Reflections in the Mist

Chapter 7: And my Fury Stands Ready - Come from where you hide

Chapter 7:

And my Fury Stands Ready – Come from where you hide

7th October 2008: III

We woke up before the pink phone alarm had chance to scream at us. I was worried; I hadn't spoken to Jessie since we got to this place. She usually calls every day, but now, no signal. Is this the third day? I looked at the phone; it still said that it was the 7th October. I really missed her...

“Hey, morning dude.” I said to Roo who was sat up stretching his back. “Yeah, morning, what’s the plan for today?” He asked seeming quite reconciled with the fact we still didn’t know where we were exactly and how to get back to where we were supposed to be. “I’ve got no idea. That he-she Translator said that we were going to meet the Mayor today, I don’t know when, did it say a time? I don’t recall.” Roo thought a bit. “No, I remember the part about the Mayor, nothing else really.” I sighed. “Oh well, you coming for breakfast?”

“Do bears shit in the woods?” We laughed, then sobered. “Would you like to find a bear in these woods?” We shuddered at the prospect. “Actually, after seeing those beetles, I’d rather not see any more fauna in this village.” Roo declared forcefully.

We got out of bed, put our yukatas on and went for breakfast. It was pretty much the same spread as the day before, and yes, they still had no McDonald’s! What was interesting was; we had a woman serve us. Not just a shadow but a real person. She called herself Fuhyō by smiling and patting her chest indicating that it was her name. When she first walked in to serve us, we both looked at each other puzzled. Roo asked her what happened to the person who was working the day before? But, she could not speak English. “Where is the translator when you need it?” I asked Roo.

“Yeah, we didn’t even need it to translate for us yesterday. Did it say if it was coming to meet us today?”

“Don’t think that it did, we should ask Okami, she might know.” We ate our breakfast and left to go for a wash.

It felt really good to be back in the washing stream. I loved the feeling of the gel washing away, dragging the dirt with it. “We should totally build one of these back in England.” I said to Roo when I surfaced.

“We could make a business out of it. I’ve gotta find out where we can get some of this gel from too. It makes you feel so clean!” Using the gel left me feeling really invigorated and fresh. “Whoa dude, your bruise again!” I took a look and the bruise, that was a dirty yellow the previous morning, had now gone. “Do you think the gel cleaned that off as well?”

“I have no idea; there are some really extraordinary things in this village.”

The two of us stood bobbing in the water talking until a group of three distorted haze people came in and we decided to leave. “It is awkward not knowing if they are women or not.” Roo said in the changing room just outside. I knew how he felt. I was still getting used to washing naked with men around let alone not knowing if women were there too.  We knew it was where men washed, as Okami had told us, but still...

Dried and dressed, we left our room to go and find Okami. As always, she was standing by the reception desk. “Hello, good morning.” She said, that smile never leaving her face. “I hope you both slept well?”

“Good morning.” Roo replied.

“Yes thanks, we slept really well last night.”

“I am happy for you. I have message from the Translator.” She said without us even having to ask. “Be here for seven o’clock, you will then be taken to the Mayor by the Translator.”