As It Rises

Shinto High School. Osaka, Japan. Student Population, 1500 and counting. Suzume Ken is 14 years old and in the 9th grade. She is tall, gangly, and not particularly attractive. She lacks coordination to be any good at sports, and math, well, she wishes the subject didn’t exist. On the other hand, her favorite subject is music. She loves how music makes her body feel- as light as a feather. Music seems to wash all her worries away. She hopes someday to become a famous musician and play in front of audiences of thousands.
Walking down the hallway to her next class, Suzume is joined on either side by two girls. One is a pretty blonde and the other is a brunette bookworm.

“Hey, Suzume, wait up!” yell the two girls.
Suzume laughs when she turns to see who it is.
“Oh hey guys, long day in Mrs. Takashi’s class, huh?”
“I didn’t think it was too bad, her lecture on compound solutions was very interestin—“
“Oh hush Mishri! You love any science class. Yeah Suze, it was really boring, I almost fell asleep like 5 times!” laughed Kaname.

Suzume has two close friends. Kaname, who is blonde and loud, and Mishri, who is shy and smart. The three of them are inseparable, and spend most of their free time together. They help each other out in school and listen to each other’s problems. Suzume considers herself very lucky in the friend realm, but like every adolescent, she has her secret hopes and dreams. She wishes she was blonde and attractive like Kaname, and had the grades of Mishri. In short, she wishes she was anybody but herself. She loves her family, but they do not seem to understand her. They consider her a very blessed girl and think it silly when she tries to explain to them her insecurities. The only people she can truly confide in are her friends. Suzume, Kaname, and Mishri seem to have a special connection and really understand each other.

“Well, I’m off to brave Mr. Naoko’s class…pray for me!” Kaname sarcastically yells as she hurries off down another hallway.

Suzume and Mishri make their way to their last class of the day, which they have together. Assigned seating in full effect, Suzume reluctantly makes her way to the back corner of the classroom. Although she wishes she could sit by Mishri (for company and for answers to tests) she rather enjoys the view the window at the back of the classroom provides. Looking out onto the sweeping lawn below, Suzume likes to watch the squirrels frolic from bush to bush. A tall tree grows right by the window and sometimes a sparrow or two will come and sit and listen to the lecture for a while. Today, however, something a bit odd happens. As Suzume is sitting in class, staring dreamily out the window, she notices three sparrows perched on a branch. Normally this would not be strange, but all three sparrows seemed to be watching her. All pairs of eyes were staring intently at her as she fiddled with her pencil on her desk. She continued to stare back until the teacher called on her to read a passage out loud. When Kaname looked back at the branch where the three birds were sitting moments ago, they were gone.

Later on that afternoon while she was walking home from school she decided to take a shortcut. This shortcut was not much faster, but Suzume preferred it because the path butted up next to the forest, and Suzume loved being close to nature. As she was strolling down the sunlit path, she felt as if she was being watched. She came to a slow stop and looked around. Far back in the forest, where the light has a hard time reaching through the thick foliage, was a doe. She looked at it, smiled, and continued walking. Deer are such graceful animals, she thought to herself. She walked for a few more minutes before she felt again as if she was being watched. Turning to face the forest once more, Suzume saw the doe staring at her. Was the deer following her? That was crazy, deer don’t follow people, they run away from them, she thought. Convincing herself of this, Suzume put the doe out of her mind and turned onto the asphalt road that would lead her home. Today was Friday, after all, and she was excited to get home, finish her chores, and head over to Mishri’s house for a tea party sleepover. Oh, how she loved sleepovers! Finally, a time when her and her best friends could hang out for a long period of time with no interruptions; or at least only minor ones from parents. Suzume also loved the art of pouring tea. Mishri, Kaname and herself enjoyed practicing by pouring and serving it to one another; very lady-like.

Later on that evening in Mishri’s living room the girls were having fun talking about the latest news at school.

“Oh man, Kaname, have you heard that Souske and Ami are dating….AGAIN?” Suzume asked Kaname in between slurps of noodle.
“Pshhhh, yeah Suze, that’s old news. Where have you been girl?” Kaname garbled with a mouth full of noodle.
“I don’t know, I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately…” trailed Suzume.
“Like what, Suzume? I know that our big test in chemistry is coming up next week, I’ve been worried too…started studying last week.” said Mishri.
Rolling her eyes, Kaname replies, “I HIGHLY doubt it is the test in chemistry that is bothering her, Mishri.”
“No, it’s nothing, just busy with school, you know.” Sighed Suzume.
“Oh, alright then.” said Mishri with raised eyebrows. “I’m going to go put on another pot of tea.”
“Ooooo hey, are there any leftovers from when your mom made that dim sum?!” Kaname shouts, running after Mishri into the kitchen.

