Blog (2023)

Happy Birthday

         We moved about like tiny ants, each with our own purposeless direction and destination. It was an uncommon occurrence for us to engage in such behaviour. We scurried along in a uniform queue, as if we were heading towards an unknown destination, but our minds were clouded with confusion, as if the world was on the brink of an apocalypse. The crackling lightning split the inky sky asunder, and the booming thunder echoed the fury of the divine. As she struggled to comprehend the pandemonium, a colossal foot loomed above her, descending with force and crushing all that lay in its path. She found herself enveloped in an endless shroud of darkness, stretching out before her for all eternity.
         Koe Aoki awoke to yet another haunting dream and found herself in a predicament that greatly disrupted her daily routine. It is imperative that she take action to rectify the situation. It was far from normal. Koe Aoki rose from the floor of her bedroom, amidst her cushions and coverlet. She found herself abruptly jolted from her slumber, as if she had been unceremoniously ejected from a tumultuous dream. The dreams that visit her grow increasingly tangible with each passing night. Koe Aoki ventured into the obscurity, making her way towards the kitchen to quench her thirst. On a night as humid as this, she longed for the soothing touch of a cup of cold water.
         As Koe Aoki emerged from her bedroom and set foot in the hallway, her attention was drawn to a murky silhouette loitering by her stained glass-encased entry point. The eerie silhouette sent shivers down her spine, and an envelope materialised through the crevice beneath the entrance, landing softly on the carpeted expanse of her home. The enigmatic silhouette then departed. Koe Aoki hurried to the window, gazing out at her front porch and the nocturnal street beyond, eager to catch a glimpse of whoever might be lurking there. She gazed upon an empty expanse, where all was as it perpetually ought to be. Koe Aoki grasped the envelope with a sense of detachment and sauntered towards the kitchen, her eyes scanning the contents of the refrigerator for the jug of water. The illumination emanating from the refrigerator provided a clear perspective of the envelope. On the front of the envelope, her name was inscribed in bold letters, yet there was no indication of its origin or destination on the postage. And on the back, there was no return address to reveal the mysterious sender. Inside the envelope lay a greeting card bearing the words "Happy Birthday" and the signature of the sender. It was not her birthday, but there was something about it. The name struck a chord of recognition within her, reminiscent of a tale she penned in her distant past about a character bearing that very same moniker.
         Koe Aoki quenched her thirst with a glass of water that she poured from the refrigerator's jug and hurriedly proceeded to the study room adjacent to the kitchen. The computer, a faithful companion, hums softly day and night, a constant presence in her otherwise solitary existence. Koe Aoki has a proclivity for being primed to embrace impromptu notions that may arise unannounced. She delved into a heap of documents and directories until she stumbled upon the name. There was a certain character who existed only in the realm of fiction and had the ability to take on any form he desired for the benefit of other characters. Meanwhile, in that alternate reality, the character was an author who struggled to make a living from his craft. There was the one she fashioned, which bears resemblance on this very day, half a decade prior. Koe Aoki found herself muttering with a sense of disbelief, "Oh, dear." As her eyes brimmed with tears, a sense of trepidation washed over her.