Botanical Garden (植物園)

So last week we were going to go to the zoo, but we decided that it would be more cost effective if went somewhere else instead. So we to a Botanical Garden instead. It was huge and really beautiful. We ate lunch there and walked around for almost five hours just taking everything in, and what was even better was that it was a community day so we didn't have to spend anything on it. I took a lot of great pics and thought I would share some of my favorites here. Enjoy!

Test (実験)

This a profile background I designed for my Gaia Online account, you could try using it for yourself but it's pretty specific to what is on my page. Just to see if this will work because it didn't on Photobucket...

Short Story - Story Telling (短編小説 - 物語)

Well it's been a while (almost two months, sorry) but again I'm back, still don't know if I will be able to do regular posts but at least there is an update. A newish short story I wrote a couple of months ago. Warning - VERY SCARY!!!

Well here it is, enjoy:

BANG, BANG! Loud knocking was heard from the front door, the three girls that were alone in the house were startled by the sudden sounds of someone at the door. Wondering who it could have been, the girl that lived in the house, Akaru decided to get up and see who it could have been, the other two girls, her friends followed close behind, curious as well. Akaru looked out the peephole to see if she could see anyone standing at the door, unfortunately it was to dark and stormy outside to see anyone. She slowly unlocked the door and slowly opened to the surprising discovery that no one was there. She poked her head out, the top of her head getting wet from the drops of water falling through the leaks in the porch's roof. Looking around and seeing that no one was around, she quickly withdrew her head from the darkness of the outside and closed the door.

"Who was it?" Yuki, the taller of Akaru's two friends asked as Akaru secured the lock.

"There was no one there." She replied, with a shrug.

The three girls went back to Akaru's room where they were watching anime movies they had borrowed from Yuki's sister. They were just getting to the good part, where the two main characters were duking it out in there giant robots, when all of a sudden there was a bright flash of lightning followed by a loud crash of lightning, this startled the girls and within a few seconds, there was another flash and this time, as the light disappeared, so did the electricity.

"Oh no! the electricity went out!" Shouted Momoiro, Akaru's other friend.

"What should we do now that we can't watch the TV?" Yuki asked.

The girls sat in silence and darkness for a moment as they thought. As Yuki and Momoiro sat contemplating their situation, Akaru got up and grabbed a flash light so that they could at least see what they were doing.

"I know." Akaru said with an eerie grin.

"I don't like that look Akaru." Yuki said, hiding behind Momoiro.

"Oh come on now, I was only going to suggest that we tell ghost stories." Akaru stated.

"Ghost Stories?" The two girls said, looking at each other with worried expressions on their faces.

"Oh come on now, you two aren't afraid of ghost stories now are you?" Akaru asked, the same grin crawling across her face.

"I-I'm not a-afraid!" Yuki stammered.

"M-me n-neither." Momoiro said, too.

"If you're not afraid, then we'll play IT than." Akaru said.

"Play what?" Momoiro asked, becoming more afraid.

Akaru raised the flashlight to her face, pointing upward and said, "Why what else but Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai of course!"

The two girls screamed.

"Not that!" Yuki said, on the verge of tears.

"You’re never supposed to play that game!" Momoiro stated, "We might unleash an evil sprit!"

"Please," Akaru laughed, "Those are just stories mothers tell there children so that they won't go to bed late."

"But it's true, I heard that when some kids at another school played it, they needed a priestess to cleanse them and their house of the evil spirits!" Yuki cried, trying to convince her friend to back out of the idea.

"That's just because they didn't play it right." Akaru said, "They were doing it wrong, that's why they were cursed, if we do it right then nothing bad will happen, that it is unless you’re chicken!"

The two girls looked at each other in remorse and discussed it with there eyes, they turned back to Akaru and nodded their heads, agreeing to the idea.

"Very well than, lets get all of the candles in the house and set up the alter." Akaru said standing up, the two other girls doing the same.

They walked around the whole house and collected all of the candles they could find, they didn't have nearly as many as the game calls for, only about twenty out of the total one hundred, but they decided that it would be enough. They took their waxy findings and took them back to Akaru's room where she proceeded to set them up around the room and light them. She then took a stick of chalk and drew a circle on the floor.

"Let's get started." Akaru stated as the girls sat down in the circle.

