Missing Girl – 4

November 20, 2006 at 7:56 pm (Missing Girl)

The door was open and I walked into the house.

“Hello,” I said. There was no answer.

The lamps were lit. It was not bright, but there was enough light to see by – the daylight was disappearing fast.

“Hello,” I said again wandering from the hallway into a large open room covered with mats. In the center was some sort of shrine. Above the shrine was a very large sword.

On a cushion to the right of the shrine was Mr. Chen, sitting perfectly still with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. I walked in and sat down at the back of the room facing him.

After about an hour, Mr. Chen stirred, and his eyes opened.

“Thank you for coming,” he said.

“Your place is so unusual. How did you build all of this,” I asked.

“It is what we call borrowed scenery,” he replied.

There was a long pause. A beautiful oriental woman who I had never met before walked in knelt next to me offered a cup of tea.

As I slowly sipped the tea, Mr. Chen asked, “Have you ever been out of Stranger Creek before?”

“Yes,” I said, “I’ve been to Kansas.”

“There is somewhere you must go,” he said, “It’s not a town in Kansas.”

“You mean somewhere off the grid like we are?” I asked.

“Yes, Stranger Creek is not alone. This town is called Sumida. It is a small village on a mountain called Wutai. It is where I come from. You see, I am something like an emissary. I live here but only as a guest.”

“This other town. What is it like?” I asked

“You will see it very soon.”

I looked up at him, and the room started to swirl. Mr. Chen was smiling. I looked down at my teacup. That’s the last thing I remember.