The sound of fox laughter rings throughout the forest, as 2 fox cubs tackle each other playfully, although their sister is reclusive, she still plays, just not with them. She watches a butterfly closely, she pounces, but misses. The butterfly flaps its beautiful pastel yellow wings' gracefully, as the small fox cub stumbles over a rock, trying to keep the butterfly in her sight. The butterfly finally lands. The small fox pounces quickly, and she manages to catch the small creature. Trapped under her paws, the butterfly struggles. The small fox cub looks up, realizing she had gotten lost on her adventure. She bolts up, letting the butterfly go free. She sticks her nose up in the air, trying desperately to pick up on her brothers, or mothers scent, to no avail.
The small fox cub had been walking for an hour, and the sun was even coming up. She was crying out loudly to her mother, with no reply. It felt like she was the only fox in the entire forest. She was frightened, and just trying to get back home. Suddenly, she got swiped up into the air by her foot with a thick rope. The rope was tightly wrapped around her foot, no matter how much she had struggled, she could not get loose. It was even brighter outside, if she didn't get loose soon, she'd surely be human food. Then appears an old shrine maiden. She had a bright white kosode on, with scarlet red hakama, carrying a lunchbox.
The shrine maiden approaches the small fox cub, still stuck in the air, "Do not be afraid, little one. I will help you," she said, in a soft, angelic-like voice. "The sun goddess is the one who called on me to help you, the sun goddess is the one who tied our fates together," she followed, as she freed the cub's leg from the grasp of the rope. She set the fox cub back down onto the ground, sitting alongside her. She opened her lunchbox and pulled out a tuna sandwich, ripping it up into pieces, she gave it to the small fox, alongside a bowl of water.
After the small fox cub had finished eating, the shrine maiden stood up, and began walking away. The small fox gazed at the shrine maiden's back as she walked away, wondering if the sun goddess would let their paths cross again.
From that moment on, the fox dedicated her life to worshiping the sun goddess. She would gather up berries, fish, flowers, and even her favorite meals, in hopes to appeal to her. Everyday she would recite the same prayer, word for word, "O' goddess, have I done right by you, have I repaid your kindness? I wish to see the shrine maiden once more, to repay her kindness." The sun goddess, feeling pitiful for the small creature, spoke out,
"You wish to repay my kindness? Then take my powers, and let me rest. I cannot take this eternal loneliness anymore, but someone must watch over the humans."
The fox cub accepted graciously, so the sun goddess exchanged her physical form with the foxes. Through a puff of white smoke, emerged the fox, now in the form of a human-like creature. The sun goddess, now in the body of the fox, ran off into the woods.
The fox set off on her new 2 feet, now being able to sense the shrine maiden who had helped her once before. She drew closer and closer to the shrine maiden, finally arriving at the shrine which she took care of. She entered the house next to the shrine, and called out, "Shrine maiden? Are you here?" From the other room came a voice,
"I am in here," she said, weakly.
The fox walked up to the shrine maiden, finding her bed ridden and sick. The fox asked her how she could repay her kindness.
"To repay my kindness, take over this shrine. My children have moved away to Tokyo and no longer care for it," she whispered, as she drew her final breath.
The fox did well by the shrine maiden's request. She fixed up the shrine and took care of it, for thousands, and thousands of years. The fox didn't quite get what the sun goddess meant by eternal loneliness when she had first accepted her deal, but she does now. Watching people come, go, and die, while she stays the same, no longer able to age. Knowing deep down, nobody will ever be able to stay by her side, knowing deep down that her mother and both brothers have been long dead by now. "This wasn't a blessing," she whispers, "It's a curse. A horrible, horrible curse."
YOU ARE READING
The Sun, The Fox, and The Shrine Maiden
NouvellesIf you come across the question, "What superpower, out of all of them, would you want the most?" there's one thing I would never pick. Living forever. I wrote this for my English 2 class, and decided i thought it was good enough to be my first post.
