Sky of Paper: An Asian Steam-Driven Fantasy Tale

by Matthew Seaver

  Aside watching over me during the doctor visits, Mr. Takaya was gone most of the day. I imagined he was a very busy man at the wood mill. Though he left me alone lying on the bed, he always made sure that I’d eaten and that I was comfortable enough until he returned in the evening. During those lonely afternoons, I often wondered about the dream I had. I thought about the dragon and wondered why he was so angry and why he blew fire into the sky and upon land around him. I thought about my sister's cloud paintings that lined the walls of the hallway in my dream and the utter fear that engulfed me when the ground shook. It was so terrifying, that even if I had forgotten every detail of that dream, the emotions would still linger.

  One evening, Mr. Takaya didn’t come back. He told me that morning, that he had matters to attend to at home and that he’d see me in the morning. It was my first night alone in Miss Nishio's home. Mr. Takaya had always slept in the room next door where his snoring was easily heard through the paper-thin walls. But that night, I found myself surrounded by an eerie silence. There was no wind either, and across the room from my bed, I saw the trees through a window, which stood like stone, refusing to give even a comforting rustle. Nothing moved. Even the air seemed to hang suspended around me. I shifted under the bed sheets and closed my eyes as I tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible, but it was too difficult for me. I slipped the covers over my head and tried to think about something else, anything that would relax the anxiety stirring in my mind. I heard myself breath a little louder than usual, and though it seemed a little strange to me, just the very sound helped to calm me.

  I began to drift off to sleep, but just before my eyes fell shut, I opened them wide, surprised by something very unusual. I realized that it wasn't my breathing I was hearing, it was something else, something much louder. I held my breath for a moment to confirm it, and sure enough, the sound was still there. It sounded as if someone nearby, was inhaling very, very deeply, then quickly exhaling it all out in one big breath. Slowly, I pulled the covers down from over my head and cautiously peered around. Then, I gasped, as I saw at the foot of my bed, the familiar blue glows, the same one I had seen that night at the village square. They hung and crawled through the air, and looked like blotches of wet ink dripping onto a piece of paper.

  When they made a sound like they were inhaling, the hazy bits of light grew larger. Then, as they exhaled, they reached out like vines, snaking around the room, and eventually stretched out the open window. After a while, I realized that the sound was less like breathing and more like the gentle rippling of waves coming up to the shore, then retreating back to the sea.

  I sat up, trying to make out what I was seeing. I didn’t know whether they were ghosts, spirits or something else, but whatever they were, I hadn‘t yet found a reason to be afraid of them. Instead, I was glad to see the stillness broken. The air began to move again as it blew softly into the room, ruffling my hair. I leaped from under the covers and scurried to the window, curious as to where the light was flowing. What I saw was more beautiful than any display of fireworks I had ever seen. I went out of the room and shuffled my way through the dark corridors of the house, moving as steadily as I could, careful to not trip over one of Miss Nishio's vases or accidentally send one of her precious figurines crashing to the floor. I yanked open the front door, stood out on the porch, and turned my eyes skyward.

  Dotting the entire night sky, were a myriad blotches of light, intertwined to each other like thick, knitted thread. They pulsed and moved in unison as if they shared the same mind. Something moist fell on my skin. I brushed my hand against my cheek and noticed that it was water, and just as if nature was waiting for me to notice, thick curtains of rain suddenly came crashing down. This too seemed familiar, as it felt like the same rain I encountered over a week ago when my barely-conscious body was carried away.

  After a few minutes, the heavy rain slowed to a gentle shower and the lights in the sky faded away. I found myself drenched as I hadn’t realize that I’d stepped out away from the porch. I ran back into the house, fetching my jacket and changing into whatever dry clothes I could find. When the weather subsided enough, I hurried outside again. I decided that I was going to see my sister.

  I felt a terrible need to see her, even if it was late at night. If I found her sound asleep, that would’ve been enough for me, as long as I could see her again. My feet splashed every puddle along the way and my soaked clothes hung off my body like thick rugs. I was out of breath by the time I finally came home.

  The windows glimmered from the lights inside, a sure sign that she was still awake. I called out to her as I opened the door.

  The house was empty. Aside from a few lanterns dangling from the ceiling, there was nothing there. Mother's pottery, my sister's ink paintings, even the shrine in the back room was gone. I panicked, shouting for her again. I searched every room, opened every closet, checked the stove, and even the cupboards. Everything was gone. She was gone. I felt my insides turn ice cold. The house was lifeless. Not a single thing about the house was recognizable anymore. Panic started to give way to tears.

  I heard footsteps and turned to see Mr. Takaya step in through the front door. He shook his umbrella and leaned it against the wall, then took off his hat, revealing a pair of wide, concerned eyes. He was surprised, obviously not expecting to see me.

  "Why are you here?" he said in sternly, "you're still sick. You should be in bed. Now look at you, covered with wet clothes, looking like a sad dog. You're going to be a lot sicker now. Go back to Miss Nishio's house right now and take my umbrella. Ill meet you there in a few minutes with dry clothes. Now go."

