'Hide...!'
'I need to find a place to hide!'
My heart is racing wildly within my chest!
I cannot believe that I actually did what I have always dreamed of doing! But now that I have actually gone and done it: now what?! Where do I go now...?
My ears are affronted with the quickly approaching wailing cries of police sirens echoing off of the glass building facades. The asphalt beneath my one-size too-small, duct tape wrapped shoes is rather weather worn, seismically cracked, and blistering hot from the celestial heavens shining down upon the chaotic drone of the city of Los Angeles.
I run off of the main downtown drag, far away from the sirens and watchful eyes of those who might report me. I must not be seen! An easy feat when you are already quite used to being a nobody.
When I entered a residential area, just outside of the hustle and bustle of the city; the fading sound of sirens made my heart calm just a bit. Yet, the calmness of the day was only a meteorological illusion. Dark clouds were gathering overhead, and from the heavens above, massive drops of rain splatted all over everything.
"Great!" I groaned as the sky looked threatening.
If there were gods in this universe, then they were absolutely cruel!
Not only was I now homeless and without a sole purpose in this life; it now looked as if it was going to downpour at any moment!
The occasionally gigantic splats of rain had transformed into a relentless shoosh of curtainlike showers. There was nowhere now to run, and nowhere to get out of the weather. So, I just walked in the downpour, trying to put as much distance between me and the Thousand Pines home for boys.
'I cannot go back! It is a matter of life and death!' I told myself over and over as I was thoroughly soaked straight down to my britches.
And so, I walked...
...and walked through a parade of happy warm homes filled with loving families who never discarded their own flesh and blood in the middle of the night. Whom separated child from mother when the child was still suckling on his mother's milk and unable to defend himself.
Abandoned, discarded, and disowned.
All those words described who I was.
All those words were now my surname; for I had none that tied me to a specific lineage or even a loving family. Even my own given name was given to me by the State of California. A soulless name with no love or personal reflection. Just some random computer-generated title to call myself in a world of labels and honorifics.
I trudge through the blinding deluge, following the overflow of rainwater running alongside a single-lane road. I began to shiver as the rain was icy cold, and now filled with tiny balls of burning ice! It stung like a bee whenever the ice contacted any part of my skin.
I now regretted not dressing for rain.
In fact, I left everything that belonged to me, all back at the orphanage. I did not dare wear a backpack out into the fenced courtyard. It took me almost two years of good behavior just to be alone outside for one hour, each day. If they had known of my complex plans to run away one day, then they would have probably locked me indoors with all of the other boys.
Even with just how cold I am now; I cannot go back!
It is not because I fear my matron's unholy wrath; or the wrath of law enforcement punishing a runaway teenager: No, I feared what was yet to come!
Somehow, they found someone else to foster me yet again!
For any orphan, this was a desirable dream! A hope that if the trial went well, then the foster family might adopt or treat their temporary property as if they were family. But that dream turned into a nightmare for me!
Occasionally, bad actors tend to slip through the screening. And being so close to Mexico meant that you could end up in drug running as a boy, or sex slavery as a girl. Sometimes those who foster a child do not foster in the hopes of loving that poor soul; but to have a state sponsored servant to do what they are unwilling to accomplish for themselves.
And then there are the demonic abusers who foster children just to use for their anger management. This was once my nightmare turned into reality. For almost nine miserable months of my pathetic life, I was starved, beaten, and trained to fear love...for love was pain and suffering...for the word love was disingenuous!
"I am thinking that this was a really bad idea!" I stopped and turned back in the direction of the orphanage. If I return now, I will at least have a warm bed and a dry ceiling over my head.
I temporarily shelter under the low canopy of a mimosa tree. Its tiny green blade-like leaves began to fold back against the light green stem, changing and metamorphosizing to withstand the changes within its own environment. All things within nature are capable of changing and adapting to their environment...including me.
From the corner of my eye, a small canine-like shadow caught my attention as I heard a cute voice calling to me from within the rain 'This way! Follow me!' she said in a sweet caring tone that I oddly trusted.
