I am not good with scary stories. I just couldn’t handle them. It was really tough for me because I used to think about scary things before going to bed. Even though I knew in my head that I would be fine if I didn’t think about them, I couldn’t help but imagine unpleasant things in my mind.
That’s why I always made sure not to listen to scary stories. However, despite my efforts…
“I’m sorry, Eriko. I really messed up,” Naomi apologized, with her hands clasped in front of her face. But it was too late. I couldn’t forgive her.
“I can’t believe it. I told you I don’t like scary stories, didn’t I? You knew that from before, right?”
“I’m sorry. I just really wanted you to hear about the patrolman’s story.”
“No, no, no! Why me?”
“Well, because you were the first person I saw today.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I told you I didn’t want to hear it!”
I pounded on the desk repeatedly. My palms hurt, but I didn’t care.”
This morning, I slept through my phone alarm, which ended up causing my mom to get really angry with me. Being someone who struggles in the mornings, I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed and head towards the living room. While shoving breakfast into my mouth, I listened to my mom’s scolding. I then got dressed in my school uniform while still half asleep and made my way to school.
Feeling groggy, I stumbled into the classroom and yawned as I took my seat. That’s when my classmate, Naomi, approached me with a big smile on her face. Without really knowing what she was talking about, I listened as she told me about an urban legend called “The Patrol Man.”
“I always tell you, I don’t like scary stories!” I protested.
“I’m sorry, really. But you don’t have to be so mad…Okay, I’ll buy you your favorite snacks from the convenience store, so please forgive me.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Then I want pudding and cream puffs!”
“What? Two items!? Well, I guess it’s fine. I did force you to listen to it.”
“Yay!”
Upon hearing that I could get some snacks, my mood instantly improved. When I’m in front of sweets, even scary stories don’t scare me. I don’t have any desires that can overcome my appetite. Well, I’m only not scared when I’m eating.
I was really bad with scary stories. Like, really bad. I don’t have any psychic abilities, nor have I ever been involved in anything supernatural. But it’s just impossible for me. If there’s a TV special on ghosts, I immediately change the channel. And when horror movie commercials come on, I close my eyes.
My parents often look at me with disbelief, but I’m really scared. Going to the bathroom alone at night is really scary for me. But as a high school student, it’s not good to not be able to go to the bathroom alone, so I’m trying my best. Sometimes I call my mom, but it’s really only on rare occasions.
Patrol Man. I definitely don’t want to encounter him. Even though I’m happy to get some snacks, I’m still scared of him. What should I do? Maybe I should skip my cram school today…
Oh, but if I don’t walk and use my smartphone, it should be fine. Yes, that’s it. I told myself that and decided to go to cram school today.
“… Eriko, Eriko,” I heard my name being called repeatedly in a low voice by Naomi.
“Huh? What’s up? … Oh, Yamashita” I said as I suddenly felt a presence and turned to see our homeroom teacher, Yamashita, standing in front of me. I hadn’t noticed him at all. I saw Naomi making a face next to me. Ah, that’s why she was calling my name.
Yamashita was an unmarried male teacher in his forties. I didn’t dislike him, but I didn’t like him either. He was tall with a good physique, but his features were sharp, making his face a bit scary. And not just his face, but he was generally intimidating. Even now, his aura was overwhelming.
“It’s not ‘Yamashita,’ it’s ‘Yamashita-sensei.’ I’ve told you to address me properly, haven’t I?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you hear what I just said, Tomita?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“When homeroom starts, you need to wake up, seriously… even Toda has woken up, and I’ll say it again because it’s important. Some of you may already know, but there have been multiple incidents of suspicious individuals in schools around here recently. It seems like there are people who suddenly push others from behind. Everyone, please be careful. That’s all for this morning’s homeroom. Now, let’s begin the classes.”
I couldn’t exactly say that I hadn’t been sleeping. If I tried to argue, I would just make things worse. Also, the content of Yamashita’s monotonous announcements was bothering me.
I looked at the seat next to me. Naomi didn’t seem to think much of it, as she was silently preparing her textbook and notes. Maybe I was worrying too much. I decided to stop worrying and took out my textbook and notes from my bag.
Oh no, I’m already sleepy in first period. I have to try harder in class if I want to get snacks after school.
And so, another battle between me and drowsiness began at school today.
All of today’s classes had finished. I managed to make it through the battle against drowsiness without losing, although my handwriting was messy in some parts of my notes; well I just had to bear with it.
I headed to the convenience store with Naomi on the way back, just as we had promised, to buy pudding and cream puffs. We debated whether to take them home or eat them in the store, and we ended up deciding to eat them there.
“You really picked two expensive ones,” Naomi stated frustratingly.
“Well, you said you were fine with it, Naomi,” I replied.
“That’s true, but you could have held back a little. And why did you pick two expensive ones in the first place?” she asked.
“Hehe, I thought to myself that I wouldn’t be able to buy them on my own.”
“Fine, but share a little with me,” Naomi said.
“Sure, here you go.”
As we were eating our sweets, two girls in private high school uniforms sat down at the table next to us. They both had snacks, yet they looked serious for some reason. I wondered if one of them had just experienced a breakup. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but I could hear their conversation.
“Hey, isn’t something strange about that? When Yuri had the accident, the person who saw it said that there was no one behind her, right?”
“Maybe she stumbled on something?”
“Stumbled on something while waiting for the traffic light? That’s unlikely. Plus, it’s hard for me to believe that Yuri would stumble on something while standing in a safe place.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I am. I think it might be the patro…”
“Let’s stop talking about it. For some reason, I get scared when I talk about this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re overthinking it. We received a message earlier saying that Yuri regained consciousness, so why don’t we ask her about it when we visit her tomorrow?”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“I don’t really have an appetite anymore. Is it okay if I bring home some sweets?”
“Oh, sure. Are you leaving now?”
“…Yeah, let’s do that.”
In the end, the two of them left the convenience store without eating any of the sweets.
Is the conversation they just had real? Isn’t the Patrolman just an urban legend? I was curious, so I looked over at Naomi and saw that her face had frozen. She seemed to have been about to eat my pudding with a plastic spoon, but she stopped just before putting it in her mouth.
“Naomi?”
“Huh? What? Oh, sorry.”
Naomi was startled and hastily put the pudding in her mouth. I had never seen her act like this before.
“Naomi, are you okay? You seem different,” I asked with concern.
She looked up at me, but her eyes seemed distant. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she replied hesitantly. “I just thought it was just an urban legend, so it was bothering me a bit…”
After saying that, Naomi hung her head.
“Yeah, if that conversation we just had was real, then it’s pretty scary to think about…”
“Exactly. I never used to be scared of scary stories because I thought they had nothing to do with me.”
“What? Even Naomi gets scared sometimes?”
I blurted out what I was thinking.
“Of course I do. What do you think I am, Eriko?” Naomi replied, looking at me with a mix of exasperation and a hint of a smile.
“Well, I always thought you were okay with scary stuff, Naomi.”
That was what I had always believed, so it was a shock to hear Naomi say that she gets scared too.
“Well, I usually am. But this time might be different. Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up to you, Eriko.”
Naomi said apologetically, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay! I got some snacks out of it,” I said, trying to sound upbeat.
“Haha, what is that supposed to mean?” Naomi laughed.
I had only spoken the truth, but it seemed to amuse her. Even though being laughed at wasn’t my intention, seeing Naomi’s face brighten up a bit made me feel relieved. We chatted about school for another five minutes before deciding to head home.
At 6 PM, I said goodbye to Naomi in front of the convenience store and went home. Then, I went to the cram school in front of the station at 7 PM. The class ended at 9:30 PM, and I left the cram school at 9:45 PM.
