I protested strongly. I started explaining about the woman with green hair and white mask, but stopped myself for fear of the pain. “My name is Koekura… I think.

“What do you mean by ‘you think?’”

I sighed and started to explain the last night of my life. Me calling out for Ayanami’s name, the smoke. And then lastly, the sudden flash of bright light when the footsteps got too close. “There are things in this world that you can’t explain.” I say to Kuronuma. “I think me coming back might have been that.”

Kuronuma’s expression deepens. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you say you came back to life.” He stands up. He reaches his hand out in front of him and I grab it. He brings me up off onto my feet. I feel wobbly at first, but then I regain my strength and I am soon walking after Kuronuma towards a giant metal container on rubber wheels.

He opens a door and pushes me inside. The seats are squishy and comfortable and they smell like leather but don’t feel like it. He gets inside next to me, in front of a giant wheel. He looks out onto the glass and slides a key into the ignition. He turns the key and the sound startles me.

It sounds like a demon and as I struggle to get out, fearing for my life, the machine moves and I’m silenced. “Haven’t you ever been in a car before?”

He backs out of the forest and drives onto a paved road. So smooth that the edges of the bricks are transparent and it all appears to be one big brick. “What’s a ‘car?’” The word feels new on my tongue. “Is this similar to a wagon or carriage?”

His lips part into a small grin. “I guess you could say that.” As he turns a corner, my stomach lurches and I feel sick. I hold my food down into my stomach for as long as it takes.

He pulls up to a giant building with a red cross on front. I feel myself drawn to the building. My skin feels tingly and my heart beats faster as we draw nearer. He gets out of the car and goes around to my side to open the door. I immediately hurl outside onto the floor in front of the building. I avoid the car, hoping not to cause Kuronuma any time trying to clean up. My eyes close. Just before the world goes black, I hear Kuronuma curse and call for the medics and a gurney.

↞↟↠

I wake up back in the world where the woman was. It’s a huge field that seems to stretch on forever. The green grass sways gently in the breeze. A huge breeze comes forth and the leaves blow forcefully. My hair blows sideways across my face and i struggle to get in out of my mouth. The azure sky smiles down on me. I can’t see the sun even though there are no clouds, a strange sight.

“It’s about time you came back.” A familiar voice says behind me. I turn around quickly, expecting to see the woman with the mask, but instead I only see a tree. The tree is massive, with white flowers and dark green leaves. I place a hand on the trunk. I feel it pulsing, the tree alive with vigor. It takes me less than a second to understand that the tree is the woman. “I could no longer maintain that form, so now I am in a much more relaxed state of being.”

I remove my hand and it returns to my side, fingers clenched inwards. “Why am I here?”

“I trust that you felt that building calling to you?” I nod. The leaves rustle, even though there is no wind. I think that she is laughing. “That is where your life will begin. That man you came in contact with will guide you towards your future. You will encounter many hardships during your time here. You don’t know it yet, but your life is deeply intertwined into the fabric of society already. Just by your being in the forest, pushing onto the grass, your essence and life energy joining with the forest.”

“I don’t get it.”

An albino blue jay lands on a branch of the tree and nestles comfortably on a branch. It eyes me with fondness, seeing me as no threat at all to its home. “In less than a year, a fully grown willow will be where you just were. The tree will house many abandoned albino animals. Our spirits attract those that have been abandoned or those who feel lost.” I look up at the blue jay again, wondering whether it is there because of its feathers or because of the way it has been treated.

I think back to Kuronuma and my current situation. “How do I explain what happened to me?” I ask. “Should I just blend in to a society I am not used to, or should they try to adjust to me-- to understand where it was that I came from?”

The wind blows harshly, making me think that she’s mad at me. “There will be no need.” She says. “Human beings could not comprehend the concept, not for a few hundred more years.” I start to protest, try to explain to her my dilemma, but she cuts in, answering my unspoken question. “Tell them you have amnesia and that you are a medical professional. Inside your kimono, I have placed all of the necessary documents needed to prove your identification. The only one you may speak to about your past is that Kuronuma fellow you met.”

“But if they have my documents of where I came from,” I say. “then wouldn’t Kuronuma think that what I was telling him would be a lie?”

There was a long pause.

“Yes.” She says at last, breaking the silence. “I guess I could see how that would be an issue. Very well then, the documents will say you are from a small village out-of-touch with the rest of the world.When you start to tell Kuronuma about your past, it will sound to him like you are describing your village. The documents will include that the village has no cars or electricity, and still thrives happily just as the rest of the world did.”

“How many years in the future am I?”

“Just five or six hundred years.” She says nonchalantly like it was just a matter of a few weeks. I burst open with questions, unable to contain them. I ask about my real name, any powers I might have since moving on and crossing over to this next world, how she’s able to do it all. After I ask all of that and get no response, a cold wind rushes by (I think that was a sigh) and she finally talks. “You will find out in due time, my child, in due time.”

The ground opens up from underneath me and I fall through, seeing the last of the field with the tree and the bird, and leaving my questions unanswered.