Do vaporwave kitsune count technicolor sheep? - 14. Chapter 14

“Hello there, Poppet.”

I nearly leap out of my fur upon hearing the unfamiliar voice. This time I am not in my house, in fact I am nowhere as far as I can tell. Around me an inky void stretches out as far as the eye can see and I am completely alone save for a handsome gentleman with leathery black wings enfolded against his back and ebony horns that curve out from his temples to hug his skull.

Sable hair hangs messily in a curtain over his eyes and he impatiently sweeps it back behind his ears in an attempt to clear his vision. When his eyes meet mine they are filled with such love that it takes me aback to have such feelings directed at me by a complete stranger.

“Who are you? Have we met?”

“Ah...of course you don’t know. I am Daniel.”

“And why are you lurking in what appears to be a lucid dream?”

He begins to take a step towards me before thinking better of it and remaining where he stands.

“Would you believe me if I said I’m a spirit guide sent by your ancestors?”

“Doubtful.”

“Good, I wouldn’t either. That sounds ludicrous.”

Leveling him with a deadpan stare I wait patiently for him to make sense.

“So...Mr. Dragon,” I gesture vaguely at his wings and horns, which aside from their shape, look startlingly like my own, “have you come to impart your divine wisdom to me? Winning lottery numbers? Share a drink?”

On impulse I summon a bottle of fine sake and two glasses. In the blink of an eye, I’ve transformed myself into my human guise wrapped sumptuously in my favorite kimono. At the sight of the sake, he becomes a little pale in complexion.

“Gods, but you really are Hana’s daughter…”

“You know my mother?”

“Intimately.”

“How strange. I miss her dearly.”

I pour myself a cup and let the smooth soft burn of rice wine slide down my throat. Dream or not, I deserve a drink right now.

“Me too…”

“Were you very close then?”

“It was before you were born. I was a foreigner in a strange land and she showed me kindness.”

“Wow, you must be really old.”

He rolls his eyes and sits opposite me, making no move to touch the cup I set before him.

“Not to your taste?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t partake of sake anymore.”

“I spent many nights at my mother's side, drinking and talking.”

“She’s the last person I ever drank it with.”

Memories of my mother with blushing cheeks lifting glass after glass to ler lips as we laughed into the night makes me smile sadly.

“Ahh...I think I understand.”

“She drank me under the table and carried me to my bed.”

I can’t help the bark of laughter this elicits precisely because I could picture her doing it.

“The question that has yet to be answered, Daniel-san, is to what do I owe the true pleasure of this visit? Are you in the habit of creeping into random girls' dreams?”

He smiles enigmatically at me.

“My husband would frown upon that.”

Filling another cup, I give him a little toast before downing the sake. In silence I sit and wait, instead of giving him another opportunity to dodge my question.

“I just wanted to tell you...Moon,” he struggles with his words as he rifles his fingers through his dark hair, “Please be careful in this world. There is more in motion here than you realize.”

He’s caught my attention now.

“I’m not allowed to be specific...so you can take it or leave it, but I know how you are. I know your strengths and your weaknesses...even though I know that sounds crazy. I’ll just spit it out, go with your gut. Trust your intuition. I can’t say more than that…”

While I sit quietly listening, something about his name nags at my mind. Remembering late night conversations with my Mother as she told me stories of her life. How after she’d drank an exorbitant amount she would speak of Daniel...my father.

“Are you…?”

“I love you, Poppet.”