Horidashimono

• Crystal Chung, Grade 8, St Jerome School
• Short Story
• 2001

Finalist in the '2001/2002 Schools Short Story Competition - Magic and Mystery Theme' competition

Slowly and stealthily, I escaped the paradise that everybody in the world, dreamed of. Was I crazy? Of course not. I was just another curious tennyo. For many, many years, I’ve watched far above the earth, and studied the behavior of humans. Their emotions… concepts… it was all so unreasonable in comparison to a “tennyo’s brilliance”. Yet… it was so enticing at the same time.
As I made my way below the heavens (compliments of my hagoromo), I pondered the many things that I could experience on earth. What would I do? It was all so new to met, so alluring. Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed I was so close to my destination below. I had finally made it.
I landed in a greenish patch that looked rather soft. I think they call that stuff, “grass”. I ran my fingers through the itchy blades of green, and looked fondly at the sky I left behind, while I lay on the ground.
Remembering that time was of the essence, I picked myself up, and walked aimlessly. I noticed that a clear object was right before me. I peered inside, and I could see my reflection from this mystical substance. Daringly, I touched it to feel its texture. It was wet, and oddly refreshing at the same time. I felt the strangest urge… to dive into this pool of clear material. If I’m not mistaken, it might be “water”.
I was about to jump into the “water”, when I remembered that I had my hagoromo on still. I quickly hung it on a tree limb, and dove in. It was so odd, but my curiosity got the best of me, and I had the strangest temptation to see what was at the bottom. Even though it looked like a long ways down, I stood up to the challenge.
Meanwhile, above the water, a young fisherman was gathering fire wood. Suddenly an odd, but beautiful object, caught the young man’s eye. He climbed up the tree, only to be rewarded with a beautiful robe unlike any other. “What a prize!”, he exclaimed. “I think that I can trade many beads for this beautiful robe!”
I heard rustling up above, and I quickly made my way above to water, to catch the fisherman just in time. “Wait!”, I shrieked in panic. “That’s my hagoromo!”. He looked at me with an unconcerned expression. “Finders keepers.”, he said most rudely, and ran away. Luckily, I was able to catch up to him, trip him, and run in front of him.
To his surprise, I kneeled before him, and pleaded for him to give my hagoromo back. Though he looked at me with more compassion than before, his eyes were still of a cold nature. “Please.”, I deplored as I tried to fight back the tears that haunted me. Noticing my distress, he edged downward toward me and whispered, “Maybe we can work something out…”