He Can Only Come Back on Halloween Night

Dressed in a red silk robe, she walked through the silent, dark forest, hunting morels. The silence was broken by the crunching of leaves littered on the forest floor. The lady whipped around in fear of a possible animal but with the light poking its way through the branches of the trees, she saw a man.

He was tall and dark, wearing a black robe and pants. He bowed deeply from the waist and said, “Please, do not be afraid. I’m not here to harm you.”

“I’m not afraid. What brings you to the forest in the middle of the night?” She bowed deeply as well to show the same respect back.

“I was sent away from my home to take a break and landed here.” He looked toward the sky.

“What is your name?”

With a hand to his chest, he replied, “Tsuki, and yours?”

Raising her face to the sky, searching for the moon, she answered, “Akane.”

All she could think about was the meaning of his name, but he interrupted her thoughts by asking, “May I walk and assist you in your hunting?”

Moving closer to her, he reached out to hold the cotton cloth she used to hold her spoils and placed his other hand on her back. They walked in silence until she bent to cut more of her quarry.

Tsuki smiled and Akane could feel her cheeks heat up. She thought him very beautiful in a rugged looking way. Hours passed, her sacks were full, and, somehow, they made it to her house. Not knowing how to feel about him seeing where she lived or that he was a stranger, she invited him in for tea.

They kneeled across from each other as Akane poured his tea and served him sweet bread. There were shy smiles and soft touches over the table. The sun rose and they continued to talk.

Five days had passed, and Tsuki was still with Akane, but he knew his time was running out.

Akane felt the shift and had to ask, “Are you leaving?” She didn’t want him to leave. He filled the void of loneliness that began when her parents died. The comfort she felt in the five days they spent together was unbelievable because, in reality, he was a stranger.

However, their souls melded as if they’d known each other forever. There was a peace in that, knowing you found your other half.

He never answered her, but his sad eyes and sagging posture told her everything she needed to know.

Akane woke up the next morning to find Tsuki gone. She mourned every single day. Worse than her parents’ death, she felt empty.

Exactly one year after he appeared in front of her in the forest, Tsuki arrived at her doorstep.

It was the night the veil was its thinnest, a night some people called Halloween, the only night he could leave his home on the Moon and visit his Sun on Earth.