“Do you think something happened while we’ve been away? Something…bad?” Kakeru said to his father.
“Who knows? Maybe we should ask Grandma.”
“Yeah… She lives here, so if anyone would know—”
“No, nothing happened.”
Just like that, Grandma was there. They hadn’t heard her coming, but she was standing right by them now.
“So good to see you. Don’t just stand there. Come in. It’s hot out here, isn’t it?”
Grandma was smiling like she always did, but something was wrong. She wasn’t moving. Her lips moved when she talked, of course, but the rest of her body was completely still.
“Oh, Mom, there you are. We’re here!”
Kakeru’s mom appeared from around the corner and came running up. Grandma turned to greet her, still wearing that eerie smile.
“Welcome back, dear. Let me take those bags, and you can all come inside and relax.”
“Uh… R-right. Thanks…”
Her expression troubled, Kakeru’s mom handed Grandma their bags. Obviously, she had noticed the strangeness in the old lady’s behavior as well.
Grandma didn’t move at all apart from when she spoke, and even then, it was only her mouth that moved. There were none of her usual unconscious tilts of the head or meaningless little hand movements. No movements that didn’t have a specific purpose—maybe that was the best way to describe it. It was almost like all the various tics and habits she’d built up over the course of her life had been taken away.
“Come on in. I’ll cut up some nice, cool watermelon slices for you.”
Beckoning them inside with her right hand—and only her right hand—Grandma looked like a marionette in some kind of half-hearted puppet show.
After a while, she stopped waving and stepped through the little gate into her front yard. Kakeru’s mom and dad shared a concerned look but followed her all the same. Kakeru did, too, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
Huh? What was that just now?
He was looking at his parents’ feet when they crossed the threshold. Their shadows were stretching out behind them, back the way they’d come.
That’s…weird, isn’t it? I mean…
When Grandma had gone in just now, she’d walked through the same gate and up the same path, and she hadn’t had any shadow whatsoever.
Come to think of it…it was the same for those people we saw in the car on the way over.
Kakeru shuddered. That was what had been so off about the town today.
The sun’s so bright, but…none of them had shadows. They were all gone!
The world around him seemed to warp and distort under the hot summer sun.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Sure is hot today…”
Wiping sweat from his brow, Kakeru forced himself to swallow, despite the dryness of his throat. For a while he waited, hoping one of his parents would come back outside. He really had no idea what was going on, or what he was supposed to do about it. But he knew he didn’t want to go inside his shadowless grandma’s house. He was afraid to call out for his mom or dad. What if his grandma came out instead?
I’m really thirsty, though. I should have put something to drink in my backpack…
They had a cooler box in the car, which probably still had some bottles of juice and iced tea in it. But without the car keys, Kakeru couldn’t get inside to check.
“Urk…”
Left with no other choice, he sidled up to the house’s gate and peered across the garden to the front door. After making sure no one was around, he stepped in. There were plenty of plants and greenery there, so it was a lot cooler than out on the street.
He walked toward the old well that stood in a corner of the yard. Grandma used it to keep watermelons and drinks cool sometimes, but… No, there was nothing in there today. At least the moist air rising from the water felt a little refreshing.
“Grandma said this water isn’t safe to drink, right…?”
Here he was with cold, clear water right in front of him, and he couldn’t have a drop. He didn’t want to risk making himself sick. Maybe he could go look for a vending machine or something nearby.
Kakeru turned away from the well and caught sight of a little doghouse in another part of the garden.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he gasped. “Kurosuke!”
Kurosuke was his grandmother’s dog. A black dog that had been here since before Kakeru was born. He was a friend that Kakeru looked forward to seeing every year. Why hadn’t Kakeru thought of him before now?
“Kurosuke? Are you here…?”
Kakeru called the dog’s name, but there was no response. He got closer to the doghouse, crouched down, and looked inside. No Kurosuke. The only things in there were a dirty old blanket and empty food and water bowls.
“Guess he’s not here…”
He stood back up, looked around, and was about to call for Kurosuke again when…
“Kakeru. You’re back.”
“It’s been a while, Kakeru. We’ve missed you.”
Two children had appeared at the front gate.
“Ecchan…? Ryou…?” Kakeru mumbled his friends’ names, his voice cracking.
He may not have seen them very often, but there was no way he’d forget their faces. However, their eyes were blank and hollow, their smiles stiff like they were just painted on. They looked like completely different people from the Ecchan and Ryou whom Kakeru knew.
The kids stepped into the garden, and when Kakeru looked at their feet, he saw that they didn’t have shadows, either. He shrank away from his friends as they came closer.
Just then, the door opened, and three people stepped out: Kakeru’s grandma…and his mom and dad.
“Kakeru. How long are you going to stay out here? Hurry up and come inside. It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with your grandma after all.”
“Oh, Ecchan and Ryou are here, too. Hello. This town is just the same as ever.”
“Mom… Dad…”
Kakeru felt like his legs were going to give out from under him. His parents had become like his grandma, like Ecchan and Ryou. Hollow eyes. Pasted-on smiles. Bodies that barely moved, like half-hearted marionettes. Their shadows were gone, too.
No way…
But it was true. This must have been what happened to people who lost their shadows. It was almost like they’d stopped being people and changed into something else entirely.
The five of them were surrounding Kakeru now, getting closer and closer.
“Come on, Kakeru. Put down that heavy bag,” Grandma said.
She reached out for the knapsack on his back. He jerked away before she could take it.
“Kurosuke!”
In a quivering voice, he called out for his faithful friend. Grandma and Mom and Dad and Ecchan and Ryou had all changed into these strange creatures. They were gone. But Kurosuke wouldn’t abandon him. Not Kurosuke.
“Kurosuke, where are you? Kurosuke, I need you! Kurosukeee!”
“…What are you talking about, Kakeru?” His grandma tilted her head in confusion. “Kurosuke died last summer.”
She grabbed hold of his knapsack. Kakeru desperately shook her off and ran between his parents and into the house through the open front door. He slammed it shut behind him and locked it.
He could hear his family calling his name and pounding on the door. He turned away and, still in his shoes, hurried farther into the house.
Kakeru thought about what his grandma had said just now.
Kurosuke…died last summer?
He knew that. Of course he knew that.