I felt like the only things I’d done since quarantine have been going to work and going home…going to work and going home…going to work….and going insane. I needed to break the monotony of my everyday life, so I decided to do something spontaneous. When I went online to look up travel prices, I discovered that Japan had finally opened up to tourists. So guess who spent their savings on a trip to Kyoto. Before I knew it I had booked my flight, my stay at a small inn, and the following week I was on a plane traveling across the other side of the earth.
I was so excited to be in a new place that I barely slept during my whole flight. I finally arrived at Osaka Airport after what felt like an agonizing eternity in a plane. It took some time to get all of my paperwork and luggage together, but thankfully I didn’t have to wait long to board a bus to Kyoto. My heart was pounding, and I couldn’t believe I was in Japan. I didn’t have any specific plans; I had a few days to do whatever I wanted.
When I got off the bus I was in awe at the scenery in front of me. It was as if I was sent back in time as I caught glimpses of the shrines, temples, and the traditional wooden houses. Everything was set in gray tones as the sky was filled with dark clouds. I set the GPS on my phone to the address of the inn I was staying at. A low rumble could be heard as I quickly walked through the streets.
The inn was fairly close by, and when I arrived, it was a little less inviting than I had anticipated. In comparison to the other buildings on the street, this inn had cracks in its exterior, a slashed faded red lantern outside the entrance, and a door left slightly open that released a musty air from inside. I grabbed the front door handle and slid it open, revealing a somewhat charming, dimly lit interior.
There was an older man sitting at a small desk dressed in a white tank top that barely fit his skinny frame. He had a bald head covered in liver spots and his eyes were upturned as he gave me a smile that revealed his few remaining teeth. The man shook as he lifted his hand, gesturing for me to come closer. I obliged and he began to speak to me in Japanese, which I couldn’t understand at all.
I spoke to him nervously in English, my first language, and found myself fumbling my sentences as I tried to tell him my name and reservation. The man laughed and moved his gaze to a key rack on the wall. His finger traced the air, looking for the right key to give me. He yanked a key from its loop and dropped it into mine with trembling hands. The man continued to speak and then motioned to a flight of stairs. I thanked him and carried my luggage up the stairs, where I was met by a narrow corridor.
I examined my key, which was engraved with a simple letter and number that corresponded to one of the doors ahead of me. I opened the door to find a small room with a small bed, a rotating fan, and an old TV on top of a small desk. “No wonder the stay was so cheap,” I muttered. I sat on the bed and took a look around the room; I immediately regretted booking there, but I figured I might as well stay to save money where I could.
My stomach was growling so I turned on my phone to look for some place to eat. After an hour I decided to splurge a bit and found an expensive restaurant to kick the trip off. I set the address into my phone as I stepped downstairs and I caught a glimpse of the old man who just sat at his desk staring at me. I opened the door and saw that it was raining outside. I winced as a wind blew a few cold droplets of water onto my face. I groaned a bit, of course it would be storming during my vacation.
I stood there for a moment and blankly stared out at the pouring rain. I snapped back to reality when the old man began to call out to me. I still couldn’t understand a single thing he was saying, but I saw his shaking finger pointing to something beside me. I looked to see a single clear umbrella inside a metal rack. I turned back towards him and asked “Oh..Oh thank you so much, are you sure I can use this?”. The man just smiled and spoke again…to which I assumed he was just telling me, “No problem, just take the umbrella..”
I graciously accepted the man’s offer and lifted the umbrella out of the rack. It was just a simple, clear umbrella that I opened as I took a step outside. I lifted the umbrella over my head, the pitter patter of raindrops above me sounded so soothing. I took a deep breath and smiled as I checked my phone for directions to the restaurant. The path seemed easy enough so I started my journey through the old streets of Kyoto to find my dinner.
My feet splashed with every step I took, the air was chilling and I wished I wore something a bit warmer. The streets were filled with people as I made my way to my destination and as the rain began to fall harder I pulled the umbrella closer to my head. I peered through the clear umbrella, the drops of rain ran down its exterior. I wasn’t in any rush so I kept my pace slow to take in all of the sights. Even underneath all this rain, everything was so beautiful.
The smile plastered on my face began to crumble as I heard the deep sobs of a man. They were loud, so loud and full of so much anguish that I stopped to look around to find the source. No one else seemed to stop their stride as the man’s cries echoed around me. There was so much pain and sadness in the noise that I was shocked to see that no one else stopped. The crying grew louder and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand.
I turned around to see a man standing right behind me with his head looking down making his long black hair over his face. He was wearing a t-shirt with jeans that were drenched from the rain. The man continued to wail and I asked if he was okay…that was when his cries suddenly stopped. He slightly lifted his head up and he took short steps towards me. “Samui…” the word croaked out of his throat. “E-excuse me?” I asked and the man repeated, “Samui…”
The man crept closer to me with an outstretched pale hand. He was a foot away from me when suddenly the distance between us closed and his face was against the umbrella. Beneath his hair I could see his colorless face and his eyes…his eyes were a milky white. He opened his mouth to reveal blackened teeth and he groaned, “S-samui…” He placed a hand on the umbrella and I was so shocked I stumbled backwards.
