| | Deep in the mountains, there is a pathway that leads to the heavens.
Jeaith crossed the aging wooden bridge which hung over the valley. Each step she took, the bridge creaked and groaned, like a decrepit shack being buffetted by desert winds, and swayed perilously. The valley was marked with titanic trees which sprawled as far as the eyes could see, up into the mountains and into the thick clouds which blanketed the entire ridge.
-I hope I can get across safely. -
The on the other side of the bridge was a small village. They grew crops lower in the valley, and caught wild animals for food. The villagers seldom left the mountain. Theirs was a world of solitude and isolation; far from the rest of the world.
-Hm. I wonder if they have any food here.-
As Jeaith entered the village, the villagers stared at her curiously. She was dressed poignantly, with her flame-orange robe, and golden cat-shaped hairpin in her long dark-red hair. She asked around for some food, and they directed her to the teahouse where the villagers gathered after working in the valley.
"Hi there, can I buy some food, and maybe rent a room from you?"
"Of course, we have a room here, it's small, but comfortable. What would you like to eat, Miss?"
After finishing a bowl of Wild Boar noodles, Jeaith wandered around the village. There were a few children running around a sunlit clearing with long branches in their hands. Jeaith headed further up, and saw where the valley had been partly cleared for planting rice crops. An older boy on his way back to the village noticed Jeaith looking out onto the mountain path across the clearing.
"Hello. I'm Tetsuo. What are you here for? We don't get many visitors."
"My name is Jeaith. I'm a travelling healer. I'm just passing through."
"But this mountain path doesn't go anywhere."
There was a myth, that somewhere in the mountains, there is a path that, during a full moon, led one to heaven, where you could see those who had passed, and where dreams would come true. It was said that people who went up that path never came back. Jeaith wanted to find the path, investigate it. Tetsuo assured her that the path led nowhere, that it was a treacherous path. But Jeaith wanted to go anyway.
That night, she set out to ascend the path, but Tetsuo was waiting for her at the entrance.
"If you're going, I'm coming with you."
As they walked along the path, Tetsuo told Jeaith about how his mother had gone up the path after their second child, Tetsuo's sister, had fallen off the wooden bridge and into the valley. When she didn't return, his father went up after her. That was three years ago. They didn't return. The villagers kept away from the path, and it was hard to distinguish where the dirt path used to be. As Tetsuo and Jeaith walked along the path, the trees got thicker and thicker, and soon, not even the bright moonlight could penetrate the thick canopy. The path continued, until they reached the peak of the mountain.
"Wow. Look at that." Tetsuo said.
There was a glow of what looked like thousands of green fireflies circling a cliff overlooking the valley. As Tetsuo approached the valley, the green fireflies started changing colours and shape. Soon, they had formed an image...there stood Tetsuo's parents and his little sister, smiling at him and waving. Tetsuo walked closer and closer to them, and the fireflies moved further and further away.
"No! Don't go there, it's dangerous!" Jeaith cried.
But it was too late, Tetsuo chased after his family, running in a stumbling manner, until he tripped, and fell off the cliff. Jeaith dived, and grabbed his arm just in time, and managed to pull him up.
"They're not real. Don't chase after them." She said, as she pulled him away from the cliff.
The fireflies were actually a type of spirit that showed people and animals their dreams and their lost ones, but consumed them when they fell off the cliff. They lived off other peoples hope and loss. Jeaith blocked off the pathway with some rocks and big braches, and went off on her way.
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| | Posted 6/7/2009 8:39 AM - 19 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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