Chapter 1: Hanako-chan’s Extraordinary Encounter
これは１話の英語のバージョンです。英語の翻訳を読みたがらなかったら、このページを飛ばしてください。
The restroom was illuminated by the glow of the early-evening sun. I stared at the mermaid picture I had just drawn on a sheet of blue toilet paper. Although the mermaid looked happy, she seemed sad swimming in the ocean by herself.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered to the drawing softly. “I’ll draw you some friends.”
In the empty ocean next to the mermaid, I carefully put my pen on the toilet paper and started to draw. But nothing happened. Shaking the pen, I tried again and again to draw on the toilet paper. But there was no ink left.
I looked apologetically at the lonely mermaid.
“Sorry, I tried my best.” I said to the drawing as two tear drops landed on the toilet paper.
If it hadn’t been the summer holidays, I would have been able to borrow a pen or either an eyeliner pencil to finish the drawing. While crying silent tears, the sun quietly set, stealing the rays of light with it. I was alone in my dark cubicle. Waiting desperately for summer to end.
********
“Long time no see!”
“How was England?”
The noises outside my cubicle, startled me awake. I opened my eyes and looked around my small cubicle. The walls were covered in multicoloured sheets of toilet paper each with unique doodles on it.
There were doodles of dragons and princesses sipping tea at grand tea parties and doodles of friends going on magical adventures. The drawings were full of hope, happiness, and friendship.
I carefully peeked out from behind the cubicle door and saw the three friends applying make-up by the sinks. Listening to their cheerful stories of their summer holidays made me feel a mixture of happiness and sadness.
“Hey, Alicia. When you were in England did you see anything supernatural?”
The girl standing in the middle with her wavy brown hair in a high ponytail, froze while applying her mascara. Suddenly, all three girls slightly turned towards me. I quickly pushed the door shut. My heart racing. Did they see me?
“Hmm, I didn’t see anything. But my younger cousin told me about Bloody Mary.”
“Bloody? Sounds scary!”
“My cousin said that she and her friends summoned her in their school bathroom.”
“No way?! how did they summon her?”
“Without looking in the mirror, they all washed their hands in the sink while chanting ‘Bloody Mary’ over and over again. They would then all spin around 3 times and look into the mirror. Instead of seeing their reflection, they would see Bloody Mary staring back at them.”
Engulfed in the story, I slowly started to peek out through the doorway again. I noticed Alicia and the girl on the right grin at each other, before turning on the taps.
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Come on guys, stop it.”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody Mary,”
The girl on the left was getting more and more stressed out as she begged the other two to stop.
“Alicia, Miyu, please stop! I’m scared.”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody Mary,”
“How many times are we supposed to chant her name?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think to ask.”
“Bloody Mary,”
“Bloody M-”
The school bell rang out interrupting their ritual.
“Shit! We’re going to be late for class,” Miyu said while drying her hands on her skirt.
“My parents are going to kill me if I get in trouble on the first day.”
“Chie, you worry too much. We’re not going to get in trouble.”
After the girls rushed out of the room, I noticed that one of the girls had left her make-up bag behind. I left my cubicle and approached the bag. It was a small purple bag with a hand-drawn pentacle on it. Underneath the drawing were the words “Siren’s Call”.
Opening the bag, I found a small eyeliner pencil.
“Finally, I can finish that drawing.”
I zipped up the make-up bag and glanced up at the mirror.
“Mary,” I whispered. “Are you there? Can you see me?”
“Who’s Mary?”
I spun around to see Mr Manto.
“Oh, Mr. Manto, long time no see.”
“What’s wrong Hanako-chan. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Although I couldn’t see his face under his mask, I could tell that he was concerned. Tied around his waist was a variety of different multicoloured sheets of toilet paper.
“It’s also rare to see you outside of your cubicle.”
“My-My pen ran out of ink, so I was just borrowing this eye liner pencil.”
“Borrowing or stealing?” Mr Manto laughed.
“Anyway, I came to see if you wanted any more paper.”
He held out several sheets of red and blue coloured toilet paper.
“I’m OK, thank you. I still haven’t finished drawing on the other sheets you gave me.”
“Is that so? Well if you need any let me know.”
Mr Manto turned to leave but stopped. He hesitated slightly before putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Hanako-chan. Why don’t you try talking to some of them this semester? Not everyone will be afraid of you, you know?”
Before I could even reply, Mr Manto had vanished. I glanced back at the mirror one last time before returning to my cubicle.
Throughout the day more students chatted outside my cubicle. Normally, I would be fixated on their conversations. But I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t even draw. Instead of drawing friends for the mermaid, I had drawn a random large swirl. The poor mermaid looked like she was about to be sucked into a whirlpool.
The final bell of the day rang, and slowly the busy sounds of humans was replaced with a deathly silence.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Mary. Is there really a spirit living in the mirrors?
Should I try summoning her?
Would it be strange for a spirit to summon another spirit?
Was she even real?
I couldn’t decide which answer was scarier.
But my mind wouldn’t rest without an answer.
So, I left my cubicle for the second time in one day. I walked to the sinks and turned them on.
“Bloody Mary,”
What am I doing, this is so silly.
“Bloody Mary,”
The water was icy cold.
“Bloody Mary,”
But I kept washing my hands in the sink.
“Bloody Mary,”
How many times should I say your name?
“Bloody Mary,”
10 times, 100 times, a thousand times?
“Bloody Mary,”
I kept saying her name over and over again.
“Bloody Mary,”
I was too nervous to look.
“Bloody Mary,”
I was too nervous to know the truth.
“Bloody Mary,”
Was she already here?
“Bloody Mary,”
Could she hear me saying her name over and over again?
“Bloody Mary,”
What would she be thinking?
“Bloody Mary,”
What should I even say to her?
“Bloody Mary,”
I can’t even feel my fingers anymore.
Wiping my soaking hands on my skirt, I slowly started to spin around.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
And looked into the mirror.
Two eyes stared back at me.
I jumped back in disbelief. Mary was real.
She looked to be around the same age as me. But she was covered in blood. Her shirt and her face were covered in red speckles.
She looked nervous as she stared into my eyes. They were a beautiful amber colour. The longer I stared at her the more I noticed. The speckles on her blouse weren’t blood but tiny red rose petals. And the speckles on her face weren’t blood either, but freckles. At a glance, she appeared to be covered in blood, but there wasn’t a drop on her.
I suddenly realised I had been staring at her for a long time.
“Umm, I-I-I’m Hanako! It’s nice to meet you!”
It’s been so long since I tried speaking to someone new, that I stumbled on my words.
How embarrassing!
Mary smiled slightly. Although her mouth was smiling, her eyes looked sad.
She blew onto the mirror, causing it to be covered in condensation. She carefully used her finger to write a message on the mirror before disappearing.
“Je ne peux pas t'entendre.”
The French is this story has not been proofread.
フランス語は校正ではなかったです。
