…No. It wasn’t just in my head. It was an actual sound. The sound of thousands of footsteps and human voices, each one so chipper and full of life. Yet no matter how hard I tried, they were too numerous and muddled for me to make out a single word. Even so, there were people there. People other than me, just ahead. A lot of them. I wet my throat with a fresh coat of saliva and called out into the darkness.
“Karen…? You there…?”
I took another step forward—but then something reached out and grabbed my right arm, and my heart nearly burst out of my chest. Terrified, I turned to look over my shoulder, and my jaw dropped. It was my father.
“There you are, Kaoru,” he said. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God. I’m really in for it now. How the hell did he find me here? My head was a jumbled mess of panic and fear. It was such a shock to my system that my brain was still trying to catch up.
“What’s the matter? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Not feeling well?”
This made me finally snap back to my senses. There was no tension in my father’s voice whatsoever. On further inspection, I saw he was wearing a summery yukata, and his face looked a fair bit younger as well. Something wasn’t right here. No, nothing was right. Just how the hell had he gotten here? If he’d followed me all the way, then surely I would have heard his footsteps or his voice calling out to me. As I pondered this little conundrum, I noticed the gaping hole behind my father, through which a bustling crowd of people could be seen. Apparently this was the source of the voices I’d been hearing.
I tried my best to collect my thoughts and analyze the situation rationally. On either side of the crowd, I could also make out dozens of red paper lanterns and food stands. It was like an entire festival was happening through a little portal in the side of the Urashima Tunnel, and a younger version of my father had just so happened to wander in from the other side.
No, that’s impossible. The far more likely explanation was that this was an illusion conjured by the tunnel itself. That was still an “impossible” phenomenon, in a sense, but one that I at least had reason to believe was plausible due to prior experience.
“Is the crowd getting to be too much for you, son? If you want, we can head home.”
The realization that this was not the same father I’d left behind came as a huge relief. That relief was quickly followed by a wave of anger. Why had the tunnel given me him and not Karen? Even if it was his younger, kinder self, I didn’t want anything to do with this guy anymore. Didn’t even want to see his ugly mug ever again. Yet…for some inexplicable reason, I felt a strange sense of ease and belonging. It pissed me off beyond belief, but somewhere deep down, a part of me yearned desperately to cling to this man who was supposed to be my father figure, even though he had failed miserably in that respect. It was an emotion I thought I’d discarded years and years ago. I could deal with him ignoring me, or abusing me physically or verbally, but this I couldn’t handle. It threw me for an entire loop. I stood frozen in place.
“Kaoru? Are you all right, sweetie?”
Then came another voice I recognized all too well, as my biological mother poked her head out from behind my father. It was the mother I remembered from back when Karen was still alive, when every day was a gift, and we were the picture of a happy family. That version of her stood right before my eyes, smiling down at me with the welcoming warmth only a mother could provide.
“Yeah, he doesn’t seem quite right,” my father said. “Maybe a soda or something would cheer him up.”
“Good idea. We just walked by a drink stand a minute ago. You like Lifeguard, don’t you, sweetie?”
“I’ll have a beer, while you’re at it.”
“Oh, no you won’t. You’ve still gotta drive us home, mister…”
“Well, it was worth a shot! Ha ha ha…”
No… Stop it. I can’t take this crap anymore.
“Ahhhhhh!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs, then tore my arm free while the two of them were too startled to react. Then I took off running as fast as I possibly could. They called after me, but I refused to turn or look back. I just ran and ran, until eventually tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Damn it… Stop trying to screw with my head!”
How could I not feel conflicted after being shown such an idyllic vignette from my childhood? It was like the Urashima Tunnel was deliberately trying to pour salt into old wounds. I fought the urge to puke and kept on running, glaring angrily down the tunnel’s throat as I wiped the tears from my eyes.
Besides, as irritating as it was, that vision had only gone to support my hypothesis as to the tunnel’s true nature, the one I’d come up with in Anzu’s bedroom. If my theory was correct, then it would only be a matter of time before I was reunited with Karen again. So I kept running, that thought as my sole motivation. As long as I could see my sister again, it would all be worth it. I’d never ask for anything ever again.
TOTAL TIME ELAPSED: 9 HRS 56 MINS (OUTSIDE: 2 YEARS, 263 DAYS)
Dammit… God damn it. Just how far did this goddamn tunnel go? I’d been running for nearly ten hours now, and still all I could see were torches and torii. Where the hell was Karen? How much time had passed in the outside world? Like, going on three years? I’d have graduated high school, if I were living out there at normal speed. Even if I were to give up and turn back this instant, it would still be at least five years spent in the tunnel by the time I made it out. Everyone I knew would either be finishing college or well on their way to building a fruitful career. They’d be studying hard for their senior thesis, or working full-time, finding new hobbies, and getting hitched. And then there was me, running in circles through the dark, going from seventeen to twenty-two without accomplishing a damn thing.
I had virtually no water left at this point, maybe enough for one or two more big sips. My legs were fast approaching their limit as well. Every step forward sent a sharp, searing pain through my knees. If I went much farther, I knew I wouldn’t be physically capable of making the return journey. But what was I to do? Just turn back? Or should I keep clinging to that last remaining sliver of hope and press onward?
“…Ha ha.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. That was a stupid question. If I turned back now, all of this would have been one gigantic waste of time. I would have given away over five years of my life for nothing, when Karen could be just around the next corner. Or even closer. To give up now would be the stupidest choice imaginable. Only a complete moron would do that. I had to press on and have faith that she was waiting for me just ahead.