Short Stories For The Dark

Kunekune

The Kunekune (くねくね) is a fictitious being created on sites as an , similar to the infamous . It was first mentioned in 2003 on several websites at the same time. On these websites, the Kunekune is considered to be a "modern ".

The Kunekune is said to resemble a long, slender, white and humanoid shape, like a paper mannequin or a piece of fine fabric. It is said that the being can be found at lunchtime during hot summer days. The Kunekune lingers in widely extended rice fields or acres, in rare cases it might be found over the open sea. Its limbs are said to wiggle permanently, as if there was a straight gust of wind, even if it was a windless day. This behaviour gave the being the Japanese name "Kunekune", meaning "to twist", "to wiggle" or "to meander".

The Kunekune allegedly can only be seen from a distance. In the countryside, it looks snow white. In a city, it looks pitch black. If someone tries to look at it up close, he will go insane. If someone touches it, or simply comes too close, the Kunekune will kill its victim. If someone instead just leaves, the Kunekune will ignore you.

First mention of the Kunekune appeared in 2003 at several websites at the same time. These websites deal with made-up stories concerning ghosts, demons and other kinds of spooks. Soon after first published reports, Kunekune-believers began to write and collect their own (mostly made up) stories. These are all written in the first person singular in attempt to make them look like eye-witness reports. A similar phenomenon can be observed with the case of the infamous and with .

The appearance of the Kunekune may be the result of confusion with , which are found in fields of and . Scarecrows are seen in Japan as very scary and many local ghost stories claim that scarecrows come to life during the night, or if one stares at them too long. Another possible explanation might be thick fog clouds, which appear over the fields during lunchtime. A third possibility might be hallucinations, created by and dehydration during hot summer days.

"When I was young, my parents brought my older brother and I to visit my grandfather and grandmother. We didn't see her very much because she lived way out in the countryside, in Akita.

As soon as we arrived at our grandparents' house, my brother and I went out to play. The air was much fresher and cleaner than it was in the city. We walked through the rice fields, enjoying the wide open spaces.

The sun was high in the sky and there was no breeze. The heat was stifling and after a while, I started to get tired.

Then, my brother stopped suddenly. He was staring at something in the distance.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"That thing over there," he replied.

The rice fields stretched as far as the eye could see, and the area was completely deserted. I squinted my eyes, but I couldn't make out what it was. Far away, across the fields, there was a white thing, about the size of a person. It was moving and wriggling as if it was fluttering in the breeze.

"Maybe it's a scarecrow," I said.

"That's not a scarecrow," my brother replied. "Scarecrows don't move like that."

"Maybe it's a sheet, then," I said.

"No, it's not a sheet," he replied. "There are no other houses around here. Besides, there's no wind but it's still moving and wriggling. What the heck is that thing?"

I had a strange and uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My brother ran back to the house and when he returned, he was carrying a pair of binoculars.

"Oh! Can I see?" I asked, excitedly.

I made a grab for the binoculars, but he pushed me back.

"No, me first!" he said with a chuckle. "I'm the oldest. You can have a look when I'm done."

As soon as my brother put the binoculars up to his eyes, I noticed his expression suddenly changed. His face grew pale and he broke out into a sweat. He dropped the binoculars on the ground and I could see fear in his eyes.

"What was it?" I asked, nervously.

My brother replied slowly.

"There it is... There it is... There it is..."

It was not my brother's voice. Without another word, he turned and started walking back to the house. Something didn't feel right. With trembling hands, I bent down and picked up the binoculars, but I was too scared to look through them.

In the distance, the white object was still twisting and turning. Just then, my grandfather came running over.

"What are you doing with those binoculars?" he asked.

"Nothing," I replied. "Just looking at that white thing over there."

"What?" he shouted. "You shouldn't look at that!"

He snatched the binoculars from my grasp.

"Did you see it?" he demanded angrily. "Did you look at it through the binoculars?"

"No," I said in a meek voice. "Not yet..."

My grandfather sighed with relief. "Good," he said. "That's good..."

Without knowing why, I was sent back to the house.

When I walked into the kitchen, everyone was crying. My brother was rolling aroundon the ground, laughing like a crazy person. He was on his back and his body was wriggling and twisting... just like the white thing in the distance.

I couldn't understand what was going on. It was horrible to see him like that. I burst into tears.

He wasn't my brother anymore. He had completely lost his mind.

The next day, my parents decided to take us home. My grandmother and grandfather stood on their porch, waving sadly to us as the car pulled away. I sat in the back seat with my brother, wiping the tears from my eyes. My brother was still laughing like a mental patient. They had to tie him up to stop him moving around. His face was twisted into a wide smile. He looked like he was happy, but when I saw his eyes, I realized he was crying. It sent a chill down my spine. His cheeks were wet with tears but he just kept laughing and laughing...

My father pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car. He took out the binoculars and furiously smashed them on the street. Then, without saying anything, he got back into the car and kept on driving."

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