Alone in the living room, Suzume turns and looks up at the full moon in the sky. It has never looked quite as beautiful to her. Entranced, she gets up and makes her way to the glass door. Taking a deep breath, she opens the door and steps outside. The warm summer air hits her face and Suzume closes her eyes and exhales slowly. She opens her eyes. Something moves high in the old cherry tree…a bat perhaps? She glides across the smooth grass and stands under the tree. Peering up into the dark branches, the moonlight illuminates an old grey owl. She walks even closer and stares up at the bird of prey. Once again, this bird is staring at her. Suzume stares back, becoming slightly irritated towards her newfound popularity among animals. The owl continues to stare deep into her eyes, and her irritation is replaced with nervousness. They stay transfixed for a few minutes and then Suzume finally musters up the courage and rhetorically asks the bird,
“Hey, what are you looking at? Staring is rude, don’t you know?”
The bird then replies, “I am looking at you.”
Taken aback, Suzume gasps “Why me?”
The old owl replies,” I have been meaning to have this conversation with you for a while. I have been watching you; we all have been watching you.”
“We?” questions Suzume.
“Yes, my friends and I. Surely you’ve noticed…the deer, the sparrows, and others. We have all been watching you rather intently. We need your help.”
“Why me?”
“You have a special gift, Suzume. We are having this conversation now, don’t you see?”

Suzume falls quiet. The owl continues,
“Yes, it has been a long while since one of your kind has walked this Earth. I have been waiting for the next of the Spoken to be born. When your presence was felt on this Earth 14 years ago, my friends and I have been searching for you ever since. We finally found you, and no better time than now, for the balance is being disturbed. Your gift as one of the Spoken is great. You have many abilities that I myself am unaware of, but what I do know is this: you can understand and communicate with all creatures. Big and small, you can speak to them all. And when the moon is full, as it is this night, your powers are in full effect.”
“M-m-my….powers?” gasped Suzume in disbelief.
“Yes, your powers. Powers of this Earth, of nature. Powers extend to all realms, powers that are good and true. You have been born with the ability to gather and use the wonders of the natural world; to fight for it, to defend it.”
“Defend it? What from?” questioned Suzume.
“From forces that yearn to destroy it and destroy all life; everything casts a shadow..” whispered the wise owl.
“I…..I…need to get back to my friends..” Suzume sighed. It was all too much for her to take in. The owl turns and puffs up, showing his soft plumage.
“We will speak again soon.” He says.

With that the large smoky owl raised his gigantic wings, and in one sure motion took flight. She watched as the moonlight first exposed and then hid his silhouette in the indigo sky. She stood there, out in the lawn, transfixed. Her mind whirring, she looked as if she was in a daze. ..“What did he mean by ‘everything cast a shadow?” “What is wanted from me?” Suzume mulled these and many, many more questions over in her mind… until she finally became aware of the world around her again.

It was the grass. The grass had brought her back. She felt each blade, cold and smooth and twirling up between her toes as she squeezed down into the manicured lawn. She looked at her feet.. one big toe had the remnants of a polish on it … she couldn’t tell in the light but it was the purple she had painted on it some six months ago, for her little sister’s birthday.

“I really should take the rest of that off…” thought Suzume, but her thoughts trailed off.

She tilted her face up towards the sky, squaring with the moon’s powerful glow. Her whole body was tingling, filled with an energy that was all at once overwhelming yet comforting.

‘Oh! My friends! My friends are still inside!’ she exclaimed, and with a lurch, wheeled herself around to face the inviting glow of her Friday night..

All of her friends were spread haphazardly among a sea of floor pillows, blankets, and plates of Mishri’s mother’s excellent dim-sum. Suzume stepped into the living room, and allowed herself to flow down on the nearest pillow. The warmth from her friends was radiating, and she was especially appreciative of it on this night.

Laying on her back, upside down off the side of a fluffy chair, Kaname asked,
“What were you doing outside for so long, Suz? Did you get lost out there?”
“No, just breathing in the sigh of the night,” was her response.

Her friends understood this, as it was Suzume’s own personal jargon. Each night has its own ‘sigh’, or moment of release, when Suzume felt the atmosphere of the universe was finally settled for the day. Her friends knew she preferred to be outside in nature when all was calm and quiet.
‘It may be because it is a Friday, and all you loons are frolicking in here, but there wasn’t much of a sigh tonight!” joked Suzume, and they all shared a laugh.
“We are just getting started!” squealed Kaname, as she rolled backwards off her pillow and into an impressive somersault on the floor.
“Who’s down for some dance dance?!”

And so the night was spent, with much laughter, aching faces from the laughter, snacks and good conversation.

However, the most interesting conversation was going on inside Suzume’s own head…