The Secret Sky

Chapter 00 - A Blast In Mariko's Past

The only thing Mariko could register within her vision was her dark locks blowing against her eyes. She pushed her hair behind her ear as she felt the cold wind bite at her bare legs and she squinted through the rain to try and make sense of what was going on around her. She felt a hand tap on her shoulder and looked back to see her escort hold the umbrella above their heads and nodding her head with a sharp jerk to indicate where they needed to go. She picked up her luggage and followed the older woman off the airplane, her clammy hands trying to maintain a firm grip on the handles. Her eyes felt heavy lidded and she could barely keep them open as she stumbled her way into the airport gate. Her escort, who she earlier introduced herself as Katie when they first met in California, was saying things under her breath but Mariko couldn’t hear her through the heavy pounding of rain hitting concrete and oddly enough, she could care less. The flight from California all the way to Japan made the twelve year old want to fall asleep on a warm comfortable bed and never wake back up. She took a nap during the thirteen hour trip but all it resulted was distinct nausea.

As the two of them entered the building warm air engulfed them and she would’ve nearly fallen to the floor if she wasn’t broken out of her drowsiness by a voice calling her name. She glanced up and through the blur; her eyes could see her grandparents waving their umbrellas in the air to catch her attention. She smiled and with newfound determination, she trudged her way over to the pair until she was wrapped in her grandmother’s arms.

“Oh Mariko, look how big you’ve gotten!” Her grandmother Yuri exclaimed in Japanese. Mariko managed a weak laugh in response and buried her head in her grandmother’s chest as tears flowed freely. She could feel her hair being stroked tenderly while she was held and she looked back up to see her grandfather giving her a crooked smile with arms extended. She leapt to his arms and gave him a hug and he chuckled deeply giving her a pat on the back. A cough resounded and Mariko glanced behind her to see Katie looking a bit sheepish as she began to introduce herself and talk with her grandparents. Mariko just decided to block out their talk by closing her eyes and inhaling the smell of home as she began to fall asleep.

-

She awoke in a futon placed on the floor and as she looked around the unfamiliar room to soon realize that she was in her grandparents’ house which meant that this was dad’s old bedroom. The young girl curled in on herself with her head between her knees and her arms wrapped around her body. She felt sick.

Why would they let her sleep in here when the memory of her parents’ death was still fresh in her mind like falling snow? A knock was heard and she could hear the door slide open right after it. Footsteps came closer to her and Mariko turned away with a whine making its way past her lips. A soft sigh came from the person behind her and gentle hands were placed on her shoulders.

“Mariko, we’re sorry but there was nowhere else we could’ve had you sleep.” They apologized. She recognized the voice as her grandmother’s but still refused to look up.

“I could’ve slept with you.” She protested in a murmur.

“Sawamura Mariko,” Her grandmother warned. “This is hard for all of us and I understand that this is the hardest for you but we need to learn how to move on.”

Her grandmother stood up at that and walked out of the room, shutting the door on her way out. Mariko finally lifted her head with tears streaking her face as she made a sour face at her grandmother’s words. She knew that her grandmother didn’t mean to sound as harsh as she did and that those words were mostly directed to herself but Mariko still didn’t like the sound of that.

She got up, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, and walked out of her room; pass the living room and over to door where the shoes and house slippers were lined up. As she slipped her sneakers on her grandfather’s head poked out of the kitchen. “Where are you going?”