I dropped the umbrella onto the street and I looked up to see that the man was gone. I frantically searched around me, but it was just me looking like a crazy person amongst the crowd of people going about their lives. I caught glimpses of concerned faces directed at me and I quickly grabbed the umbrella. I looked and couldn’t find a trace of the man anywhere. I took a second to compose myself and just brushed it off as an encounter with a homeless man.
The rain was freezing and I placed the umbrella back over my head. I took another minute to see if I could find the man, but he was still nowhere to be seen. “Fuck it..” I said under my breath and continued to the restaurant. I made my way through the street, weaving through the people as I noticed the area was becoming more and more congested. The rain came pouring down and it was beating on the umbrella.
That’s when I noticed that there were more and more people just standing in the rain without any form of cover. One…two…five…I was counting more people being drenched in the rain. Men, women and children of all varying ages just standing ever so still in the rain. Slowly as the rain fell harder each of those people I saw began to let out a sorrowful howl. My ears were filled with the sound of such pure sadness that my chest began to ache.
I looked beside me to see a young woman with long hair that covered her face dressed in a white button up shirt with a skirt. The young woman suddenly released a cry so loud that I yelped…then all the crying just stopped. The sound of the rain was deafening as I just looked at the woman. She lifted her head and black tears streamed down her face as she shouted, “SAMUI…SAMUI!!” She stepped towards me and I shouted back, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”
Then I saw that the other people, the ones that were just standing there, I could hear their necks crack as they each turned to look towards me. Each of them began to slowly make their way to me and I turned tail to run. I kept the umbrella over me and through its clear plastic I could see more and more of those people, white eyes and blackened mouths as they spoke that damn word, “Samui…Samui…Samui…”
I was being chased by an innumerable amount of these…ghastly people. I ran and I ran, turning to see so many of them now running after me. Their hands were all reaching out to me, their fingers curling to try to hook at the collar of my shirt. I didn’t know where I was going, I cried out for help, but everyone just looked at me as if I was truly insane. That’s when I saw the mouth of a dark tunnel, I didn’t know what else I could do but I ran inside of it in hopes that the darkness would conceal me.
I was exhausted from being chased and my grip on the umbrella loosened. I heard the umbrella clatter onto the floor and I hunched over to catch my breath. My labored breaths were echoing inside of the tunnel. I looked at the entrance I had taken…and I felt as though my whole world was being shattered when I saw that there was no one there. Not a single person was behind me at all. “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!” I shouted and my words reverberated in the darkness as if mocking my own sanity.
I pulled out my phone, hoping to call the police or something for help, but of course my phone was dead. I didn’t know what to think anymore, I thought that I was going crazy. Frustrated, I went through the darkness and found the handle of the umbrella. I lifted it up and I looked in absolute horror as I caught a glimpse of a crowd of people at the opening of the tunnel. I looked with my own eyes to see….nothing…but the view through the clear plastic of the umbrella showed countless people just standing in the rain, staring at me with their deathly white eyes.
The people let out a cacophony of sobs, each of them crying out the word, “Samui! Samui! Samui!” I felt my whole body begin to tremble and I took a few steps back as each and every one of them inched closer to me. I backed into something…something hard and cold. I turned to see a horrific site…an outline in the dark which looked like an amalgamation of different flesh and body parts. The monstrous silhouette let out a dissonant wail of different pained voices that said, “Samui.”
I could feel numerous fingers wrap around my arms and legs. My whole body began to tense from the cold of each hand that started to grip onto me. I let out a scream, a sound that became familiar for me after hearing so much of it. My entire being was being filled with so much pain and my very soul was being gripped by an unfathomable sadness. At that moment…I thought that I was going to die.
That’s when the umbrella fell out of my hand and onto the floor to leave a loud snap. The cold was gone and the pressure on my limbs had dissipated. I looked to find that I was absolutely alone. There were no more people…no more monsters in the darkness…just me and this damned umbrella. I just couldn’t take it anymore so I just ran back to the inn. When I got back to the in I slung the door open and at the desk was a young girl dressed in a light blue kimono..
“Hello! How can I help you? The girl asked me with a bit of an accent. “Ah..um..I’ve already checked in…thank you..” I muttered to her. She gave me a bright smile and said, “Oh..grandpa must’ve helped you earlier. Thank you for staying with us.” I gave her a weak smile, I was so drained from all that just happened. I made my way up the stairs and I couldn’t help but utter that word, “Samui..” The girl stuck her head out and asked, “OH! Would you like me to run a hot bath for you?” I looked at her confused, “Oh, maybe later…thank you..” I responded. “Ah..ok. I swear I thought you said you were cold..”