And there goes the last of the dust bunnies from my notebook.



1. On the other side of the river, men fish for brides in the water. They brush the leaves of a plant that grows by the waterside over a mermaid's body to turn scales to firm flesh and bone. They bait the legendary nymphs with fresh meat, trailing the pieces in the water and allowing the bloody trail to act as a line to lure them in.

The children of these unions are almost always born deformed. There is a hut built to house these babies, by orders of the village chief. One day they are carried in, and the next there is fresh lure available for prospective husbands.

It's said that it is the blood which attracts these beautiful monsters from the deep, that like calls to like. Man and fish, man and beast; who is to say the difference?

And when a husband finally pays his last debt to the world, his mermaid wife consumes his flesh and bones to make him part of her one last time. Then she slips back silently into the waters of the river he had first called her from, singing a hymn of mourning in her own tongue. She sinks back under the gentle dark waves, never to show herself above the water again.

Even monsters have hearts, and so they can grieve.




2. There was once a princess who had the misfortune of being struck down by a grave disease which left her asleep and oblivious to the world. As the royal family was undergoing a political crisis at the same time they kept this matter a secret from the nation. Their solution was to bring in a stray child from the streets who looked remarkably like the fallen princess and so have her take the princess's place in court and in public.

The street child enjoyed five years of royalty and held fast to a secret hope that the real princess would never awake again, for she was not keen to return to the filthy streets with no name nor luxury. Fine dresses were much preferred to tattered rags, and an upholstered bed with down blankets easier on the back than than the gutter in the pouring rain during winter.

But there came the day when the sleeping princess finally opened her eyes. The king and queen rejoiced, of course, while the street child could do nothing but stare and back slowly into a wall, suddenly afraid of the days ahead.

True enough to her fears, the false princess was immediately whisked off to the dungeons. The guards told her that she was to be kept there for as long as she lived, and that she should be grateful that the queen had a tender heart and had spoken up when the king had wanted to announce the death sentence upon her at first, his majesty afraid that the court's enemies would find the false princess a fine weapon to use against the throne if she was allowed back into public again.

But a child did not live long on the streets without being careful or observant, and soon the false princess found a hidden tunnel in her cell as she went about exploring it. Strangely enough, the tunnel led to the suite of rooms she had once occupied as royalty, which now kept the true princess very well.

A plan formed in her mind, and soon every night she used the tunnel and spied on the princess. She learnt how the princess spoke, who and what she favored, her mannerisms and her dressing. She even learnt of the birthmark the princess had on her upper left arm, and which she soon discovered could easily be reproduced with ink.

So the false princess bidded her time and waited. Two years later, as the princess stood in front of her mirror, she was shocked to see it suddenly pushed aside from the wall and from behind it out stepped a girl with her face. Before the princess could say anything the girl had overpowered her and with her hands around her neck gave her the eternal sleep from which none ever woke from again.

When the deed was done the false princess quickly dragged the body down and, wrapping it with the rags she had been given as clothing for her time in the dungeons, placed it in the furthest corner of the cell and hastily sealed the tunnel behind her. Then, pulling on the silks which had rightfully belonged to her long ago, she smiled into the mirror and rejoiced at the fact that she was the true princess once again.

It was three days later when the guard, noticing that the girl had not touched her food, unlocked the cell and found the body huddled in a corner. As he and another guard carried the bundle out, they did not notice the suspicious bruises around her neck, nor did they see the small white arm that fell out and the birthmark upon it. They quietly disposed of the body and informed the king and queen, who simply nodded and looked indulgently upon their daughter seated next to them, her hands folded on her lap and the mildest of smiles on her lips.

Three years later, the royal couple were unfortunately struck down with a disease which left them both with few days to live. In their last moments, the princess asked the guards and doctors to allow her to spend their last time on earth with her parents, alone.

When there was no one left in the room, the princess pushed up the sleeve on her left arm and wiped away the birthmark she had taken great care to reproduce every morning and night. She showed her bare arms to the horrified couple and smiled just as indulgently to them as they had to her for the past three years. The king and queen attempted to call the guards but it was too late, and they clawed at her as their lives slipped away from them.

When the guards finally opened the doors to the royal chambers, it was to the sight of the late king and queen lying peacefully in the princess's arms, and the sole successor to the throne looked upon them and wept.

No one knows what fate befell the false princess in the end, but it is said that that is how the telling of having twins as bad luck came about.



3. "There is a very silly song about how one is a thousand miles away from home. The idiotic thing can repeat itself up to five thousand miles and still there is no mention of the bloody jet lag that accompanies the distance."

Actual song here at around 7:00. And it's supposed to be a hundred miles, not a thousand. I heard it wrong the first time.

4. Cherry blossoms were overrated in her eyes. They bloomed beautifully and made excellent material for sudden haikus, yes, and she wasn't averse to the occasional flower-viewing session when invited, but in the end they were just flowers, exactly like lilies and bluebells and violets and all the rest of them.

She supposed she should feel regretful that the pink flowers did nothing to stir any feelings of awe in her soul, as quintessentially Japanese as it was.

Nevertheless, she broke off a flowering branch during spring and left it in her room until the season was over, then threw the dried and withered stick out the window.

She was mildly disappointed that it did not miraculously burst into a full-grown tree upon hitting the ground.


My father is now happily and purposefully frying up silicon beads in the kitchen. I have never been more fascinated nor afraid for my health before.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be. VERY. VERY. HOT. *melts*