"I'll go first." She said getting right to the story, "Once upon a time there was a young girl, this girl was very lonely because she lived in a big house and her parents were never home, she was to young to go to school and she didn't have any friends. One day after begging her father to give her a friend, he gave his daughter a porcelain faced doll, which he had brought back from a foreign country. This doll would become the girls best friend. One stormy night, much like tonight, the girl's parents had to leave town on a work related emergency and did not have time to hire a babysitter, she was left all alone, just her and her doll, which she had since named Lulu. She was in her room playing with Lulu, when all of a sudden the electricity went out, she found a candle and lit it and continued playing with her doll. About twenty minutes later, however, she heard heavy foot steps at the front door. She assumed that it was her parents coming back from their trip, so she went out to greet them, but when she arrived at the from door, she saw that there was no one around. The girl called out for her parents, thinking that they were playing with her and hiding, but noticed that there weren't any shoes by the door and decided that it was just the sound of the house in the storm so she went back to her room. Another twenty minutes or so passed and the girl heard the same sounds of someone walking, this time coming up the stairs, she creeped the door open to see who it was but saw no one on the stairs or anywhere in the hallway. She went back in her room, scared now and hid under covers, the whole time never letting go of Lulu. Twenty minutes past and again she heard the sound of heavy footsteps, but this time they were right outside of her door, she squeezed Lulu tight hoping whoever, or whatever was outside of her room would go away, when she heard the sound of the doorknob turning. The girl gasped aand held her breath as she heard the door creak open, she shook and waited, suddenly feeling something take hold of the sheets, the only thing between her and the unknown. It slowly lifted the blankets and..."

Yuki screamed, interrupting the scary story.

"Yuki, don't do that!" Momoiro said angrily, "You almost made me jump out of my skin. How does the story end Akaru?"

"Oh you know, it was an angry ghost that eats the kid." Akaru said as she lifted up one of the candles near by and blew it out. "Since you screamed first Yuki, it's your turn next."

"Um Okay." Yuki said.

The storied lasted for a good two hours, everything from hooks hanging from the rearview mirror of a car to a possessed chicken. They were almost done, only two more stories left, Akaru was in the middle of her story about three friends telling scary stories and it was just starting to get creepy, when all of a sudden, BANG! Another loud knock came from the front door, Yuki almost screamed, Akaru covering her mouth so that the sound wouldn't come out. They crept out of the room and into the darkness of the hallway, when another loud bang happened, making the three girls jump. They slowly approached the door; Akaru looked out the peep hole and again could not see anything. She slowly started to open the door, as she opened it, she was greeted to a familiar face. It was Hitashi, Akaru's older brother.

"Would you let me in already, it's freezing out here." He demanded, as he stood there soaking wet.

She let her brother in and the two friends were relieved to know that there was nothing to worry about. However, just as she was about to close the door, she saw a shadow in the rain and darkness darting and hiding behind a tree. She thought she was just seeing things so she closed the door and proceeded to locking it yet again.

"What are you doing back so soon; I thought you had to work late tonight." Akaru asked her brother as he removed his wet coat and hat and placed them on the coat rack near the door.

"I did, you know it's almost midnight right?" Hitashi said.

"No we didn't, we haven't had power here for several hours." Yuki replied.

Hitashi started for his bedroom, which lay just past Akaru's when he stopped in front of her open room, he was looking in and saw there little ritual area.

"What were you guys doing before I got here." He demanded.

"We were just telling ghost stories, since we couldn't do anything else without the power." Akura explained to her brother.

"Don't you know that you are never supposed to leave the circle before the game is over?" He said in an angry and concerned voice.

"Yeah, So?" Akaru defiantly said.

Hitashi continued to point into the room. The three continued looking on into the bedroom, to see the frightening realization that they still had two candles burning.

"Oh no, what will happen now?" A worried Momoiro asked.

"What did I say? That curse thing is just an urban legend, like the Kuchisake-onna or Sasquatch." Akaru said, also sounding a bit worried.

"This is not good..." Hitashi started, being interrupted by another loud knock at the door. The four shocked and frightened bystanders could do nothing but look at each other in bewilderment and terror.

"I'll see who it is." Hitashi whispered to the girls. "Whatever happens, I don't want you leave this house unless you ultimately have too."