  I refused to move.

  "Where is she?” I demanded. “Where is my sister?"

  "Go back to Miss Nisho's first, then I’ll tell you. I have to lock this place up." Even though he was angry, he looked as though he’d done something wrong. He spoke hesitantly, a glimmer of guilt evident in his voice.

  "No. Tell me now."

  "I won't tell you anything until you do as I say. Now go."

  I sat stubbornly on the floor, hugging my wet, shivering body and glared at him with tears streaming over my eyes. I wasn’t going to move, not a single step, not until I knew where she was.

  He turned his head away and gave a sigh, cursing under his breath. Finally, he said, "she’s gone away. She decided that she couldn’t take care of you anymore. She thought you’d be better off under the care of someone like me. But don't worry, she’s doing well. I helped her finish packing her things today and paid her quite a bit of money, more than enough to start her life somewhere else. She wants you to be happy Terr. That’s why she let you go."

  I could hardly believe what he was saying. I was on the verge of accusing him of lying, but then, I realized he said my name for the very first time. He didn’t say "little dragon" or simply, "boy". He said my true name. The upset look on his face was gone and the expression that replaced it seemed sincere enough.

  Mr. Takaya scratched his head irritably at the uneasy silence between us, then sat down in front of me. He waited for me to say something. He must have taken the stone-like expression on my face to heart, because it was then that he probably thought that I wasn’t going to do anything until he explained what was happening.

  After a moment of thought, he said, "when she made the decision to leave, she was much sadder than you will ever know. But she was happy too, because she knows that you’re going to have a wonderful future."

  "Why did she leave?" The words choked out of my mouth as if I had swallowed mud.

  "We told her to. Something terrible is going to happen to this village, and for her safety, we told her to leave as soon as possible. Don't worry. You're to leave this village as well, but you won‘t be going with her."

  "Where is she?”

  "She’s in another part of the island, waiting for the next available boat or ship to take her to another province. It may be a few weeks before that happens, but she’s determined to remain away from
you. Other than that, I can’t tell you anything else. She told me not to tell you where she was going. She wanted me to make sure that you look only to your future. Having her around would only hold you back. It’s for the best. Trust me Terr, things are going to get much better for you, much, much better. Now get up. It isn’t healthy for you to stay here completely drenched."

  He took me by my shoulders and guided me out the door. After the lights were dimmed and the door locked, we both headed back to Miss Nishio‘s house. As we headed away, I peered back at my former home, now a dark, lifeless silhouette against the rainy night. I kept my eyes on it for as long as I could, because I knew that this would be the last time I would ever lay my eyes upon it.

  Even though Mr. Takaya was an adult, he was still young. I think it was because of this that he was so open-minded in front of me. He hadn’t been old enough yet to take things too seriously and he never really ignored me or brushed me away like a lot of the older people did. He kept secrets from me, which was expected of most adults, but I don’t think he meant to do it on purpose. I think it was simply because he didn’t know the details to those secrets anymore than I did. For instance, during the next week that followed, he kept reassuring me, by saying that I was destined to become something great. When I asked what it was, he stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face as if he didn’t know how to reply to my question. Often, he tried to hide his expression by pretending to look proud as he sipped his tea. He also started calling me by my real name and smiled more often that he should have. I think he was trying his best to take the role of my sister, but even more so, I think he was just trying to find a friend, someone he could trust. Both his mother and his father were also gone, and considering that he spent most of his time away from work watching over me. . . well, I wondered if I’d left a bigger impression on him than he might have realized. In a strange sort of way, I even dared to think of him as my brother. Whatever the case, I was glad that he was around. If not for his company, I think the loss of my sister would’ve driven me mad, as I’d grown to enjoy having him around.

  I still wondered where my sister was, and sometimes, if I sat still long enough, my mind would wander and my thoughts of her would cause my chest to ache. I decided to keep myself busy, anything to keep her out of my mind. Ever since the doctor confirmed that I was healthy enough to leave my bed, I went about cleaning Miss Nishio's house or making tea for Mr. Takaya. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do since I no longer had a home to go to. When I suggested that I should go back to school, Mr. Takaya said no, and was quick to remind me that I should stay in the house. Sometimes I wondered if keeping me in the house was his only job, because he often gave a confused look that suggested he didn‘t know what else to do with me.

  That answer came when a courier tapped at the front door one morning. I followed Mr. Takaya and watched him greet the visitor from the hallway. An old, wrinkled man in common workers clothes bowed deeply to him and pulled an envelope from his leather bag. He bowed again after handing it to Mr. Takaya and left without so much as a word. Mr. Takaya's face gave a wide grin after he read the face of the envelope, then he looked over his shoulder, spouting something from his throat that sounded like a chuckle.

  "Good news Terr, " he said in a spirited tone. "It seems Miss Nishio hasn't completely forgotten about you."