I stepped out from under the mimosa as the heavens burst forth with radiant sunlight! I beheld the blue sky just above me; and yet, it was still raining.
I glanced around, noticing that this miracle that had shined down upon me, was only for my own enjoyment. Elsewhere, the scenery was dark and wicked with a Pacific driven storm that has enveloped Los Angeles like a hungry specter.
The path of sunlight began to move as I noticed that behind me, the darkness reached out, wishing to drag me back into the mirky abyss. I quickened my pace, keeping up with the path of sunlight as the rain that fell was warm and delightful.
For almost an hour, I paraded down a silent asphalt path as nothing seemed to get in my way. The traffic and street walkers seemed to have all disappeared; it was like being in a different world; and yet, walking within my own world.
The sun-shower then moved to the left as they passed over a strange-looking place that seemed not of this country. There were lanterns made of stone, and before the enclosed buildings was a giant wooden structure that looked like a gate with a golden plate in the center that had unreadable kanji characters naming this place of orient.
Wherever I arrived, the path of the sun shower took me inside. I stood there as I did not know if I was allowed to enter another person's strangely decorated yard.
Foolishly, I entered, following the light. I walked the cemented pathway that led to a massive building which was darkened from a lack of power that plagued this region. Everything was written in a strange language that I could not read, but below was a crude English description that called this place a Shrine.
I have heard of the word shrine before, but never thought that one would actually look just like this! It felt as if I were teleported to a different country or a different timeline. Everything about this place felt sacred, the energy was palpable!
Reality stole me from my dream realm as I noticed that the sun shower that I had followed for almost a whole mile was now fading away back into darkness. I glanced around as I looked for a place to shelter.
'Over here!' I heard that same sweet voice call as the last rays of light shone upon a hole that went under the large building. I rushed over to the opening as it was no larger than a foxhole!
My green eyes watched as all that rain, which was kept at bay, all fell down at once as it ripped branches off of trees and tested the compacity of the gutters. I knew that if it were to hit me, it probably would not feel all too pleasant!
I scooted into the hole, finding it to be muddy and quite deep. I continued to crawl backwards into the darkness as I found a spot that was up higher, right against the floorboards of the building above.
From outside, I listened to the deafening roar of the Pacific storm as it ravaged the city and the shrine that I was taking shelter under. It was like a freight train, roaring outside. I felt rainwater flowing inside the den as I crawled up onto the mound as the water level continued to rise until it spilled over onto the mound that I was using to remain dry.
The way into the den was now underwater, and the hole that I so foolishly placed myself in would now be my tomb! I backed hard into the floorboards above and I cried out in pain, feeling my head for any sign of blood.
From above, I heard footsteps approaching as I froze in terror. I did not think that there were any people inside, but as those footsteps seemed to approach, I carefully listened. Two taps of a clothed foot and someone speaking in a language that I did not understand had me yelping back in surprise and terror as the water was now up to my chest.
Whoever it was, must have heard me as I listened to those feet running away.
'Great,' I groaned as the water rose to my neck 'they probably think I am either an intruder or an intruder who is about to become a ghost!' However, to my surprise, I heard two pairs of feet returning once again, someone knocked.
"Konnichiwa?" someone called out as I did not know what she had said, but it felt universal for 'hello.'
"Ha..." I croaked "...help!" The water was now approaching my chin. I had to tilt my head backwards to breathe in that last pocket of air against the floorboards.
'Great! I am going to drown in here!' I cried, making mends with my mortality as I silently prayed to whatever god who could hear me 'Please! All I ask is that in my next lifetime, can I please be born into a loving family who cherishes me as their child and not as property?!'
My pocket of air vanished as the water crested over my lips as I felt the muddy liquid flow into my nose. I swiftly tilted my head to prevent a faster death as I wondered just how terrible drowning truly was!
Darkness had finally swallowed me as I kept my eyes closed, feeling the pain in my lungs as I wondered. 'Maybe I can try swimming back out of here?' but before I could put that plan into action, I felt hands grabbing me as I was pulled upward though the floor.
