part of this trip
as they walk deeper inside
the village
akina explained
that every night the villagers
would gather in large
numbers on the streets
and squares
after their long day of work
this surprised paul
who could
only see empty streets
devoid of any soul
there weren't
even any children playing
around
which he found odd
but because
he was afraid of offending
akina
he refrained from mentioning it
akina led paul down
a narrow alley
until they reached
a peculiar little house
at the end of the street
paul was observing her with all
and admiration
as she gently pushed the door
open with her delicate hand
a rancid and moldy
stench
immediately waft in their
direction
causing paul to sneeze
the room was dim
paul could feel human presence
and this was confirmed by akina
bowing toward all
sides of the room
paul instinctively bowed as well
fully aware
that this was the only
efficient way of communicating
with his foreign host
however
his greeting
was only met with silence
a keen his relatives
were sitting around a large
den filled with steaming
rice despite
the darkness
he could see the steam
coming out
of the white fluffy mound
but the surrounding relatives
faces were still blurry
akina asked paul to wait here
for her
return
as she walked out
into it and jason house
paul felt all the more
strange that
only men
especially a middle aged one
was greedily eating rice
meanwhile
the remaining women
just
put their hands on their lap
apparently without
any intention to eat
paul was
kneeling next to the door
waiting for a keen as return
the men
continued to eat rice more
and more greedily
it appeared as
if they'd been starved
for a very
long time
out of curiosity
paul decided to stand up
and move
closer to observe these
peculiar greedy hosts
but suddenly
he felt a strong arm
clutching his
shoulder
a short man
was standing behind him
and he could
see the side of his cold
and grimacing face
paul began looking
around
for akina
hoping that she would end
this uncomfortable
tense situation
when she finally came back
she was wearing
a gorgeous peach colored
kimono
as she saw paul's worried face
akina laughed
softly
and introduced the menacing man
as her father
she then smiled
and squinted at paul
as if to comfort him
gently taking his hand
she began pulling him
towards the door
because it was all so unexpected
paul could
only turn his head to look back
a little bit
but wasn't
able to see her family properly
behind him he could feel a
keen his father
staring at his shoulders
as he was turning around
paul was
startled to realize that
all the relatives
had turned
around to look at him
with grimacing faces
and evil stairs
the afternoon had begun
and as they were walking down
the streets
the surroundings
were becoming
gloomier and gloomier
as if to bring instant relief
the lights from all the houses
simultaneously lit up
and the town began
filling up with
villagers coming from all
sides paul felt
like he was the center of
everyone's attention
he could sense the surrounding
whirlwind
he didn't understand
why and how more and more
people
kept appearing from nowhere
quite strangely the town
wasn't getting any noise here
as if the villagers
were breathless ghosts
whose steps
didn't make any sound
the atmosphere
was getting heavier
by the minute
and paul's guts
were telling him
something was wrong
he was hoping akina
would give him
some sense of relief
paul could not
suppress his curiosity either
as he felt someone or something
brushing briskly past him
paul involuntarily turned
his head back
what he saw next
petrified him in horror
all of them were lifeless
and walked extremely gently
as if they were gliding
on the ground
their limbs didn't move
even their faces
had no expression
their
soulless eyes didn't blink
and their mouth remained
closed
in fact
their faces
seemed to be made of white
chalk so much so
that looking at anyone
would make his cheeks blush
hawk shivered as he realized
that men and women alike
were blushing like dolls
as she saw paul
akina immediately
led him back to her
small room
then she whispered in his ear
that he shouldn't
step out of the room
after seven pm
or something
terrible was about to happen
he was told to keep quiet
and refrain from saying
anything
and she would make him leave
the island
the following morning
at that moment
paul started to feel
that akina was hiding something
and he watched her
skeptically as she left
in the middle of the night
as he was falling
into a deep sleep
paul heard a loud noise outside
and was immediately relieved
by that
powerful sound
people were real
there was life outside
all his fears from the
afternoon
were now gone
however
he found it strange that
everyone was so noisy
so late
and raised the curtain
slightly to look
outside the window
the surrounding outside streets
were crowded with people more
or less gathered in a circle
and laughing loudly
deeply curious by nature
paul completely forgot
keen his advice
and sneaked out
to get closer to the crowd
he quietly
and carefully walked towards
where the noise came from
paul hid behind a large
haystack and watched curiously
he then looked at the person
standing
in the middle of the crowd
and
realized that it was a keen his
father
who was performing some
sort of specific ritual
around him
the previously inanimate people
were now greening widely
all bearing terrifying looks on
their faces
completely ignoring
his surroundings
and staring horror adequate
his father paul
suddenly heard a hoarse laugh
coming from behind him
哈哈哈哈
哈哈哈
哈
哈哈哈
paul's face stiffened in fear
his mouth faltered
speechless cold
sweats trickling down his face
behind him
the seemingly inanimate people
he had met in the afternoon
where now smiling
and laughing with their mouths
but normally wide
open and all eyes were on him
panicked and terrified
paul ran up
the main street to escape
the crowd
and as he looked behind him
to see
if anyone was chasing him
he tripped on a cobblestone
falling face down
on his stomach
as he lift his head up
slightly buzzed
a familiar foot
appeared in front of him
he began smiling
and as his gaze went up
keen as legs and torso
but it wasn't
until he
saw her face that he realized
the truth in horror
a keen is beautiful eyes
were staring at him eerily
her wide
yet crazy smile
left him shocked and terrified
speechless
akina made him
stand up and
started pointing
her finger at him as if
signaling the ghostly villagers
together
around him in swarms
while she slowly stepped away
啊啊
the following morning
the village square
was now devoid of any soul
its ground
was scattered
with a multitude of paper
dolls resembling a paper
cemetery
in the distance
akina's father bent down
to pick up fragments of a doll
which unlike the others
had been torn apart
his face
remained expressionless
as he played with him
with his fat and hairy fingers
akina walked out of the house
beaming
and beautiful and wearing
a revealing dress
she purposely stepped
on the remainders
of the paper
doll at first smiling
until she started laughing
hysterically
the aircraft was now landing
slowly on the runway
at miyagi's port
as the plain doors opened
a pair of red stilettos
stepped out of the cabin
shining in the bright daylight
a keena stepped down
from the plane
with a seductive
smile on her face
and whispered
on to the next one
let the show begin
having said that
she smiled brightly again
her eyes glinting
with an evil glare