Find The Switch

Memorizing The Maze

 There's an ancient Japanese saying that says, "There's always light at the end of the tunnel." It's supposed to be metaphorical, but the great thing about metaphors is that there is one case where they are also literal. For that metaphor, being down in the big sewer pipes was the excuse to use it. I just followed the light, though dim at times.

And guess what? I found an exit. My nose needed a break after hours of breathing in sewage air. Somehow I managed to climb up the shaft on the ceiling of the tunnel, and I was surprised to see that the entrance was in a forest that was lush and green, not dead and covered with snow like I was used to.

That was just one of the things that made this place seem unordinary. Also, the trees were tinged with blue and seemed to exuberate a deep hum. A dark but welcoming aura emanated from the clearing right past the bushes that I had entered by.

Shaking with every step, I walked into the center of the clearing, not knowing what to expect. A gust of wind blew and shook the trees, pulling leaves from branches. The leaves circled around a space right in front of me, and somehow a goddess appeared out of chaos.

"I am Inari Okami, god of rice and agriculture," she said. I bowed respectfully.

"Ah, I see you have already begun to practice Omairi," she chuckled. "Smart lad. You are the first person to ever step on this sacred shine. My power resides in this grass." Okami bent down and brushed the grass with her hand.

"In reward to your discovery, I grant you to ask one question that will pull you closer to enlightenment. But not before you perform Omairi."

In case you're wondering, Omairi is a Shinto practice, where you must bow respectfully, say your prayers, and then bow and clap twice, holding your closed hands to your heart after the second clap before doing a final bow.

Following her directions, I bowed in respect and asked the question that would enlighten me: "Where is my sister located?"

But instead of answering the question like Okami said she would, she merely answered, "That is not the question you wish to ask."

I was shocked that a goddess could be so rude. But only for a second, because I realized she was right. Even though I wanted to find my sister, I couldn't do it unless I confirmed my past. Besides, I still confused about how the three gold balls I had seen on the man's jacket fit into this mess.

With that in mind, I rephrased my question to, "How did I get to the farm?"

This time, Okami smiled. Another gust of wind blew and transformed her into leaves once again. They practically engulfed me, magically bringing me back in time.

Instead of watching the event, like I had done previously, I was in the event. I was my younger self. I saw the symbol on the sled that had triggered this memory back at the farm. I felt the cold snow stuck in my boot. I felt my chest burn as I took a deep breath. But I felt nothing as I heard my sister say, "I'm so sorry I have to do this, but it's the new law. I love you so so so much, and I will never forget you," and push me down the hill.

She wasn't the source of laughter; I was. As my sister was crying, I was having the time of my life, oblivious to the fact that I would never see her again.

From there it was the same routine I had reviewed countless times: getting hit by the tree, being carried by strong arms, but after a while I was sucked out of my body and once again was a bystander.

I watched as the lumberjack who was carrying me brought me into a village and set me down on his cart with logs and telling me, "Careful: you wouldn't want to get a splinter," and walked into what was probably his house. But after hours of waiting, it was obvious that something had happened to him, but that was another thing that my kid self did not realize.

It was then that a small man spotted me. He grabbed me, thinking that I was an abandoned child, and left the village, carrying me for at least a few miles. At last he arrived at another small town, and I was worshipped there, the people thinking I was a descendant of the gods.

It was only a few days before I spotted the couple that had pushed me down the sewer. I prayed for them not to notice me, but they snatched me up as eagerly as they had pushed me down the sewer.

They brought me back to the village I had been in previously, bringing me into the house I had just been in in real life. I made the connection that the lumberjack also lived in that village, and he had walked there from my old house. If I had come to this clearing by sewer pipes leading from the couple's house, my old house isn't too far from where I am now.

Anyway, the couple didn't seem to like me at all, because they traded me for money to the first person who came to the village: my old master at the farm. He gladly accepted the offer, but as soon as we were out of sight, he whipped out a pan and knocked me out. Even though I thought it was a bit harsh, it was so I wouldn't know the way back to this village, and I would live my life as a slave.

While he was transporting me to the farm, I felt my presence being lifted out of that time period and sucked back into my body. There I was, in the blue-tinged forest, with Inari Okami standing right before me.

I politely finished Omairi with two bows, two claps, and with my hands to my heart, closed my eyes, and bowed one final time.

But when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the forest anymore: I was in a place I recognized as the small town in which I was believed to be a descendant of the gods.