“4,324… 4,324 years since humans abandoned this planet. Abandoned me. All the other spirits abandoned their shrines over a millennium ago. I’m… the last.” A Torii gate can be seen sitting atop a hill off in the distance. A small figure looms below it. Her beautiful silver hair whips in the wind as she remains unwavering, watching over the once-thriving city that has been lost to time. Swallowed by the surrounding vegetation. The only remnants that hint at a city existing are the chunks of concrete and old buildings that came apart so long ago lodged in the ground. The figure turns to look out over the cliff. “I wonder if they will ever return. I wonder if they even remember this place they used to call home.”
“Today marks another year since the day humanity left it’s home behind. 4,324 years.. Another one spent waiting.” She scratches down a tally mark onto a wall hidden far back in the temple. Concealed from public view. The countless tally marks stretched far up the wall, way above what she could reach with just her arms alone. Looking at the wall she gazed for a moment. The magnitude of time lying out in front of her. Taunting her. Telling her to just let go and finally rest. No one is coming back. She smiled at the thought. “They’ll be back one day, if not tomorrow if not the next. They’ll be back… he promised…” Quickly leaving the temple she darted out the front door. Small water spots remained where she stood. Little drops of emotion left to dry.
“I have to make sure everything is in order for the day they come back! Especially the gate! Everyone will need a quick way to get around!” The little Kitsune continued her duties around the shrine. Dusting, polishing, and touch up of some small things around the temples aged buildings. Time’s grasp had no reach here thanks to her hard work. “Now time to check on the Torii gate!”
“Yuri.” A voice whispered through the wind calling out to our maiden. “You must rescue him..”
Yuri stops dead in her tracks. “Huh? Hello?” Listening to the silence of the shrine the cool wind ran across the tall grass and flowers. It grabs her bright silver hair as it sweeps by, lifting it up as it dances around. Pulling in the cherry blossoms coating the ground it casts them into the air showering the sky pink and white with it’s petals. “Must of just been my imagination.”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Yuri continues on her way up the towering hill behind the temple. Atop lies the great Torii. It’s bright red reflecting and splitting the sun’s gaze into amazing colors that danced across the ground. “My greatest pride as this shrines maiden.” Yuri stands at the middle of the great Torii with her hand outstretched. Placing her palm at it’s center. A bright arc shoots out of her palm and the surrounding gate is engulfed in white light as she steps back. When the light faded a whole new place could be seen beyond the horizon of the Torii. No longer did it drop off to the cliff below, but instead a beautiful beach with an ocean so blue it was like peering through glass. “I.. I can’t wait to show you this one day.”
Rotating her palm the gate snapped closed with a sudden flash. Just as quick as it closed a new doorway opened to a hilltop overlooking a valley. A lush green forest poured over the edge of the cliff. The remnants of an old city sat sleeping in the valley, dormant, as time ate away at the crumbling homes. The tall buildings buried peeked out of the ground reaching for the sky they once had in their grasp so long ago. “I still remember when this place used to be home to thousands of people. Each with their own life going about their day. The city that used to tower over the sky, piercing the clouds and reaching for the stars flaunting the bright future of every person that once lived there.” Yuri turns her gaze from the ruined city to the sky as it starts to darken. The sun hiding its face once again as the stars peer through.
“It’s that comet again.” The bright tail of the comet streaked across the sky. Tiny fragments of it’s tail burn off as it speeds up trying to escape the pull of the earth’s gravity, but never achieving it’s goal. “Every year it passes by this same spot, each year getting dimmer and dimmer as it gets closer. Today looks like the day it finally burns up.” Yuri kept her gaze on the comet as it started to dip into the atmosphere. Large chunks started to rip off and melt from the heat. “It’s getting awfully close…” Slowly the small figure of the comet grew larger and larger at a alarming rate. Before Yuri could finish her thought the comet hurdled by overhead crashing into the valley below. A shock wave poured across the landscape tearing any trace of the old city to the ground as the ground shook. The old rubble was launched high into the air rocketing back down causing even more damage to the decayed city. Dust and flames pour from the crater obstructing any view of the bottom. Yuri remained silent trying to not let her emotions get the best of her as she watched the last city she knew, the last city she called home crumble.