CAW! CAW! CAW!
The next morning Makoto woke up to the cawing of crows outside her window. She threw a pillow at Misha to wake him up. He sprung to attention, then realized what happened.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“You never told me you could speak Japanese!” demanded Makoto.
“You never asked. You just assumed that I couldn’t and that you could say whatever you want about me behind my back!”
Makoto felt embarrassed she didn’t mean for Misha to hear what she said last night. Thinking about it now she realized it must be hard for him to come to a foreign country and the only person close to his own age said she hated him.
“I’m sorry Misha,” she said, “I didn’t mean what I said.”
“Don’t worry about it. Can I ask you something strange? Did you hear anything last night like something outsid…”
“Kids! It’s time to get up! Hurry we want to leave as soon as we can!” yelled Momo.
The children raced downstairs. There was already breakfast waiting for them. Dominique was sipping on some coffee while Momo brought out the last of the food. There was a giant spread of food on the table, orange slices, hot rice, fish, toast, and other delicious foods.
“Wow,” said Misha, “There’s a lot of food here! I’m just used to eating cold cereal and milk. Mom how come you don’t make this for me every morning?”
“Why don’t you make it for me?” asked Dominique in a dry tone, “I’m the one that pays for everything.”
Makoto giggled. They all sat down and enjoyed breakfast together.
Ding Dong!
Some one at the gate had rung the doorbell.
“I wonder who it could be?” said Momo, “Makoto, go and check please.”
Makoto ran over to the intercom to see the the video feed of who was at the front gate. Makoto saw two long drapes of hair attached to a slender body. It was her English tutor. Makoto was startled to see her so early in the morning. She held down the talk button.
“Hello, Yamada Sensei” She said
“Hello, Makoto. Is your Mother home? I wanted to offer my condolences.” said Yamada she turned her head and smiled into the camera. It was a forced smile and it sent a shiver down Makoto’s spine.
“Yes, um, one moment please.”
Makoto ran over to her mother and said, “It’s Yamada Sensei. She came to offer condolences.”
“That’s strange, I didn’t tell her Grandfather was sick,” said Momo.
“Mr. Sato must have said something,” said Dominique casually.
“Of course, you’re right,” said Momo as she left to answer the door. She put her shoes on and slid opened the front door. The sky was grey with clouds threatening to burst at any moment. She shrugged off an eerie feeling in her gut as she crossed the front yard to open the gate. Momo pulled open the gate door and Yamada was no where to be seen. Momo called out to her, but she didn’t answer. She stepped out into the street and looked around, but the street was empty. Suddenly Momo noticed she was stepping on something. It was an envelope with “to the Sato and Hayashi Families” written on it. Momo assumed it was a card or something of the like. She had wished that Yamada had given it to her in person, but she was still grateful for the thought. Momo took the card into the house and decided to open it at Grandfather’s house along with all the other gifts and cards they would get from friends and family members.
The car ride to their grandparent’s house was about an hour’s drive up the mountain but it didn’t seem that long to Misha and Makoto who spent the entire time talking and playing with each other. Their mothers were also getting along. They reminisced about their college days and talked about current events in a way only old friends can. They would also carefully tip toe around the subject of Misha’s father. For them the loss was still fresh. Misha on the other hand could hardly remember his father at all. The only things he knew about him were the stories his mother would tell, and the few memories he had of his father doing dishes, playing in a sandbox with him, and lying in a hospital bed. Misha remembered more about the funeral than he did the man.
Someone from the main house meet them at the gate and told them to park their car in front. They did as instructed and a servant took their luggage to their rooms as they went to visit Grandfather. Makoto and Misha were silent as they were lead down the hall to where their dying grandfather was kept. The hall was dark and narrow and lined with sliding paper doors. Rooms that most likely had not been lived in for years. At the end of the hall was a bright light. Makoto could hear the beeping of machines and as they got closer the smell of hospital wafted into the hall. It was the distinct combination of death and disinfectant intermixed. Grandmother was already in the room waiting for them when they arrived. They knew other relatives would be arriving shortly and they would have to attend to the matters of the funeral, but for now they came and sat quietly next to Grandmother.
“He is asleep now but he may wake up soon,” said Grandmother, “hopefully you will be able to say your goodbyes then, but he gets weaker by the hour.”
The family stayed in the room watching and waiting. Occasionally some more relatives would arrived and quietly wait as well. After a while children began to get restless. The parents all agreed that they should be taken out to the garden to play until Grandfather awoke. A servant led Makoto, Misha, and their second cousins Yuuki and Nana out into the garden. Makoto was glad to be outside away from that horribly quiet room, but she could still feel an aura of death surrounding her. The servant gave them each a stick of dango and told them she would be back if there were any developments. Makoto, Misha, and Yuuki ate their snack right away. The chiefs at the main house were some of the best in Japan, and the dango was made to sweet perfection. Nana watched as the other children ate their treats with a knowing smile. When the other children finished they looked around for more, but there was none to be found, except in Nana’s hand. All three of them looked at her. This is what she had been waiting for. She planned to eat hers slowly in front of the others while they begged her for another taste.
“It isn't fair Nana has more!” complained Yuuki.
“It’s perfectly fair,” she explained, “we all got the same amount, except I didn’t eat mine all at once like an animal.”
Makoto got very angry, she knew that Nana had just saved her dango so she could make the others suffer. She wasn’t going to give Nana the satisfaction of knowing that she also wanted them, so she pretended to ignore her. Yuuki on the other hand proceeded to beg her for some. Nana dangled the treat over her little brother’s head and pretended like she would give him a bite, but then ate it herself. Makoto could barely hold back her anger. Nana always loved to play these sort of tricks on them, and Makoto didn’t appreciate it. It would have been one thing if she was just a slow eater but that wasn’t the case. Nana had a mean streak in her that it seemed no one could see except for her. Then she thought that maybe Misha could see it too. This was the first time they had ever met and he must have seen what she did to her little brother. Perhaps in Misha she would find a fellow commiserator. Makoto looked over and saw that Misha wasn’t even paying attention to the whole scene, instead he was staring off into space.
“Misha,” whispered Makoto.
Misha startled and answered, “what?”
“Shhhh! Did you see what just happened? Did you see what Nana did? Isn’t she the worst?”
“No, sorry I was looking at something else.”
Makoto thought that that was strange since it looked like Misha was just staring off into space. She looked where he was looking and didn’t see anything.
“What were you looking at Misha?” she asked
“The crows,” he answered.
Makoto looked and didn’t see any crows.
“They are here to take Grandfather’s soul,” said Misha in a monotone voice, “They told me.”
“Misha, I don’t see any cro…”
“Children!” Shouted the servant, “come quickly, your grandfather is awake!”
The servant hurried the children in but by the time they got back to the room it was too late. Everyone inside was weeping and comforting each other. Makoto noticed that her father arrived when they were outside. He was holding up her mother so she wouldn't collapse from grief. She rushed in to join them in their tears. Misha also entered the room but slowly he hadn't yet spotted his mother yet. Misha looked to the bed where his grandfather lay dead, and he saw a large crow about the size of a small dog sitting on top of him. The crow turned it’s head and looked at Misha and said, “I want your soul!” Misha screamed and ran toward the crow, but he only took two steps before someone grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth. Misha wheeled around and saw a tall thin woman with sunken in eyes, pale skin, and straight black hair that fell on each side of her head like drapes. Misha screamed as loud as he could and tried to pull away, but the woman held him tight with her long bony fingers firmly wrapped around his arm.
She put her finger up to her lips and said,
“Shhh!”
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