Po po po . . .

[Male] In the Forest

I was born in [C/n], but due to some circumstance with my parents, we moved to Osaka, Japan and lived there for the next 2 years.

I studied Japanese, which came out a bit faulty, which caused a few classmates to tease me about it.

My friends back in [c/n] were the most precious beings I can call friends. But I didn't want to feel like I was betraying with them, so I never really asked classmates to hang out and only really go if they invited me.

One day, which was the last day of school and into summer vacation, we decided to head out to a grocery store that was miles out of town, thankfully, one of my classmates had a driver's license, making it easier to get to and back without having to walk under the intense sun.

And then that conversation came up.

"Do you know about Hachishakusama?" My classmate,  Sango Tagawa, asked me. I shook my head in response, and she leaned closer with a grim look on her face.

"Hachishakusama is an 8 feet tall woman with long black hair, usually sporting a large sun hat and a morning dress or kimono. We don't know how she comes to be, but we do know is that she targets children. Most of them in the age rage of 9-12. But if you happen to have a sibling in that age range, listen carefully for any 'Po' noises, that's what she makes when she walks around."

Another classmate of mine snorted. "As if, they're merely urban legends. Even if it's true, we're 18 year olds. Anyways, I want to move out of this old little town. Barely anything here to keep me entertained." He wrinkled his nose and everyone fell in silence, agreeing that it was boring here.

After everyone had finished their cold treats, we headed back. I was dropped off last since I lived by a mountain range, I don't venture in the forest too often since I wanted to concentrate on school. But when I had free time, I usually stayed at the treeline to head back in my quicker when I had to get to bed.

"Mooom, I'll be out in the forest, text or call me if you need me to come back! If I don't answer, then know I might be out of service!!" I called out to my stay at home mother who waved her hand. "Don't go too far in!" She called out the door just as I stepped out.

"Kaaay!" I replied, tugging my backpack closer to me. In my pack, it had a portable charger for me phone, it's cord, some snacks to munch on, a lunch box, a book I was reading and a foldable mat.

Ducking under some stray branches, I made my way through the trees. Even when I came into the forest every summer, it was always so.. Magical. Like I was stepping into another world.

I was about to go to my usual spot, which was a small creek with some large boulder platforms, making it the perfect spot to relax, but I decided to head up further. I am an adult now, my parents could text or call me if they get worried.

And so, I began charging up ahead, mapping out the area as best as I could with, trying to memorise area's, even pausing a few times to try and leave marks around to help create a path.

I reached a large pond, in across from me was an abandoned shrine.

Often told by my classmates when seeing a shrine, is to always be careful and never enter the shrine.

But this one was abandoned, I could see the broken doors, the overly rotting wood, it was just falling apart. I went around the pond to get a closer look.

when I was half way to the shrine, I felt something against my ankle, but it was already to late. I heard a loud snap, causing a yelp to spill out.

Looking by my feet, I saw a sort of string, it was black, a bit difficult to see, but it was there. I knelt down, gingerly picking it up to find it broken in half.