Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [160]
But there was light coming from the mirror on his chest. It was an odd light that stretched forward like a corridor ahead of him, yet cast no light at all on the surrounding area.
Wataru began to walk. He was alone. His feet made no noise. Outside the tunnel of light was only darkness. Maybe this was the Vale of Eternity of which Wayfinder Lau had told him.
Soon, he saw a man some distance ahead of him, down the corridor. It was Wayfinder Lau! Wataru began to run. “Master Lau!”
Wayfinder Lau did not seem to be in the best of spirits. He looked bored. “Certainly kept me waiting, didn’t you,” he said, yawning. “Didn’t think it would take quite so long for you to find the first gemstone.”
“Sorry! A lot of stuff was going on.”
“No matter, it is done.” The Wayfinder finally smiled. “A bit farther down the Corridor of Light you will find an exit. Beyond that, the real world.”
Wataru swallowed. His throat was dry with excitement.
“It will lead you to the place with the person whom you most wish to meet. There is no need to fear getting lost. Now, go.” Wayfinder Lau gave Wataru a push on the shoulder. “But do not forget. When you hear the bells ring, you must return to the corridor. Your mirror will become more agitated as well. Go back through the tunnel and run, for should it disappear, you will fall into the Vale, never to be seen in either world again.”
Wayfinder Lau cocked his jaw to one side. “I’ll leave now. I will not wait for your return. Listen to the mirror. Be careful, and listen well.”
“I understand.”
Wataru began to run forward. Soon he saw something white in the distance. The exit! There was something white there. White…
White sheets. A hospital bed.
Wataru was in a hospital. His mother was sleeping right in front of him. He stood at the head of her bed. There was another bed in the room, but it was empty.
The lights were off. Through the curtain he could see the night sky. He looked out. Streetlights burned on the road below. This was the third floor. So it’s not the same time here and in Vision, then.
“Mom?” Wataru said. His mother was breathing heavily but quietly.
She looked unchanged from the time when he left for Vision. Maybe, thought Wataru, she looked a little thinner. There was a placard on the headboard with the name of the doctor and the date she had entered the hospital. The doctor was a specialist in internal medicine, it said. The day she had entered the hospital was the day she had left the gas on in the apartment.
It looks like somebody called an ambulance.
That was a relief. Wataru felt his legs wobble a little bit. Thank you, whoever did that. Thank you…
I should wake Mom up, tell her what happened. That’s why I came here. But Wataru found himself unable to speak, unable even to touch her. He was filled with sadness mingled with relief that his mother was sleeping safe and sound in the hospital. She would be okay.
There was a red flower in an empty milk jug at the head of her bed. A box of tissues. A paper bag at the foot of the bed. He looked inside to see his mother’s underclothes and her purse.
In her purse, he found a small pad of paper, an address book, and a ballpoint pen. Wataru ripped out a page of paper and wrote a short note.
—Mom. I’m okay. I’ll come home soon. Please wait for me. Wataru.
Wataru folded the note and slipped it into his mother’s hand. Then, just for a moment, he gave her hand a squeeze. She moaned and rolled in bed.
Wataru waited a moment. She didn’t wake up, and he heard a sound from somewhere behind him. The ringing of bells.
Was someone coming to visit her? he wondered. Grandma from Chiba, or Uncle Lou? What about Grandma and Grandpa in Odawara? They would all be worried.
What about Dad?
When he thought of his father, all the feelings he had forgotten during his adventures in Vision came rushing back to him. His hands balled into fists, and he had to consciously remain calm until the storm in his heart went away.
He heard the bells ring again, faster this time.
Wait for