The Bad Dream
Shopping. Yes, that was her mission of the day.
Karin found herself walking through the different racks of clothing lined up in the department store and wondered what sort of clothes she should be buying. Something sexy? Something pretty? Something just plain casual? She had taken a recent liking to the more comfortable side of fashion lately, the tight but stretchy yoga-style pants and light tank tops. It was comfort, and it wasn’t a school uniform. That was a-ok with her. Every now and then though, she’d find something a little racier mixed in with all the other clothes and she’d take it to the fitting room mirror to see what she thought about it.
“Oh, I like this one,” she smirked to herself. “I wonder if someone else would, too.”
Once her hands were full of clothes hangers full of clothes, Karin walked to the counter to check out. There was a hot credit card in her back pocket screaming to be used, and Karin wasn’t about to tell it ‘No.’
Setting all the clothes down at the register counter, Karin looked around for a clerk of sorts to check her out. There didn’t seem to be anyone near by, so she left the clothes there and walked around more of the store to try and find an available associate. All the other counters she approached were empty, too. That was strange considering that the registers were all turned on and ready to accept purchases. Frowning to herself, Karin looked around for anyone who might be able to point her in the right direction.
There was no other person in the store.
Try as Karin might, she couldn’t find another single person, employee or shopper, in the store with her. Where was everyone? The store wasn’t possibly closed. The lights were on and the registers were all running. But something wasn’t right - maybe it was a practical joke. Karin looked around once more before headed to the front of the store and then outside the buildings - doors unlocked and no alarm set. Outside, however, it was no different. Even though the store was on one of the busiest streets in Tokyo, in the mid-afternoon, there wasn’t a single person on the streets aside from herself.
“What the hell?” she said aloud to herself, hoping someone might hear her and echo a response.
There were no cars, but the traffic lights were working; no people, but all the stores were open. Not even a bird could be see flying through, or an insect underfoot. There was no one else there but Karin… and she didn’t understand why. It was chilling feeling, and confusing… but mostly lonely. Her clothes were forgotten on the counter back in the department store as she walked around the city in search for other people. The advertisements hanging on the buildings around her had people in them that all seemed to stare back down at her, watching her walk down the middle of the street calling for anyone who might listen to her. “Hello?!”
The clocks changed into minutes and hours, and Karin’s feet were tired from the steady walking she was doing around the city. Time didn’t seem to matter though when she wasn’t focused on anything but proving that she still existed in the world with someone else. Even the busiest intersections were vacant of any form of life beyond the shine of lights from the buildings that had somehow come on with the setting sun, despite there not being anyone to turn them all on. With the setting sun, all of Karin’s hopes that she might find someone else disappeared over the horizon as well and the tall buildings were soon standing tall over her, the shadows falling at eerie angles through the streets. There was the smell of fear in the air, and even she could smell it herself with no other scent in the area. She had never been afraid of the dark, but she slowly began to rethink her phobias while the sky above got darker.
Although she was merely walking around the city, she found herself slowly getting out of breath and she pushed further until she couldn’t walk any more, taking a break against the side of a building and catching her breath again as she tried her best to not cry. This was all too strange and the loneliness and confusion was getting the best of her. Where was everyone?! She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had seen a human face at all, and heard a noise come from down the alley where she had stopped. Her eyes opened immediately and she looked down the dark, narrow path.
“Is that… a baby crying?”
Cautiously, Karin began to walk down the alleyway, almost afraid something might jump out after her, but the muffled sounds of a baby crying began to get louder and louder - although they were muffled at best. She picked up her speed to a soft jog as the alleys between the buildings turned into a labyrinth she hadn’t realized that she had gotten herself into. The turns got confusing - left, left, right, left, straight ahead - and she wasn’t sure if she’d remember how she had gotten inside in the first place. Still, the baby was crying and Karin needed anything to let her know that there was life on this planet.
At a point in time, the volume ceased to increase any further, running through her ears at the decibel of a loud child crying from across a large, open space. The walls felt like they were closing in, changing, but Karin was determined to continue onwards. No matter the distance she traveled, there were no longer the flashy neon lights of the city around her. How far had she gotten? She began to breathe heavily again, ready to give up and admit defeat, sit down and let the world take her over… and then, the crying stopped. With one hand on the wall to hold herself up, Karin looked forward and slowly began to walk towards where the crying once was. The alleyway opened up and Karin walked out onto the sidewalk, the city no longer being there and instead, grassy meadows.