The girls nodded in agreement and huddled together. Akaru could do nothing as her beloved older brother bravely turned the corner of the hall to answer the door. They heard him undo the lock and heard the creak of the door as he slowly opened it. Then all they could hear was the sound of the falling rain through the opening.

"Hitashi?" Akaru called for her brother.

They stood there for a short time wondered what happened just on the other side of the wall, wondering what they should do. Finally, after not being able to bear the wait anymore, Akaru broke from the group and slowly crept towards the turn in the hallway. As she poked her head around the wall, she was awestruck by what she saw, which was nothing. She ran over to the door, calling Hitashi's name. His coat and hat were still on the rack and his shoes were still on the floor in front of the doorway. Akaru stuck her head out of the door, looking in every which way, desperately searching for her brother in the darkness that was their front yard. It was useless; she couldn't see him, what she did see however was much more frightening, the same shadow play that she thought she had seen earlier, this time much closer to the door. She slammed the door shut and quickly locked the door, beginning to cry knowing that her brother was gone forever.

"Wh-who was it?" Yuki said peeking from behind the corner.

"Wh-where d-did your brother go?" Momoiro added in, popping from behind her.

"He's gone, he was spirited away." She said, now fully realizing the extent of the situation she collapsed on the floor and started sobbing.

"Akaru!" the two girls called as they ran over to help their friend up. Suddenly, as they helped her to her feat, the whole house seemed to be knocking, it was so loud, the girls couldn't even think. Akaru became frantic and ran off for her room, screaming. The two others chased after her, to make sure that she stayed safe. They all ran into her room and Momoiro closed. Akaru dove into her bed and continued wailing, the two other girls climbed into the bed with her; they clung to each other saying over and over that it's all going to be alright, that's when the door to the bedroom flew open with such force that it almost broke off of the hinges. A large black shadow was standing in the door way, it was shaped like a human, but something about it didn't seem human at all. It walked slowly towards them, every second it got closer felt like an eternity to the girls, just as the demon was approaching the bed something amazing happened, the power came back on at full force, illuminating the room and causing the girls to cover their eyes from the brightness. As they uncovered their eyes, afraid of what they were going to see, they were quite surprised at what was REALLY at the foot of the bed. A makeshift scarecrow, consisting of an old black shirt and a watermelon stuck through a stick, it was attached to a skateboard. The girls looked at each other confused and somewhat relieved, but not before something began stirring in the closet. The girls gasped and gazed at the closet door, waiting to see who or what would come out of it. It slowly opened and as two shadow silhouettes appeared, they jump out and shouted at the girls "Happy Birthday Akaru!"

"Mom, Dad!?" Akaru shouted in both disbelief and anger.

"That's right Akaru, it was us all along!" Her mother exclaimed.

"We did it for your birthday!" said her father.

"Wait, but what about Hitashi?" She asked as her brother walked in her room from the hallway, revealing that he was in fact the culprit behind the moving scarecrow.

Akaru ran over to her brother and gave him a big hug

"I thought you were gone forever." She said slightly sobbing as she held her brother. Then out of no where she stomped on his foot, "You jerk! Why did you guys do this?"

"Well you did say that you wanted a more exciting birthday this year didn't you? So we set up this little surprise for you." Her father explained.

"But let's forget about that and let’s have some cake now." Her mother said, changing the subject.

"Cake!" Momoiro cried with excitement.

They walked over to the kitchen and Akaru's mother took a cake out of it's hiding place and set it on the table, lighting the candles and they all sang happy birthday to Akaru. She blew out all of the candles in one breath and her family and friends cheered.

"So you guys did everything?" Akaru asked as her mother handed out slices of cake, still not being able to believe what had happened.

'That's right, we had Hitashi hide in the closet by the door when he got 'spirited away' and the loud banging sounds was merely just a recording that we had playing in several different areas at full sound." her father smirked, proud of their hard work.

"So then that was you guys who knocked at around nine when no one was there, too then right?" She asked, remembering the first incident.

Her parents and brother looked at each other with confusion written on their faces as they tried to think about what to say.

"Akaru that wasn't us." Hitashi said, sounding concerned

"Sure, Sure." Akaru said with a laugh of disbelief. Just as she said that, she saw in the corner of her eye, a shadow flash past the opening to the kitchen and head straight for her room.