MicroHorror

“What’s this called again? It’s good.” Alex put down the small cup of liquor and looked out the window, distracted momentarily by the little lights collecting near the shore. It was mid-summer, and the work he’d been contracted to do was progressing nicely. He considered staying in Yokohama. There was nothing in particular worth going home for.

“Sake. They have it in Canada too, you know. You really were sheltered.” His liaison, a soft-spoken young man named Ken Tanaka, was giving him a wry smile, which was the extent of his sense of humor to the best of Alex’s experience so far. “You see those lights? It’s the Obon festival. Tonight people gather and send lanterns into the water to honor their dead. It’s said that during the nights of the festival, the dead can communicate with the living.”

Alex, the sheltered young programmer from Vancouver, was intrigued. Across the room, he saw two local girls sitting at a table. They were lit only by the small tealight floating in a vase full of water, full of pink flowers. From here, it looked like the one on the right was smiling at him. He poured another sake for Tanaka, and said, “You mean ghosts?”

Tanaka smiled again, “One of our most famous ghost stories takes place during the Obon festival. It’s called the story of Botan Doro. A man is visited one night by a beautiful young woman, Otsuyu, holding a peony lantern. They fall in love, and one thing leads to another. They see each other every night during the festival, but she is always gone before the dawn. His neighbor, an old woman, becomes suspicious of the comings and goings, and one morning, just before dawn, she creeps to the window, where she sees him in bed with a skeleton. That day, she puts a charm on the house, and Otsuyu is unable to enter. So great is their love though, that the young man sneaks out one night soon after, where she leads him back to her grave. In the light of day, he is found dead on the bare earth, entwined in a lover’s embrace with the bones.

“There’s a few different versions of it, but that’s my favorite.” Tanaka finished his drink, and poured another for Alex, finishing the small carafe. “Listen, I’ve got a six o’clock tomorrow. Do you want me to walk you back, or will you find your way? This place isn’t known for catering to gaijin. Not much English.” Alex looked across the room again; the woman was definitely smiling at him. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Oh–one thing, though–what’s the etiquette for sending over a drink to a pretty girl?”

“There is none; go for it. I’d stay with sake, though; mixing drinks is bad wherever you are.”

Alex motioned to the bartender.

Several minutes later, the woman appeared at his shoulder. In halting English, she said, “Thank you for the drink. My friend had to go. May I join you?”

She was stunning. Her ebony hair fell nearly to her waist, and her jet black eyes seemed to stare into his soul. Her figure was beyond description, and Alex felt suddenly and decisively out of his league.

He managed to nod, and she sat, but when he remained silent, she just smiled and motioned to the bartender, ordering something pretty-sounding.

They sat silently, and Alex was happy to have the lanterns to watch outside. Soon though, the amber wine loosened things up, and they were talking and laughing like they’d been together a lifetime. The lanterns started to flicker out, and the other patrons had left. Alex looked at the girl, and swallowed his last mouthful. Moment of truth.

***

Their lovemaking was sweetness without comparison.

***

As sunrise warmed his face through the bedroom window, Alex willed himself not to open his eyes. Instead, he took the bony fingers gently in his hand, and kissed them. Otsuyu was happy.