“Why are there…” Karin began to question the vegetation before her, dewdrops on the grass sparkling in the moonlight, until she saw something moving along. Afraid, she backed up into the wall of the city building and began to look around for anything else that moved. In the grasses, some large shadow moved along towards her, an animal of sorts, but she was unable to determine what it was. Standing under a street light, she put a hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat heavily against her chest, and Karin kept her eyes on the creature. Once it got to the end of the meadow, it appeared slowly - not out to stalk or surprise her - and Karin finally got to look over the beast.
The first thing she noticed as the light shimmered its eerie reflection off of the beast was the soft bronze eyes that stared at her within the long, thin canid face, and told her without saying a word that she was not in any danger. It was tall, about six foot high, and bone-thin, with the white color of its bones being seen through the dark color of its fur. From the bad lighting, she wasn’t sure if it was a dark brown or shade of grey, or any other darker tone. It walked on four legs gracefully, long claws at the end of its feet, and seemed almost reptilian despite its more canine-like appearance. Behind it a long tail followed, a glowing orb at the end of its tail. With its ears folded backwards to show its kindness, almost like a dog showing its submission, the ghost-like canine walked over and towered above her, looking down with eyes that almost smiled. Karin felt strangely comforted by the presence, mostly glad to see another being besides herself, and the fear slowly lifted from her.
Watching Karin for a moment, the creature seemed to have notice that she had calm down considerably and he nodded his head once and began to walk back towards the meadow from where he came. He took a few steps before looking back, silently motioning for her to follow him.
“Where are we going?” Karin didn’t move but an inch from the wall before asking the spectre. It nodded its head again, looking back towards the meadow, but Karin spoke up again, “What’s out there? I don’t know if I should follow…”
There might have been other people like herself out where the creature wanted to take her, she tried to rationalize the possibility, but did not want to leave the city. “I’m not comfortable with this,” she spoke to it comfortably as if it were an old friend. Her loneliness was a thing of the past.
It turned around and walked back in front of Karin, lowering its head to eye-level with her, and stared for a few brief glances before nodding its head towards the meadow and turning around again. Even with the fact that she would be better off going than staying, Karin still fought within herself to stay or go. Soon, she walked away from the wall and began to follow the creature into the moon-kissed grasses - slow, but steady, and curious. The lights of the city disappeared behind them and Karin followed it across the small fielded area. Once it got to the end, the two shared glances. Bowing its head, the canine’s eyes seemed to wish her well, wanting to leave her to the comfort of the meadow they have walked through.
Karin was not satisfied with the thought of being left alone again, “Wait, don’t leave me. What will I do? There’s nothing I really know how to do now that everyone has left me….”
The creature stared at her, eyes harder and almost demanding that she remain in the meadow, and then bowed again and started running away. For a moment, Karin stood there and wondered what could and should be done, but she threw away the security of the meadow to chase after the spectre as it raced to try and leave her behind.
“Please, wait for me! I don’t want to be alone again!” she cried out, reaching her hand out to at least catch his tail in an attempt to get attention and force him to stop, but she couldn’t touch him at all.
The therapsid ghost continued to give chase, and was faster than Karin by far. Cursing to herself, she tried and tried to find a way to catch it. No luck. They ran several miles together, Karin not realizing how out of breath she should have been, and chase him into a neighborhood. Through a few panted breaths, she shook her head and called out breathlessly, “Stop… please… wait.” But the creature would not stop. In the neighborhood, Karin sighed despite her desire to catch the beast and get him to help her, and watched him actually jump over a house before she gave out completely and sat down at the sidewalk near the mailbox at the end of a lawn. The creature disappeared into the night and Karin began to cry.
“What… what happened? Why did that creature come to me? What am I supposed to do?”
Through a few good minutes of tears, Karin wiped her face with a sniffle and stood to her feet, dusting off and looking around. The mailbox that had stood guard beside her at the end of the sidewalk looked awfully familiar. Slowly, her eyes turned towards the house, two stories with an excessive garage. She wiped away a few more tears and walked up the sidewalk to the front door. There was no SUV in the driveway, but she knew…
“Zaku…? He must be home! Oh, the beast led me to Zaku!” Karin had caught her breath, or ignored it one, and ran to the doorway, banging heavily at the door. “Zaku! Zaku! It’s me! Are you home?”
