the golden eyes flicked away in dismissal. David managed one jagged breath. The massive head turned, and the tiger’s full attention focused on Grandpa. Black lips peeled from ivory fangs to form a hungry snarl.
“Takumi!” David hissed, trying to get the boy’s attention. “A tiger… Takumi!”
Afraid the tiger might not be a figment of his imagination, David pulled on Takumi’s sleeve. When that did not work, he grabbed the boy’s muscled arm, pointing frantically. He finally succeeded in getting Takumi to look at where he was gesturing.
“何？ ダビッド君 静かにして！” Takumi said harshly. He put his finger to his lips and turned back to watch Grandpa, adding only “Shh!” when David continued to stare and babble at him in surprise. Although David could not understand his words, Takumi’s face said, “Catch the hint, I was ignoring you.”
When he turned back toward the shrine, the tiger was much closer to the old man. It crouched, every muscle tightening as it shuffled its legs beneath its long powerful body. David had watched enough Discovery Channel back home to know what would happen next. It was like watching a deer just before an attack. The tail swept over dead pine needles as the tiger’s whiskers twitched. The only problem was that there was no deer, and the huge golden tiger had its sights set firmly on Grandpa.
David felt panic rising within him. Grandpa was in danger. David started moving before he realized he had made a decision. As he ran forward, the full power of the beast’s muscles unleashed in a surge of motion. David moved quickly, as he had the time Jessica had followed a dog into the street, up the steep incline next to the stairs. The tiger sped forward, using the high ground to its advantage as any hunter would.
‘I’ll never make it,’ David’s mind screamed in despair, the panic sapping his energy even as he willed himself forward.
Looking up, the world slowed as the tiger landed and recoiled, preparing for the last jump. As his mind sped up to deal with the flow of adrenaline, David became aware of the tiger’s loose furred skin rippling over powerful muscles. He could see every sharp edge of the tiger’s white fangs, every bristly hair between deeply ancient eyes. As his opponent gathered its last bit of energy, David’s heart seemed to pause again at the anticipation he saw in the feral golden eyes.
David surged forward. As he leapt, Grandpa clapped his hands twice and stepped back. The old man bowed low, and the last image David saw as his momentum carried him over Grandpa’s back was the gaping, fang-filled mouth of the giant tiger.
As the buzz in his ears grew louder, David realized that he was lying down. Most of his body felt numb, as if submerged in ice. He tried to take a gulp of air, only to find his lungs did not respond. The wave of panic that swept through him threatened to push him deeper into his subconscious, but the incessant buzzing refused to let him sink into oblivion. Slowly, David locked onto a pain that cut through the numbness and buzzing.
‘If the tiger ate me, how come I hurt so much?’ he thought. He focused on what he remembered of his body and finally decided that his chest hurt. More specifically, his heart burned, as if someone had ripped it out and replaced it with molten metal. As the heat seared through him, an intense agony far, far greater, suddenly overcame the hell in his chest. He tried to scream out as burning lances pierced his mind, but his deadened body provided no outlet. His consciousness filled with a strange voice, each word surged through his mind with a ripping bolt of pain that shook his core.
‘You tried to save him,’ the voice said. It was deep, with a haunting edge. Every word was a scalpel that cut harshly at David’s mind.
‘Of course. Grandpa is…’ Pressured by the force of the voice’s presence, David fought to make his thoughts coherent. He groped in the abyss as his consciousness was ripped apart, his own thoughts stripped away to be examined even as he grasped for them.
‘You have no idea what you have begun. Take care of the young one,’ the voice said as it faded away. A long roar of pain reverberated through him, and then he agonizingly faded back into unconsciousness.
Hours later it seemed, the buzz returned. The memory of the agony faded even as the noise resolved itself into words and familiar voices.
“Is he alright? He stopped shaking,” asked a high girly voice.
“Aside from the shirt there’s no blood,” a kind voice said. So similar to the first, yet more mature and refined, it was familiar. He knew the voice.
‘That sounds like Yukiko,’ David managed to think.
“What about the metal? It’s gone. Why did he run forward?” asked an excited male voice.
“Look, his eyes are moving,” Yukiko said. David felt two practiced fingers check his pulse. “His breathing has calmed down as well.”
‘Yukiko,’ thought David. Opening his eyes, the bright glare was blinding. As his eyes recovered, he took in the blurry images of the Matsumotos standing over him.
“He is awake! David? David!” Yukiko called quietly but intently to him, bending closer to try to rouse him.
“Let’s get him to the house,” Masao said calmly. With his vision foggy, David could not place him. Suddenly he felt hands digging under him, lifting him from the ground. He was trapped within his unresponsive limbs, unable to react, yet too muddled to care.
The pain in his chest became less pronounced the farther they carried him from the shrine. David’s mind wandered, eyes darting as he struggled to control his unruly body. Sometimes he lingered on one of the Matsumotos, sometimes on a rock or bug. Although both Rie and Takumi tried to talk to him, David remained in a daze, unable to respond. As they passed beneath the grey stone torii gate, David jerked abruptly and became as still as the windless trees.
The Man, the Meteor, and the Thief
April,
Even after all those years, nothing prepared us for the pain, so much more powerful than any human could ever know or withstand…
The inside of the Matsumoto’s main house was sparse. Each room had mat covered floors separated from the other rooms by sliding doors instead of walls. The tatami mats were firm, like wood, covered with thin straw. A hardwood hallway skirted the outside of the house leaving the tatami rooms in the center. The outside sliding doors were removed to catch afternoon breezes, leaving the house mostly open.
Though he kept his eyes closed, David knew he was laying on one of the portable Japanese beds, called a futon. He suspected he was in the largest room of the house near the low table, with the four Matsumotos sitting and drinking tea. He could sense someone near him by the faint rustle of fabric. Yukiko would be kneeling off to the side, checking him.
“Did what I think happen, actually happen to David?” Yukiko asked. David remained still, not quite ready to will his limbs to move.
“David will have to answer that. I have my suspicions, just as you do, but until we hear from him, who knows for sure?” Masao’s words, so easily understood washed over David.
‘Masao only speaks Japanese, right?’ David cracked his eyes open just enough to see his host father sitting calmly at the head of the table.
“I’ve
