Reincarnation

› twenty-six: two flowers.

❝the moon

and the stars

are anchored to the night

heavy,

like the darkness

within you

but you mustn’t

let the night

crush you

darling,

just breathe

for the sunrise

needs you,

too.❞

— pavana. 

———

“Grandmother!”

Your eyes fly open at the sound of a familiar voice, widening at the sight in front of you, words caught in your throat.

Ah.

You realized.

A memory.

Your younger self laying on the edge of your grandmother’s lap, holding up the necklace she wove with so easily with your practiced hands. It was basically muscle memory.

“What do you think of the colors I used? Do you think mother would like it if I added a magatama?” Younger you questioned, waving the necklace in front of her.

She hummed. She did not say anything, the only thing that you heard the gentle strokes of the brush against the paper.

Younger you frowned, sitting up properly as you looked over her shoulder. “What are you doing? It’s not a nice feeling to ignored, you know.”

You quirked a brow as you looked at your younger self. Hah. You were this rude to Grandmother at that age?

Thank the gods she was very patient.

“You’ve been writing in that journal before I came!”

Your grandmother chuckled, her sharp, focused eyes softening as she looked up from her journal, patting your head affectionately. “I’m sorry for ignoring you. You see, in this journal that I am writing in, has been in our family—my side—for generations. We want to preserve and add information to the journal, so when the journal gets worn out, we rewrite everything, and add new knowledge. It has our history, techniques, secrets, and almost everything inside.”

Your younger self’s eyes widened in awe, mouth parted slightly. “Really? What if someone gets ahold of it?”

Grandmother’s smile doesn’t waver. “Of course, we have a couple of the same journals. Moreover, we write them in a ‘secret,’ language that we learn.”

“How interesting! When am I going to learn? I want to read it, too.”

Grandmother laughs. “You have to learn to write and read in Japanese first before you can move on to the secret language. When the time comes, you’ll be able to read and even add some of your own knowledge.” She pats your younger self’s cheek. “Until then, it will remain hidden.”