This is a story my mother told me. Please understand that I cannot write down all the details. The names are also pseudonyms. When my mother was a young child, she lived in a remote mountain village in Tokushima. On that day, relatives had gathered to discuss an important matter, so my mother and her older brother were sent to sleep in the next room. However, unable to sleep because she was curious about what was happening next door, she heard her grandfather's voice from the other room: "Yoko is still too young, so she won't be able to appease the Stone Demon Lord. If it's now, it has to be Harumi (my mother's cousin)." My mother didn't understand the meaning at all, but she felt saved somehow. The next day, Harumi's parents went home with their eyes swollen and red. A week later, word came that Harumi had gone to the mountain and passed away. Upon hearing that news, my mother's parents exchanged whispers before heading to the grandfather's room. Harumi's funeral was held quietly, but my mother's brother, who carried the coffin, still says to this day, "It was such a light coffin. I wonder if there was even anyone inside." After that, my mother left the village with only her brother and parents. Apparently, it was completely like escaping in the dead of night. My mother still remembers it to this day: "After we ran away, other relatives frantically searched the mountains for us... Eventually, we had nowhere left to go and hid in a mountain hut. Then, our uncle (Harumi's father) came there carrying a torch. But when that uncle saw us, he said, 'Run quickly!' My parents bowed their heads to him over and over again while carrying me as we fled." My mother told me this story when I was over twenty years old. She also vaguely talked about what had happened in the village, but told me never to leak it to anyone else. Because if this story spread, our whereabouts would be exposed... At present, my family is very cheerful and lively. However, ever since I learned that my parents had such a past, I can't help but wonder if the two of them have just been forcing themselves to act cheerful.
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