Full Moon wo Sagashite 2

Chapter 7: "Mereko and Eneki!"

Meroko liked her role as an angel to such a degree that she often found things to do when she was not actively assigned to these stuff duty. She had gone to a playground and changed the lives of a group of bullies at one point, passing through just as they were about to destroy the beauty of a younger group's sand castles. Not a week before her latest assignment, she had visited a children's hospital and entertained as a talking kawaii bunny rabbit, away from the eyes of the concerned parents, of course.

Meroko's current assignment found her as a young girl of three's stuffed bunny rabbit and imaginary friend. Just about one month had passed since she had joined Satora Eniki's family. The girl's parents were just too often too busy to spend time with her, and to avert the path of deep depression upon which she had been headed, Meroko sat waiting for her on a park bench one sunny day. Her mom had insisted that she leave the mangy stuffed animal (Meroko had actually been able to ignore those words...) behind as it must belong to someone, but Eniki had insistently sat on the bench for a full three hours, waiting patiently for the non-existent owner. Finally, her annoyed mother had given in and allowed Meroko into the family.

"...and then my mommy told me get off the couch 'cause my pants were dirty," said Eniki, finishing another story of her mother criticizing her for some minor offense.

"daddy didn't say anything," she concluded to the little stuffed animal, gently stroking its ears. Meroko only looked up at her, as both of them listened to the parents speak about their work day to each other in the living room next door. Their voices rose and fell as the news' excitement waxed and waned.

The telephone rang, causing a flow in the tide of the conversation, and Eniki's mother's voice could be heard as she answered. "Kato is sick? Oh, ok. I see. I'll be right there. Hold on, let me get a pen. "Shinzao. Ok, what's the address again? Ok, I'll be right there," the sound of the phone being placed back in its cradle could be heard.

"Could you put Eniki to bed, dear? I won't be back until late morning, it seems."

"Kato is sick again, huh?"

"The owner is furious, I guess he has a right to be, this is the second time one of them has called in just two hours before show time."

"You really need to let Katori handle things more often, dear, if you keep helping her like this she'll never be able to handle these emergencies."

"I know, but..."

The conversation in the next room reached them as Meroko gazed into Eniki's sad, gloomy eyes. The little girl sat quietly for a time, before suddenly bursting into tears. Meroko could barely hear the father's frustrated comment from the other room, "There she goes again! Well, I'll try and see what is wrong with our little Eniki this time. You'd best get going, dear."

The man walked into the room with an impatient look on his face, his short spiky hair framing an peculiarly proportioned square face. The brown eyes were set just too far apart, causing the wide brim of his nose to seem larger than the narrow tip.

"Eniki, it isn't polite to listen in on our conversations, you know. Now, off to bed with you."

The little girl buried her face in Meroko and continued her loud wailing. Meroko merely accepted the pain, though her eyes became spirals as the fierce hugging continued.

The father had given up on her already and gone back to the living room to speak to his wife, who had nearly been out the door.

"I swear, I just don't know what to do, do I just let her cry it out?"

"I'm sure she'll be ok. Goodbye, Eniki, I love you, sweetie," her mom called to her, followed by the click as the door closed.

Father soon returned, reminding Eniki to increase the pitch of her sobbing again. Meroko gently stroked her face away from his adult eyes, and as her father simply stood staring down at the two, Eniki slowly drained herself, and lost the energy to continue.

"There you go, now let's go to bed, Eniki, I'll even read you that story that you like so much," and which her father found boring and silly.

"Ok, daddy," came the muffled reply, and Meroko whispered softly so that only Eniki could hear, "I'll take you on a voyage after the story, Eniki, maybe we can even go see the head Oliphant!"

The little girl said "Ok!" again, a bit more eagerly, and though her dad had already turned his back and headed towards her bedroom, the sheer excitement in her voice gave him a brief, odd sensation towards his little daughter. He prepared to appease her with her lame little children's tale.

Eniki washed and changed into her pajamas as her father searched for the proper book on the shelf near her bed. She had crawled under the covers already when he turned to her, and staring down at his daughter as she gripped the fluffy red bunny doll that she had found warmed his heart, and he found it easy to elaborate the story of how Baraba overcame his differences from the other Oliphants to eventually triumph and become their king.

"And lo! The great king..." he added at one point, "... woof woof," he barked like a dog at another, and at the very end of Baraba's tale he found himself trumpeting like a true Oliphant to the delight of his daughter. Her sweet, tender smile pleased him, and true to Meroko's promise, Eniki dreamed pleasantly of immense jungles and gray Oliphants as they trudged through, herself their beloved queen and ruler.