There was no answer. No Fathom barking, inside or out. She snuck into the bushes and tried to peek in the window, tried to jiggle the front door open, but there was nothing.
“My keys!” Karin smiled, remembering the extra key that Tomoko had given her, but Karin realized that it was missing. She must’ve left it at the department store. Not like anyone would notice it… Crying through hot tears, Karin went back to bang at the door, the only option she had. “ZAKU! ZAKUUUUU~!”
Punching her fist hard into the door one last time, she twisted sharply and fell on her side in blinded anger mixed with sadness. He was gone. Everyone was gone.
Why didn’t she stay in the meadow…
---
Slowly, Karin opened her eyes as tears poured out. It took her a few minutes to get oriented, but she noticed she was back in her bedroom and she felt numb. Scared that she might still be alone, she cried out loudly. The black dog on the floor lifted his head and looked to her happily, glad his master was awake, and Tsubame rushed into the room.
“Karin? Karin, baby, are you ok?” She walked over to the bed and sat down, hugging her daughter for the first time in years.
“Y-Yeah… bad dream,” Karin hugged her mother back. A few other things didn’t add up in her head, but Karin eventually rested her back against the pillows and the dream was pushed aside in her mind. She didn’t want to feel alone again.
Hiroshi followed in the room quietly, smiling to Karin as he saw that she was awake, and sat down at the foot of her bed, “You slept well, I hope?”
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Karin nodded, “Yeah, but I had a terrible nightmare…”
“That’s bound to happen,” Tsubame told her softly, causing both Karin and Hiroshi to stare at her kindness. “Look, you’re home and you’re healthy. That’s what matters.” Frowning at their accusing stares, Tsubame sighed and left the room.
“I’m home…? Where have I been?” Karin looked over to Hiroshi now for answers.
Hiroshi’s face softened dramatically, “Do you not remember, Karin? You…” He couldn’t finish. “Ah, I left your lunch on the stove. Let me go get it, and we’ll talk later.” He was a terrible liar, Karin noted, as he ran off and out of the room.
A sudden headache caused Karin to hold her head with a hissing intake of air, wincing at the pain. Something had happened. Something had happened to her. At the moment, she wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she knew it wasn’t good… and she felt strangely alone.
Karin found herself walking through the different racks of clothing lined up in the department store and wondered what sort of clothes she should be buying. Something sexy? Something pretty? Something just plain casual? She had taken a recent liking to the more comfortable side of fashion lately, the tight but stretchy yoga-style pants and light tank tops. It was comfort, and it wasn’t a school uniform. That was a-ok with her. Every now and then though, she’d find something a little racier mixed in with all the other clothes and she’d take it to the fitting room mirror to see what she thought about it.
“Oh, I like this one,” she smirked to herself. “I wonder if someone else would, too.”
Once her hands were full of clothes hangers full of clothes, Karin walked to the counter to check out. There was a hot credit card in her back pocket screaming to be used, and Karin wasn’t about to tell it ‘No.’
Setting all the clothes down at the register counter, Karin looked around for a clerk of sorts to check her out. There didn’t seem to be anyone near by, so she left the clothes there and walked around more of the store to try and find an available associate. All the other counters she approached were empty, too. That was strange considering that the registers were all turned on and ready to accept purchases. Frowning to herself, Karin looked around for anyone who might be able to point her in the right direction.
There was no other person in the store.
Try as Karin might, she couldn’t find another single person, employee or shopper, in the store with her. Where was everyone? The store wasn’t possibly closed. The lights were on and the registers were all running. But something wasn’t right - maybe it was a practical joke. Karin looked around once more before headed to the front of the store and then outside the buildings - doors unlocked and no alarm set. Outside, however, it was no different. Even though the store was on one of the busiest streets in Tokyo, in the mid-afternoon, there wasn’t a single person on the streets aside from herself.
“What the hell?” she said aloud to herself, hoping someone might hear her and echo a response.
There were no cars, but the traffic lights were working; no people, but all the stores were open. Not even a bird could be see flying through, or an insect underfoot. There was no one else there but Karin… and she didn’t understand why. It was chilling feeling, and confusing… but mostly lonely. Her clothes were forgotten on the counter back in the department store as she walked around the city in search for other people. The advertisements hanging on the buildings around her had people in them that all seemed to stare back down at her, watching her walk down the middle of the street calling for anyone who might listen to her. “Hello?!”
