novel translations

Floating Face

Author: Ukari

To say here is far, and to call yonder nearby. Stories on the edge of the every day, strange tales you may or may not be moved by. Strange, curious, fantastic stories told by me, you, him and her. There are many stories but they’re all concluded within a single page, each story around 200 to 1200 characters in length, a short story collection you can easily read. Please enjoy them. