The Chimi YokaiThe unfortunate cook has always known about the

Chimi Yokai; his favourite stories from his grandfather had been about
those mischievous goblins that would pester both humans and their
fellow creatures alike. Still he was shocked to find one in his kitchen
that morning, lounging amongst the mountain of dirty dishes he hadn't
gotten to yet. It playfully flicked its tail and its ears twitched as it
grinned."Well hello there, friend," it said with a cheerful, raspy voice.At
a loss for words, the cook just stared, drawing a laugh from the Yokai
visitor."Was about time you saw me," it cheered, "I've been trying to
get your attention for weeks now. So stubborn, man."As it shook its
head, the cook bristled. His mind immediately went over the past few
weeks. It had been rough weeks. He'd been late for work every single
day. His keys were gone, his wallet stolen, his car malfunctioning.
He'd cut his fingers, banged his head twice and had made a tumble
down a hill. His girlfriend had left him, his brother had accused him of
sending stupid prank presents and his boss had almost fired him.
Nightmares had plagued him at night. Every song he hated had been
stuck in his head."Was that all you?" he stammered now, glaring at
the goblin."Clever man," it said happily and jumped down."Why would
you do that to me?"The Chimi Yokai opened its arms wide. "Just doing
what I do."Suddenly filled with rage, the cook kicked at him. "Go away!
Leave me alone!""That is not how it works, I'm afraid." The cook
growled. "What do you mean?" His anger built as the creature
shrugged, wandered to the pantry and helped itself to a treat."Explain
yourself!""Now where's the fun in that?" it purred. "You think this is
fun?" The cook felt like he was going to explode. Tension was building
in his chest, making his heart go mad. "Fun? Really? There is nothing
fun about it! You've ruined my life!""Relax, man. You're going to give
yourself a heart attack."The tension burst, flooding out and out as
tormented yells and cutting words that barely made sense. The Chimi
Yokai didn't even flinch as the tirade cascaded over it, merely smiled,
its eyes twinkling.Very soon, all emotion had left him and with it, his
energy. The cook sagged down on a chair and leaned against the pile
of dishes that still awaited him. More work. Too much work. He was so
tired."You are giving me a heart attack," he told the creature half
heartedly. "That is exactly where you're are wrong." It patted his hand.
"Do you see it now?"The cook blinked and stared for a couple of
minutes. Then he looked around again. The kitchen was still a mess. It
was abandoned and cold. The rest of the staff wouldn't arrive for
another hour. He needed to clean those dishes. Those dishes..."I
keep making a mess of things," he sighed."You've got it, friend. All
work and no play. Where's the fun in that?""But I need to work.""Do
you love your work?"He eyed the dishes again. It looked like a fort that
would never be conquered."Only when I get to cook. Which is never if
I don't fix this."The Yokai shook its head. "You humans really don't get
it, man." It hopped over to the radio and put on a lively tune. Then it
climbed the sink and got the tap running."Come on over now and I will
teach you some true Yokai wisdom. And if you forget it, I will come
back and make your life a misery, you understand?" It grinned so
wide, his teeth flashed white.The cook approached and together they
sang and danced as they did the dishes, they Chimi Yokai fearlessly
juggling the crockery and tossing the knives.Long before the rest of
the staff arrived, the dishes were gone and the cook was whistling as
he prepared the vegetables.He never forgot the Chimi Yokai's lesson:
Fun is something you create, anywhere at any time.

(their real father and mother were too sad and too exhausted by hard
labour, thirst and hunger to notice that their daughters were treated
like slaves.)
The two almost identical villages or the story of the squinting Okami
Yokai