The clocks changed into minutes and hours, and Karin’s feet were tired from the steady walking she was doing around the city. Time didn’t seem to matter though when she wasn’t focused on anything but proving that she still existed in the world with someone else. Even the busiest intersections were vacant of any form of life beyond the shine of lights from the buildings that had somehow come on with the setting sun, despite there not being anyone to turn them all on. With the setting sun, all of Karin’s hopes that she might find someone else disappeared over the horizon as well and the tall buildings were soon standing tall over her, the shadows falling at eerie angles through the streets. There was the smell of fear in the air, and even she could smell it herself with no other scent in the area. She had never been afraid of the dark, but she slowly began to rethink her phobias while the sky above got darker.
Although she was merely walking around the city, she found herself slowly getting out of breath and she pushed further until she couldn’t walk any more, taking a break against the side of a building and catching her breath again as she tried her best to not cry. This was all too strange and the loneliness and confusion was getting the best of her. Where was everyone?! She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember the last time she had seen a human face at all, and heard a noise come from down the alley where she had stopped. Her eyes opened immediately and she looked down the dark, narrow path.
“Is that… a baby crying?”
Cautiously, Karin began to walk down the alleyway, almost afraid something might jump out after her, but the muffled sounds of a baby crying began to get louder and louder - although they were muffled at best. She picked up her speed to a soft jog as the alleys between the buildings turned into a labyrinth she hadn’t realized that she had gotten herself into. The turns got confusing - left, left, right, left, straight ahead - and she wasn’t sure if she’d remember how she had gotten inside in the first place. Still, the baby was crying and Karin needed anything to let her know that there was life on this planet.
At a point in time, the volume ceased to increase any further, running through her ears at the decibel of a loud child crying from across a large, open space. The walls felt like they were closing in, changing, but Karin was determined to continue onwards. No matter the distance she traveled, there were no longer the flashy neon lights of the city around her. How far had she gotten? She began to breathe heavily again, ready to give up and admit defeat, sit down and let the world take her over… and then, the crying stopped. With one hand on the wall to hold herself up, Karin looked forward and slowly began to walk towards where the crying once was. The alleyway opened up and Karin walked out onto the sidewalk, the city no longer being there and instead, grassy meadows.
“Why are there…” Karin began to question the vegetation before her, dewdrops on the grass sparkling in the moonlight, until she saw something moving along. Afraid, she backed up into the wall of the city building and began to look around for anything else that moved. In the grasses, some large shadow moved along towards her, an animal of sorts, but she was unable to determine what it was. Standing under a street light, she put a hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat heavily against her chest, and Karin kept her eyes on the creature. Once it got to the end of the meadow, it appeared slowly - not out to stalk or surprise her - and Karin finally got to look over the beast.
The first thing she noticed as the light shimmered its eerie reflection off of the beast was the soft bronze eyes that stared at her within the long, thin canid face, and told her without saying a word that she was not in any danger. It was tall, about six foot high, and bone-thin, with the white color of its bones being seen through the dark color of its fur. From the bad lighting, she wasn’t sure if it was a dark brown or shade of grey, or any other darker tone. It walked on four legs gracefully, long claws at the end of its feet, and seemed almost reptilian despite its more canine-like appearance. Behind it a long tail followed, a glowing orb at the end of its tail. With its ears folded backwards to show its kindness, almost like a dog showing its submission, the ghost-like canine walked over and towered above her, looking down with eyes that almost smiled. Karin felt strangely comforted by the presence, mostly glad to see another being besides herself, and the fear slowly lifted from her.
Watching Karin for a moment, the creature seemed to have notice that she had calm down considerably and he nodded his head once and began to walk back towards the meadow from where he came. He took a few steps before looking back, silently motioning for her to follow him.
“Where are we going?” Karin didn’t move but an inch from the wall before asking the spectre. It nodded its head again, looking back towards the meadow, but Karin spoke up again, “What’s out there? I don’t know if I should follow…”
There might have been other people like herself out where the creature wanted to take her, she tried to rationalize the possibility, but did not want to leave the city. “I’m not comfortable with this,” she spoke to it comfortably as if it were an old friend. Her loneliness was a thing of the past.
