The Short Stories of Peaceful Ghosts

01. In Light of The Tree Spirit

There is a breeze, a cool autumn breeze that suddenly rushes from behind me. It blows momentarily, and then it just disappears. Every day, I pass by a certain tree to reach my school. It seems like a normal tree, so normal that I can’t tell it apart from the other trees. But I only know it’s that tree when I feel the wind blow… and I see them.

Tiny glowing orbs, somewhat like fireflies, swarm the tree at certain times of the day. At seven in the morning, they swirl around the tree, and stay put. The tree looks like its decorated for Christmas most of the time. But then at seven at night, they swirl outwards and disappear. More of the orbs come to the tree every time a new day starts, though I don’t know why the number keeps growing.

“Can you see them?” a girl, slightly older than me, called out. I guess she caught me staring at the tree.

Come to think of it, how long have I been standing here? I checked my watch and realized that it was almost 7pm. The sky was completely dark, and in a couple of minutes, these orbs will blow out.

“Do you know why they swarm around the tree?” she asked, gently smiling at me. Her long brown hair moving as the wind tried to blow it from behind her ear.

I could only shake my head. For some reason, I couldn’t speak. It was as if I was absorbed in a dark space where only the tree, the orbs, and the girl existed. Sound didn’t exist, the sound of my voice that is. But I could hear her quite clearly for some reason. Her voice sounded like an echo in my head.

“They swarm to give light,” she paused and looked up at the tree. The orbs had just begun to move, swirling outwards. “They give the tree their lives,” she paused again as the wind picked up to blow away the orbs. “And then, they fade away into the darkness.” Just as she said that, the glowing orbs had gone and vanished. “Such is their life, to give light.”

That’s a beautiful way to live, I thought to myself.

One of the orbs passed near my eyes before completely disappearing. There was a tiny figure engulfed in that dim green light, like that of a person. It was faint, but I thought I heard it say something to me. So faint, it seemed softer than a whisper.

When I blinked, reality struck me. Sound returned, and I could hear myself breathe. The girl was nowhere to be seen, and the tree wasn’t glowing anymore. It was past seven, and my mom had left me a voice message. 

I looked around, hoping I would find a sign that something happened. But there was nothing. I was convinced that something did happen though, but I let it go. Maybe I’ll see something interesting tomorrow again.

~*~

I passed by the tree this morning, and it wasn’t glowing anymore. I checked my watch to make sure I was there on time and still, nothing. So then I began to wonder if something changed or maybe ended that night. This didn’t bother me too much throughout the day though, so school went by without any trouble.

It was seven in the evening, and I was standing in front of the tree. Still nothing happened, so I wasn’t sure what to do. I waited for a couple more minutes as I laid my back on the tree looking like I was waiting for someone. And then she actually came.

Approaching me slowly was the girl with long brown hair. Even though there was no breeze, her hair was still being gently blown by the wind. I didn’t know it then, but I knew now. Yet for some reason, I wasn’t afraid of her.

“Ah, were you waiting?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I responded. I realized that I was able to talk compared to yesterday.

“Thank you, dear friend,” she said, though I was perplexed about what she meant. “To show my gratitude, do you want me to light the tree?”

Without really thinking much about my response, I said no. She gave me a puzzled look, probably wondering why I refused. But it only took a bit until she could see it in my eyes. She realized that I actually knew what she was and why she kept coming to the tree.

I looked up and pointed at the tree, “Kurozome.”

She smiled, “I’m pleased that you remember me, little child.”

“I do. I remember everything,” I said.

“Did my little friends tell you?”

I told her that one of her friends did tell me. That little one who passed by my eyes surrounded by a dim green light, mentioned the name Kurozome. And then I remembered. With a smile, I told her not to light up the tree again. I knew that if she did it this time, I may never see the light again.

Our wish was to be remembered. And now that you, child, have fulfilled that wish, we no longer need to continue giving light.

And there it was --- the lighted tree that I remember from that day. It was the last flash of light of course, and I knew I wasn’t ever going to see something as beautiful and kind as that light ever again. So I stood there, watching the light shine its brightest.

Eventually it dimmed, disappearing into the cold autumn night. But strangely I wasn't sad. I smiled actually, knowing that even if the light disappeared, I would still remember how bright it was.

~*~

Author's Note: This was inspired by the song, "Hotaru Matsuri no Hi" by Jurin. If you listen to that song, you might get an idea of the backstory between Kurozome and the protagonist of this short story! I might write the back story for it myself when I have time. But until then, let your imagination run wild!