With a wet slop, I plopped onto the cypress flooring. I heard those same voices frantic as one of them ran away to pump out the water from the depression below. As for the other who called herself Priestess, she tended to me.
"Who are you?" she asked in choppy English as I coughed, shocked to still be alive.
"David."
"What were you doing down there, David-san?!" the Priestess asked.
"Hiding."
"Where is your family?" she asked, both of us now hearing a pump draining the water away before it could flood the shrine's main building. The Priestess waited for me to answer her question as she then asked, "Do you have a last name?"
"No." I shook my head. "No last name. No family. I am an orphan."
The Priestess did not need a moment to think if I was telling the truth or telling her a lie. For there was nothing to be gained from lying to her. And to complicate matters even further, she wondered just how I could possibly fit through such a narrow gap that only grey foxes used in the spring.
Not even a thin human child could have fit through the passage into the den. The shrine had maintained the care of the den since then, it was considered a blessing from Inari.
Nevertheless, the Priestess was finding all of this to be rather suspicious. First the strange divinations from the spirits a week ago, and then this freak Pacific storm that has now drowning the land and the fox's den. And just before finding a human in a place where no human could fit...she and her assistant both witnessed a rare phenomenon called a fox's wedding, manifesting over the Inari Shrine.
"Priestess! The foxhole is finally being drained. It seemed the gutter collapsed and drained all the water directly into the den." the assistant said, removing her shoes before coming inside. "The storm has also ended."
"I am not at all surprised." the Priestess pondered "Can you start cleaning here? I need to take him to the bath so he can get clean and dressed." the assistant nodded, as she grabbed a mop from the kitchen and returned back to the heiden to start scrubbing the floors of the mud that I had deposited there.
The Priestess helped me back up to my feet as she escorted me outside and to the bathroom.
Inside, I was instructed to remove my soiled clothes, wash, and scrub in the shower, and then change into a white kimono so I can undergo something called purification. I did everything quickly as I returned back to the Priestess who asked me a bunch of questions until there were no more questions to be asked.
"You have no family, no friends, no home, and no last name." the Priestess asked as I nodded. I thought it was rather unfortunate to have my life...but the Priestess began to wonder if I was something otherworldly divine.
For starters, there was absolutely no way that I could have placed myself inside that fox's den. And when I told the Priestess that I followed a girl's advice to go inside the hole, it seemed big enough for me to get inside. But days afterwards, I would find that only my two legs could fit—nothing else!
It was physically impossible for me to crawl in there!
When I mentioned how I followed something like glowing orbs of flickering blue flame, and how it guided me through the storm to the entrance of the fox's den. The Priestess told me that I might have unknowingly undergone something sacred called: Kitsune no Yomeiri. 'The Fox's Wedding.'
The Priestess told me a story about Kitsune no Yomeiri; about how the sun shines warm, and the rain falls from the heavens all at the same time. And how outside of the procession, it is cold and unforgiving.
Though inside the procession, while venturing through mountain passes and deep dark forests, people and foxes alike conjure their own kitsunebi, or commonly called foxfire. Unable to escape its enchantment. However, as mystical as being inside a sunshower might seem; tradition warns that this is usually a bridal procession or the funeral procession for a fallen kitsune spirit. It can also be an omen of transformation and death of this life.
The Priestess and the attendant were certain to believe that I was somehow influenced by the foxes that swore to protect this shrine. And for nearly an entire month, I stayed at the shrine to learn and to work...but as I began to settle and accept my new life as an attendant...my past had finally caught up with me.
It began in the morning hours as there was a beautiful woman with light brown hair and the brightest blue eyes that I have even seen. She seemed to stare right into my soul as she softly smiled and walked over. Kneeling down, she took my hand within her own.
"I am here to adopt you, my child." she softly said as I was visibly stunned. I ran away from being someone's property and servant, and ended up nevertheless, belonging to someone else. Whose intentions...for good or bad...I could not know.