Two feet, One ball, Zero Target

Two feet, One ball, Zero Target

Dear Myself,

We were was lost to the sea, our body I mean. As you know, we are a human who loves to travel the world, longing for somewhere we can call home and reside at for the rest of our life; this is still the case but everything has changed now. One day when we were walking in the vast woods of Aokigahara, up in Mount Fuji, when a bird flew past. I am now going to describe to you the story of how it all happened. It was a yellow bird, with yellow feathers, a black beak, and black feet. It flew past me and my eyes were drawn to it, then it flew back towards me. It did this for about four hours, following me as I walked. I decided to name it Keru, after a dear friend I used to take on journeys with me. Keru followed me, flying back and forth for about ten miles, flying up above the trees and then down to the grass where I walked. Every once in a while he would land and grab a worm from the ground, swallow it whole, then continue to fly again. There was something about this bird that had me drawn to it. Maybe the color. Maybe the gracefulness in which it flew. I was drawn to it and smiled widely as it soared above me. The sun started to set, and I grew scared Keru would disappear. As the horizon grew darker and darker, I shivered and stared up at the sky where he flew. I thought about stopping and setting up for the night, but Keru kept me going. My feet were very blistered from walking, my shoes had broken a while back when I crossed a stream and slipped on a rock. I decided that I would sit down for a moment to rest and rub some ointment on them, when I finished I looked up to see Keru gone. I quickly became discouraged and looked vigorously for him hoping that his yellow body would appear from the trees, but he didn’t. Instead, a little yellow spirit appeared from the trees with the same coloring as Keru, I didn’t know whether to be concerned or happy at the time so I just stared at it in wonder. It flew towards me, I didn’t know whether to take a step back or forward, so I just stood in place. I don’t have much recollection of what happened that night, but I remember the spirit entering my body and me feeling small. Though now, it wasn’t because I felt small but because I was small, I was a little glass orb. 

I could still move in this new form, and with no idea what to do, I just moved forward and continued with my journey. Every now and then I’d look up to see if Keru returned, but he was nowhere to be seen. I continued through the forest rolling along, I didn’t really question why I was a glass orb just accepted it and moved on, for anything can happen in this world even if it doesn’t seem real. By the time I had reached the end of the forest, the clearness of my new form had turned to a light brown. I decided that maybe if I rolled through a stream it would be better and I would be clean. So I did just that. I found the nearest stream and rolled right into it, the calm noise of the water flowing and the coldness of it made me feel as though I was normal. My whole body relaxed, or the feeling of having a body and what it would feel like to relax, and I felt myself drifting away. Moments later I woke up to find myself no longer in the forest, but the sea. The glass orb I was in was floating u above the waves, over and down and up and down. If I could be sick, then I definitely would’ve been sick. Though I am a traveler, I do not do seas, as the overwhelming fear I have of the ocean has prevented that. The horizon was nothing but blue with the top being a very dark blue and the bottom being a teal blue, this meant a storm was coming. For a traveler, you would think I would be prepared for a storm but I am also terrified of storms, so I was utterly horrified by the outcome of my journey. I wished that if I closed my eyes I would be back as a human traveling the world but now I am stuck and have to wait in this storm, in the vast sea. As the sky grew darker and the waves grew stronger I braced my glass self for impact. The waves pushed me through the salty sea dipping me under and above them as they rolled through the storm. Every time I went under the water it would be peaceful for a second, no more loud crashes, no more lightning and thunder, just calmness, and the smell of happiness roamed the air. I used to hate the sea but now every time I would wish to be pushed back under so I could hear and feel the heavenly song of the whales again. This storm lasted for about an hour or two, I kind of lost track of time after about of minute of the repeated cycle of falling and rising and falling and rising. I found myself once again drifting away. 

I was awakened by the sound of seagulls; I opened my eyes and immediately looked up hoping to see Keru but he wasn’t there. I told myself that he would return eventually, that he would return me to my human form and we would travel together. As I lay along the rocky shore I thought of why Keru chose me, why he entered my body and turned me into the glass orb. I thought that maybe it was revenge or karma for something I’ve done, I don’t remember what I would have done to deserve this destiny though. I then thought that maybe it was his way of thanking me? I sincerely didn’t know. I didn’t get too far into my thoughts when a tall figure blocked the sun from reaching me, it was an old man who looked to be about 74. He had dirty brown sandals with a long grey beard, no hair on his head, and crystal blue eyes with nothing but purity written over them. He looked very stern and happy as he grabbed me with his clammy hands, wrapping me between them like I was a small vulnerable baby. I couldn’t see where he took me, I just knew I would be okay wherever he went, he seemed sweet and I could tell by his distressed shorts and the smell of fish bait on his hands that he was a sailor. We walked for like 10 minutes, at some point I think we reached a town because I could hear the voices of others around me carrying about small talk. He stopped for a second then uncovered me from my hands and set me on this counter in front of this tall, bigger man with a unibrow. Unibrow said to him “You really expect me to want this? It’s nothing but a plain glass ball. You are lucky I have a friend who collects trash that washes up around the beach.” Unibrow spoke and the old sailor said nothing but nodded his head with a smirk on his wrinkled, dirty face. I was being sold. I wonder where Keru is, or if he can help me in this situation by scooping me up in his mouth like the seagulls scoop up fish to eat, but he didn’t come. Old sailor left, he sold me for a good 3 dollars and 76 cents, he was very happy with that price as he counted the coins practically skipping out of the shop. I sat on the counter for a bit observing the place, it seemed to be some sort of pawnshop with different colored glass bottles hung from the ceiling by little twine strings. There were crates full of seashells, bottles, and booze. 

Unibrow was speaking to other customers when a beautiful woman with long brown locks walked in, she had dark-colored skin and was wearing a bright yellow dress, she was dashed head to toe in golden jewelry, a huge gold necklace dangled from her chest and shimmered when the light hit it. The whole room was illuminated with the reflections of her jewelry, she walked over to the counter and grabbed me in her delicate hands. Unibrow kind of coughed when she walked out, he didn’t question her being or anything just stared in awe as she walked off. She spun me in her hands, looking at her ethereal reflection through mine. She walked down to the shore and people stared at her as she walked by, moving out of her way. I figured she was some sort of queen or something by the way she was dressed and the way people stared at her, only to find out later that she was in fact opposite. She sat down on the sand and laid me beside her, she cleared her throat then started to speak, “Long time no see, I’m sorry for the terror you must have felt after I left.” Immediately after she started to speak I knew who she was, it was Keru. Keru continued to speak but I once again found myself dozing off while staring off into the horizon. She picked me up in her hands and I began to transform back into my body, it felt weird and uncomfortable to be human again but also I was just so happy Keru was back it didn’t matter. After I had fully transformed back into myself, I wrapped my arms around her and wept. She held me for a second and then helped me stand up, it hurt a bit to stand but soon enough we were traveling through the air, she was back as that golden bird and I was now a hawk. She explained to me that she was a mage and watched over the people in the forest who passed by, she knew I would die if she left me alone so she turned me into the orb to save me from my doom. As we flew back home I told her about my journey.

This is your future. Don’t be scared or intimidated by what I’ve told you, for you are already on this path, you choose this. When you are reading this, you are already in the forest on your journey, you will see this letter hung up on a tree and read it. Soon Keru will appear, please welcome her with a smile.