It turned around and walked back in front of Karin, lowering its head to eye-level with her, and stared for a few brief glances before nodding its head towards the meadow and turning around again. Even with the fact that she would be better off going than staying, Karin still fought within herself to stay or go. Soon, she walked away from the wall and began to follow the creature into the moon-kissed grasses - slow, but steady, and curious. The lights of the city disappeared behind them and Karin followed it across the small fielded area. Once it got to the end, the two shared glances. Bowing its head, the canine’s eyes seemed to wish her well, wanting to leave her to the comfort of the meadow they have walked through.
Karin was not satisfied with the thought of being left alone again, “Wait, don’t leave me. What will I do? There’s nothing I really know how to do now that everyone has left me….”
The creature stared at her, eyes harder and almost demanding that she remain in the meadow, and then bowed again and started running away. For a moment, Karin stood there and wondered what could and should be done, but she threw away the security of the meadow to chase after the spectre as it raced to try and leave her behind.
“Please, wait for me! I don’t want to be alone again!” she cried out, reaching her hand out to at least catch his tail in an attempt to get attention and force him to stop, but she couldn’t touch him at all.
The therapsid ghost continued to give chase, and was faster than Karin by far. Cursing to herself, she tried and tried to find a way to catch it. No luck. They ran several miles together, Karin not realizing how out of breath she should have been, and chase him into a neighborhood. Through a few panted breaths, she shook her head and called out breathlessly, “Stop… please… wait.” But the creature would not stop. In the neighborhood, Karin sighed despite her desire to catch the beast and get him to help her, and watched him actually jump over a house before she gave out completely and sat down at the sidewalk near the mailbox at the end of a lawn. The creature disappeared into the night and Karin began to cry.
“What… what happened? Why did that creature come to me? What am I supposed to do?”
Through a few good minutes of tears, Karin wiped her face with a sniffle and stood to her feet, dusting off and looking around. The mailbox that had stood guard beside her at the end of the sidewalk looked awfully familiar. Slowly, her eyes turned towards the house, two stories with an excessive garage. She wiped away a few more tears and walked up the sidewalk to the front door. There was no SUV in the driveway, but she knew…
“Zaku…? He must be home! Oh, the beast led me to Zaku!” Karin had caught her breath, or ignored it one, and ran to the doorway, banging heavily at the door. “Zaku! Zaku! It’s me! Are you home?”
There was no answer. No Fathom barking, inside or out. She snuck into the bushes and tried to peek in the window, tried to jiggle the front door open, but there was nothing.
“My keys!” Karin smiled, remembering the extra key that Tomoko had given her, but Karin realized that it was missing. She must’ve left it at the department store. Not like anyone would notice it… Crying through hot tears, Karin went back to bang at the door, the only option she had. “ZAKU! ZAKUUUUU~!”
Punching her fist hard into the door one last time, she twisted sharply and fell on her side in blinded anger mixed with sadness. He was gone. Everyone was gone.
Why didn’t she stay in the meadow…
---
Slowly, Karin opened her eyes as tears poured out. It took her a few minutes to get oriented, but she noticed she was back in her bedroom and she felt numb. Scared that she might still be alone, she cried out loudly. The black dog on the floor lifted his head and looked to her happily, glad his master was awake, and Tsubame rushed into the room.
“Karin? Karin, baby, are you ok?” She walked over to the bed and sat down, hugging her daughter for the first time in years.
“Y-Yeah… bad dream,” Karin hugged her mother back. A few other things didn’t add up in her head, but Karin eventually rested her back against the pillows and the dream was pushed aside in her mind. She didn’t want to feel alone again.
Hiroshi followed in the room quietly, smiling to Karin as he saw that she was awake, and sat down at the foot of her bed, “You slept well, I hope?”
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Karin nodded, “Yeah, but I had a terrible nightmare…”
“That’s bound to happen,” Tsubame told her softly, causing both Karin and Hiroshi to stare at her kindness. “Look, you’re home and you’re healthy. That’s what matters.” Frowning at their accusing stares, Tsubame sighed and left the room.
“I’m home…? Where have I been?” Karin looked over to Hiroshi now for answers.
Hiroshi’s face softened dramatically, “Do you not remember, Karin? You…” He couldn’t finish. “Ah, I left your lunch on the stove. Let me go get it, and we’ll talk later.” He was a terrible liar, Karin noted, as he ran off and out of the room.
A sudden headache caused Karin to hold her head with a hissing intake of air, wincing at the pain. Something had happened. Something had happened to her. At the moment, she wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she knew it wasn’t good… and she felt strangely alone.