The Bridge To Nihon (BOOK ONE)

Chapter 5 - Shadows Can't Do Somersaults

She resolved not to be scared of them, but that night, she dreamed that she was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a large round table, candles burning all around her. Ghostly men with concealed faces were addressing her in a language she didn't know. She tried to tell them that she couldn't understand them and therefore not defend herself, but the words were stuck inside her throat. She became more and more desperate, and tried to scream at them, to let them know that she wanted to cooperate, that she wanted to come clean. To no avail. When she woke up, she was drenched in sweat.

She got out of bed and got dressed. She would never be able to fall back asleep, and the sky was already slowly starting to grow lighter, so she went outside, hugging her winter coat close to her body. The village was silent and empty. The solitude made her feel even colder.

She looked at the river, wondering if she had not better to go back to bed after all when she heard a voice coming from the exact spot where she had been looking. But there was nothing except the water. It gurgled along slowly and peacefully, as if it was not fully awake yet either.

"Hoo-hoo, Sofia! Long time no see."

For a moment, Sofia worried that the wind, or maybe her mind, were playing tricks on her.

"Look closer, silly," Orì's voice came again, delighted with her own mischief.

Then, even though Sofia hadn't even blinked, there she was, stretching herself like a cat on a large flat rock in the middle of the river.

The rock had not been there before.

Not visibly, Sofia thought.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, careful to hide the joy that had swept over her at Orì's sight.

"Who, me? I just arrived," Orì smiled. "And that's no way to greet a friend. As if you're not even happy to see me."

"We're not friends."

"No?" Orì feigned a pout. "How would you know? You don't have any friends."

Sofia stared at her in shock. She turned away.

"Wait, don't go," Orì called after her. "I'm sorry, that wasn't nice."

Sofia stopped, but she kept her back turned until the tears rising to her eyes had dried up. She pulled up her nose.

"I don't suppose you have many friends yourself," she said in a haughty voice. "If you're always mean like that."

"I was only joking."

Sofia looked at Orì. Her face was fluid, and all the colors of all the deep and shallow waters in the world were mirrored on it, but she couldn't say if it was a reflection or coming from within.

"I don't think you were," she said.

"Don't be a bad sport," Orì said, flicking her hand at her in an annoyed gesture. She was half sitting, half lying on the rock, stretching her limbs in every direction as if doing some strange kind of morning gymnastics. She lifted her back a little bit, almost imperceptible. And then, though sitting perfectly still, her shape jumped out of herself, flipping around in a flawless somersault. Then, it vanished back into Orì as if her spirit had only emerged to do a trick that the mere body was not able or willing to do.

Orì grinned at Sofia and didn't say a word.

"What -?" Sofia said. "What?" she repeated, completely forgetting that she had planned to impress Orì with her wit if she ever saw her again.

"What?" Orì repeated innocently.

"Did you do that?"

"Do you mean this?"