Everything happened during a famous famine time . The dwellers from

Hidarime and Migime amazingly similar villages were fully convinced
that god Kuraokami ate too much rice and fell asleep. He ate so much
there was nothing left for them . Not even a drop of rain had cleared
the air, to land on houses` roofs` dusty cheeks or over the dreary dry
rice fields.
In those dark times lived two twin sisters, Aomi and Akiha. Their
parents were separated, so Aomi lived with her father in Hidarime
while Akiha lived with her mother in Migime. None of them knew the
other existed for they had been taken apart since early childhood.
The houses they lived in were almost identical, being built long ago by
their grandfather who lived an almost identical love and separation
story in Hadarime, then married another woman in Migime.
Aomi hated her step mother. Akiha hated her step father. Every
evening, after the lights went out and everyone started to snore the
two girls were sneaking out, climbing two almost identical trees where
they used to cry and sing while staring at the old forest that stretched
around the two villages. One morning they decided to run into that
forest that fascinated both of them for so long. Aomi took some rice
bread and water, Akiha some water too and rice cakes.
So the journey that was about to change not only the lives of Aomi
and Akiha but also the lives of all inhabitants of the two villages
begun. They wandered through the forest for many hours and the sun
was started to sink. No water left and all paths, all trees seemed
identical to each other. The night`s tongue began to lick the wounds
made by the hot hands of the sun. light and dark began to decant in
the woods like a mysterious, chimeric pot of old brick tea. It seemed to
them that unseen snakes were wrapping aroung their legs and that
rough black branches were scratching their foreheads. Their dark long
hair became invisible so if they would`ve been seen by someone they
would`ve seem so eerily, as two pale heads floating sadly deeper and
deeper into that sea of trees.
Exhausted, they collapsed next to a tree, leaning their tired bodies
against it. The same tree. But they weren`t alone. Two strange, glary
eyes were watching them from the dark. The girls were so tired that
they didn`t hear how someone was approaching very slowly. But they
both could feel that the air started to smell of wet soil and wet leaves.
Suddenly a lamp lit up and dazzled the dense darkness. A huge wolf`s
head could be seen clearly now. Aomi and Akiha screamed horrified,
then, as if forced by the unnatural silence, they leaned forward and
looked at the other side of the tree.
"Don`t be scared, little girl" said the wolf, "My name is Okami and i`m
not going to harm you. Tell me where are you from so i can help you
return home". The girls noticed that his eyes were squinting. "But
there are two of us, can`t you see? "Really? Then both of you touch
each of my two beautiful pointy ears. One girl the left ear, the other
one the right ear". "indeed, indeed...." mumbled Okami, "And you`re
sisters too. Twin sisters. Aomi and Akiha. For so many years i thought
there was only one village. I`m such an old fool...." The girls were
listening to the wolf and, from time to time, they were staring at each
other. Okami had suddenly become very thoughtful and his eyes were
squinting even more than before.
"Girls, give me a gobbet of that food you`re carrying with you". Aomi
gave the wolf a little piece of rice bread, Akiha a little piece of rice
cake. Okami feeded the darkness and, unexpectedly, two separated
images of the two villages appeared. The wolf murmured something
and merged the two images into one. This image showed one village
recreated only from the differences who existed between Hadarime
and Migime, differences who were so inaccessibles to all common
dwellers."Give me more gobbets, girls" said the wolf again. This time
the image of those two girls parents and step parents appeared, in two
separate images.Okami murmured something again and the two
images became one. An ugly, unusual huge frog was licking their
mother`s face; an enormous rat was biting their father`s hands and
feet. "More gobbets" and the girls gave the wolf their last pieces of rice
bread and rice cake. This time in those two images Aomi and Akiha
could see themselves. Okami murmured again, and the image who
resulted made the girls sigh. Their eyes swam in tears. Aomi had
silvery eyes and hair, Akiha golden eyes and hair, Aomi`s dress was
made of snow, Akiha`s dress was made of rain. And they were both
hugging their parents.
"Let`s go home, girls, it`s late". The girls followed the wolf through the
forest, holding their hands. "I have something more to tell you. Aomi,
Akiha you`ll create a new home. I`ll show you the exact spot. Just
build a house and plant a tree. Then everything will change, you`ll
see". They were not in the forest anymore, they walked slowly on a
familar path, the deserted space between the two villages. All of a
sudden Okami started to dig a small hole, threw a rice grain inside it
and then covered it up. "This is where the only true village will be.
Take care of you, girls". He smiled and disappeared in thin air. The
girls fell asleep on the ground, holding one another.
As soon as Aomi and Akiha finally finished building the house and
planting the tree something amazing happened. It started to rain. Such
a heavy, generous rain! But that abundent rain fell only between the
two villages, where the two sisters started the new settlement. Men,
women and children started to gather around the twins. But not all of
them were able to get into that space - the second they were touched
by a raindrop they turned into animals, then in nothing, like they never
existed. So begun the history of Daisan'nome village, whose existence
is due to Okami too: In his wisdom he knew there`s no such thing as
two perfectly identical villages, houses, trees or human souls.