Reflections (Sakura and Starchaser)

[Starchaser]

"Parcel for a Miss Mee-sah, uh, Murry-Yama? . Sign here, please." The postman's tone was friendly and smiling yet there was a slight nervousness in his eyes and the way he shifed weight from one foot to the other. He obviously struggled with the woman's name as he held out a touch-pad expectantly toward her.

The parcel was no surprise to Misa, Her friend Kazumi had told her to expect something. A house warming gift. Misa had recently bought "Threshold" for a very good price considering the size and secluded location. The previous owner, a woman in her mid twenties called Alice Samson, was looking for a quick sale having recently married and moved to live with her husband in Manchester. She had seemed friendly and honest enough but hadn't really mentioned the locals much. Misa had been given the impression that she hadn't spent long in the house herself - it had been a birthday present from a rich father as a place to stay when she had returned from university. It was Kasumi that suggested that 'Threshold' could be a perfect place for Misa to spend some time in semi-isolation, licking her emotional wounds and starting work on her next book which would hopefully be as successful as her first .

Kasimi had, apparently, bought this latest addition to Misa's home on e-bay off a Swansea man. It was large, rectangular and bore the words 'Fragile'. The postman placed it carefully against the hallway wall for her. The house itself was a large, sprawling, pre-30's house with a feel about it that was like a step back in time. There was still a lot about the place to explore. The extensive gothic style gardens being one of them. The actual village was about a half mile down a large hill meaning the house itself was quite secluded. Despite it being late autumn, it was actually clear and sunny with only a cool breeze cutting through the warm air and hinting at the winter to come.

 

[sakura]

The part of Tokyo where Misa grew up was unapologetically urban. There were no trees or city planted blooms, just monoliths of concrete soaring out of the sidewalk in an exact grid pattern. Like a living machine, everyone in Tokyo was busy and in a hurry 24/7. By day most relied on the sky to let them know that it wasn't a monochromatic world, just one in which the people were too busy for art, too busy for pause and breathe once in a while. At night it was beautiful in its way, with so many lights. Lights glittered everywhere, just like stars dropping to the earth, vast and small buildings collided in a mixture of shadow and geometry, tiny vehicles rushing along tangled lines of streets creating twisting threads of light - they all intertwined together in a magnificent mess of dream. However, to find the beauty in it, again, time was needed.​

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Surprisingly Misa never hated living in large cities, where she could get lost. And she was lucky enough, 21 years she was roaming through the streets of Tokyo, a stranger between strangers in her town. However, deep down, she always wanted to live in a small village, surrounded by nature and silence. Her dream became a reality after her book hit the book stores and became a best seller. Money was no longer an issue, and Misa decided to move. The distance was all that mattered. She needed to live away from Tokyo, and if possible, close by nature. It was then when her close friend Kazumi told her about an old house forgotten in time, with gothic gardens and close to heart. It was located in England, but again that wasn't an issue. She was fluent in English, so moving seemed possible. A while after, her father bought it for her as a birthday gift. Growing up in a wealthy household had its benefits sometimes.​

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Now, a month later, she was signing for a packet that her dear friend sent her. "It's Murayama Misa." she corrected the postman, as in Japan, the surname was first said, followed by the first name. True to her word, Kazumi had sent her a gift as promised. Then she stepped back and let the postman place it inside against the hallway wall. She thanked the postman and closed the door after he left. Misa slowly started unpacking the gift carefully, wanting to have a closer look later on. She would decide where she would place it. That would take some time, as Misa had not fully unpacked yet. There were rooms of the massive mansion she didn't open, however. She took her time since the house was hers, and she had all the time she needed to explore it. It felt like an adventure; it was only her inside that new house, in a location far away from home. It boosted her imagination, and it could be useful to write a new novel someday.​

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She indeed would spend a chapter, or two, to write about the scenery. The landscape around the mansion was utterly alien yet made all the more relaxing and beautiful. Here eyes could roam freely over the hills and cultivated fields. She could hear the birds and smell the freshness. She could observe the sky by day and night, the lights was fewer, and she could even see the stars. It was like the house was build in such a way, to be forgotten in time and isolation. However, she couldn't say she was lost, as the village was only a few miles away. And although small in number, she could easily find civilization when needed. A few moments later, Misa had successfully unpacked her gift and was observing it. Indeed her friend knew how to make the perfect gifts.​

 

[Starchaser]

Removing the brown paper wrapping and the protective bubble wrap revealed a large, full length mirror. It looked quite old, perhaps just under a hundred years. Victorian or post Victorian maybe. The glass had been carefully polished so as to appear almost brand new. The hand carved wooden frame was decorated in a dark wood that could be oak or ash. The figures carved into the wood had a detail to them that was both obtuse enough to make them almost featureless but acute enough to convey the artistic nature and suggestiveness of the imagery. They were naked and seemed to be comprised of both male and female forms. They intertwined with each other in a way that appeared quite intimate.

The most interesting thing about it was the reflective surface. It wasn't like looking into a mirror. It was as though the mirror itself was just a frame, and beyond the frame was another room, an exact copy of the one it reflected. Almost like the glass itself didn't exist. Another thing was the colour seemed somehow more vibrant, more real than the room it reflected. Misa's mirror image stared back at her and for just a microsecond it seemed like someone was standing behind her, arms wrapping themselves around her and lips almost caressing her smooth neck. The feeling was gone as soon as it started, to be replaced with the feeling that this mirror somehow belonged in the house.

It was still fairly early and the sun had risen enough to send a fiery orange red glow over the hillside. In the distance a cuckoo cried out, adding its own distinctive voice to the higher pitched chatter of birdsong. A sudden gentle breeze blew, although the front door was now shut, that felt almost like a cold breath on the back of Misa's neck.