This must be a dream.
"Exactly, Kuzunoha, the fox mother," my grandmother interrupts me.
"Fox Mother?" I ask her irritated.
Where did she get the idea of a fox mother?
Currently, I am feeling overwhelmed by the situation.
On one hand, I am struggling to accept that I am in her hospital room again
"Child, don't tell me you don't remember my little adventure in Japan?"
She shakes her head and sighs before leaning back in her seat. She briefly glances out of the window.
There is no indication that she has ever been to Japan or discussed the country.
It was always the ancient Greeks, and now it's the ancient Japanese?
"Just a minute," she replies under my curious gaze.
Wordlessly, she shows me a black wooden box.
A very simple, almost insignificant box.
"From me to you," she hands me the box.
It is made of ebony and much heavier than I expected.
A closer look reveals the many ornaments.
Patterns and inscriptions that really make it look very noble.
Is this really the same box she held in her hand a few seconds ago?
"I was only a year older than you, but even as a child, I always wanted to travel to the Far East.
My parents were against it, but somehow they allowed me to go. It was probably my older sister who convinced them. I am still very grateful to her. Without her I would never have had this adventure. Now that I had arrived in Japan, I was of course only formally curious to visit the famous temples. So I joined a tourist group. But during the free time to explore, I got terribly lost".
She pauses.
Why am I not surprised? Grandmother never had the best sense of direction.
"I was alone in the forest," she continues.
Suddenly I felt a huge sting that went through my whole body.
A sting that got worse by the second.
At the same time, many vague scenes flashed before my eyes.
Strange voices echo through my head.
While a pressure literally presses my body down to the cold floor.
"Ouch," I cry out again.
Again, too tight....
It can't be true, can it?
"My gaze sweeps through the dense forest in front of me. Right, left, up and down, all I see are these trees that literally surround me," I hear my grandmother's voice say, as if from nowhere.
"Grandmother!?"
Startled, I jump back.
I can open and move my mouth freely, but no sound comes out.
Not a single word of my thoughts will come out.
"Out of sheer desperation I fell to the floor," she continued.
Suddenly, against my will, my body took on a life of its own and I fall to the floor.
"My tears wet the floor".
At the same time, said tears run down my cheeks to the floor. I feel like a shell trapped by emotions that are not mine.
No, no, it's more like a puppet show!
My grandmother is pulling the strings and I'm acting for her.
"Just when I thought all was lost, a strange fox appears in front of me out of nowhere.
Suddenly I stopp crying.
A strange white fox greets me, wearing a jewel around its neck.
He or she is also looking at me.
"Our gazes meet. While I am enchanted by the sight of the strange fox in front of me.
I feel a strange urge to feed him. But something inside me prevents me from doing so".
Playfully, the fox moves towards me.
"The fox moves towards me in a playful way. He goes like a cat to the ground and teases me in a strange way, urging me on".
Strange thoughts fill my mind. Then suddenly my body jumped up by itself.
I don't notice any of the obstacles that could hurt me or cause me to stumble.
I feel nothing because my whole attention is on the fox.
We pass a river that led us to a waterfall.
He stopp at it.
"The fox jumped gracefully into the waterfall. But despair overcame me again.
Suddenly, the waterfall splits and a blinding light hits me.
"Only when the bright light faded did I recognise something incomprehensible.
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