  He opened the envelope and proceeded to read the letter inside. After a moment, I saw his eyebrows furrow, then he looked at me again, this time with an awkward expression on his face. He must have wanted me to say something, but I only shrugged in anxious silence. A few minutes went by, and he continued to look back and forth between me and the words on the letter, then he neatly folded the paper and put it back in its envelope. He stuffed the envelope into his coat pocket, looking worried.

  He drew a long breath as he gathered his thoughts, then he said, "Terr, go make some tea then bring it to the back room."

  "What did the letter say?" I spoke cautiously, hoping that whatever he read, wasn’t terrible news.

  "Miss Nishio is a very strange woman. Sometimes I think she pays me all this money to help me forget how crazy she really is. Go do as I say. I’ll meet you in the back room."

  I scurried into the kitchen probably just as confused as he was. I boiled the tea, then carried the pot and his favorite cup on a tray, over to the backroom. At his request, I slid the door closed behind me and placed the tray on the ground next to him. It was a room all-too familiar to me: a spacious, rectangular tatami room completely devoid of furniture and decorations, except for the chrysanthemum picture scroll hanging on one of the far walls and a few tatami mats. Of all the decorative rooms in the house, it seemed especially odd that my fortune was revealed here.

  He then ordered me to drag the mats to the far side of the room. After I had done this, he took a big gulp of tea and told me to sit down. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped suddenly as if he’d lost all confidence in the words that were about to slip from his mouth. I asked if he was alright, but he didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he abruptly stood up and left. I heard his footsteps thump against the floor as he walked from one end of the house to the other. I shifted uncomfortably on the wood floor, growing nervous. After a few minutes, he came back with a small straw basket. He placed it on the floor beside me and gulped down another cup of tea. I looked down and saw that inside, was a small bowl of ink and a brush.

  "Terr."

  I snapped my gaze back to him as he sat down in front of me. His dark brown eyes glinted softly against the pale, morning light that filtered through the paper-thin walls, waiting until he was sure that he had my full attention.

  Finally, he said, "before your sister left, she told me how proud she was of you for being offered the opportunity to work for me. You were to train under one of the managers in hopes of one day managing one of the many mills under my ownership. I told her that the pay was good and that eventually, you’d earn enough money to make a very good living for both you and your sister. But as you most likely already know, that is all a lie. You're not going to work for me. Instead, you're going to be involved in something that’s much greater than you can ever imagine. According to Miss Nishio's letter, you most likely have a gift that very few people have. I'm not exactly sure what this gift is, but if I can prove that you have it, then your sister's faith in you will not be in vain. Prove that you deserve the pride your sister has in you. Do not disgrace her."

  I gave a shallow nod, wondering why Miss Nishio, a simple fortune teller, was doing all of this for me? What could she possibly expect from me? These and so many other questions burned in my mind, but I doubt he knew the answers. I asked anyway, and the first question that came from my mouth was the most important.

  "Does this mean that I’ll get to see me sister again soon?"

  He scratched his head, something he seemed to always do when he doubted himself. "I don't know if it will be soon Terr, but you will see her again. This I promise you."

  I didn’t trust the confidence in his voice, but I believed his sincerity. I don’t think he intended for me to feel discouraged. Though it seemed he was uncertain about my future, I believed he wanted the best for me. I gave a small smile, confirming his promise.

  "Miss Nishio isn't a real fortune teller is she?" I blurted out the next question so suddenly, he looked as though he was unsure what I was asking. He then laughed as if there was a secret joke about Miss Nishio that I was supposed to know about.

  Still laughing, he said, "to tell the truth Terr, I don't know what she is. But judging by where you and I are now and what she’s instructing me to do in her letter, she definitely doesn't belong among us common folk."

  My smile grew before his casual demeanor. Looking about, I wondered if laughter was permitted in such a room. There was a ritual stillness here so profound, I felt that if Miss Nishio were here, she would most surely frown upon anyone that walked in without a manner of seriousness. I didn‘t feel it pr
oper to laugh with him, but I did present an amused demeanor.

  I thought I could take advantage of this moment and continue to ask him questions, but he spoke before I had a chance to open my mouth again.

  "No more questions. Let‘s focus on what we came here to do."

  He pushed the bowl of ink and the brush in front of me, then picked up the basket. He paused to open the letter again and read it carefully, still trying to comprehend what it was asking. After he put the letter away, he turned his attention back to me.

  "Use the brush and paint a small circle, " he said quietly.

  "On the floor?" I said, blinking in disbelief.

  "Yes, draw a circle on the floor with the ink."

  I wondered for a moment if I misunderstood him. I looked at the wood-polished floor, impressed by how it gleamed so smoothly, that both of our reflections were clearly visible. He was asking me to blemish Miss Nishio's perfect floor. I glanced at the ink and thought about how terrible it would look, staining something so clean.

  "You mean, you want me to ruin Miss Nishio's floor?" I asked bluntly.

  "I'm not telling you to ruin anything. All I want you to do, is to paint a circle on the floor. Now go on. Do it."