I rode my bike straight home. It took about 15 minutes to get there. There were few people on the street, but I chose a well-lit road with storefronts to avoid feeling scared. I concentrated on pedaling, trying not to think about anything too frightening.
While waiting for the traffic light, I absentmindedly took my phone out of my pocket, as I usually do. I noticed on the screen that I had entered the exact time frame of that urban legend. At that moment, I suddenly felt like someone was watching me, and my entire body broke out in goosebumps.
I knew I was overreacting, so I took a deep breath to calm myself down. It’s okay, I reminded myself; I’m not moving right now. Yes, it’s okay. I tried to reassure myself.
I looked at my phone, but due to my nervousness, I couldn’t really make out what was on the screen. I shouldn’t have looked at it. I was just needlessly making myself more anxious.
The signal changed. I heard the cheerful sound of the green light and put away my smartphone, pedaling my bike forward.
“Oh, that’s right. If I ride my bike instead of walking, then it’s not walking while using the phone.”
I spoke out loud about the idea that had popped into my head. It was embarrassing, but I felt it was the best idea. If I don’t walk, then that patrolman won’t be able to say anything.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell Naomi about it. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. I defeated the urban legend. I was getting excited.
I sang a tune while speeding on my bike. It was so simple to avoid getting caught. Ha ha ha, maybe I’m a genius. If I spread this avoidance method, I might become famous. Oh no, I’m getting hyped up.
When I passed by a small park with only a slide as a play equipment, someone laughed briefly at me. I looked around quickly, but there was no one there. Maybe it was a man’s voice.
Perhaps someone laughed at me for singing. But nobody was there, and it could have been my imagination. I felt a little embarrassed and increased the speed of my bike even more.
After parking my bike in the bike parking space, I cheerfully opened the door to my house and found my mother standing in the entrance. As soon as my mother saw my face, she smiled happily.
“Welcome back. Just in time! Would you mind running an errand for me, Eriko?”
“Huh, an errand? Now?”
“Yes, I was planning to prepare dinner, but we ran out of soy sauce. Your father also said he couldn’t come back yet. Please, pretty please!”
“Aww, it’s such a hassle…”
“You can buy your favorite snacks too! Pretty please!”
My mother was being unfair. She knew that if she offered me snacks, I wouldn’t be able to refuse. I reluctantly took the 1,000 yen bill she handed me.
My home was a family of three, consisting of my father, mother, and myself. Although both of my parents worked, my mother always came home earliest and would make dinner for us after she arrived.
My mother was forgetful and would sometimes forget to buy things while out shopping. This occasionally resulted in me being sent out to run errands, with the bribe of sweets.
The nearby convenience store was only a 10-minute walk away, with few traffic lights and a straightforward route. As I walked, I considered which sweets to buy.
Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Upon checking it, I saw a message from my classmate, Naomi, who was unsure of the scope of our math homework due the next day. I put my phone away and continued on to the convenience store.
When I arrived, I headed towards the empty magazine section and messaged Naomi back, saying, “Wait a moment; I’m at the convenience store nearby.”
I bought soy sauce, eclairs, yogurt, and Baumkuchen and left the convenience store. Of course, I wasn’t going to eat everything myself. The yogurt was for my mother, and the Baumkuchen was for my father.
As I left the convenience store, a clear night sky with not a cloud in sight stretched out before me. Walking on such a night was delightful and always gave me a boost of energy. Suddenly, I felt an urge to message Naomi.
“Listen, listen! If walking while using your phone is bad, you can just stop walking, right? Aren’t I so smart for realizing that?” I sent the message while waiting for the traffic light to turn green at a crosswalk. I felt so satisfied with my solution. Naomi wouldn’t have to worry about getting scared anymore, and I was sure everyone would be grateful for my helpful tip. This could go viral!
Just as the light turned green, I went to put my phone back in my pocket. That was when I heard it.
“Using your phone while walking is dangerous, you know.”
The words I had so feared and tried to avoid suddenly came from behind me.
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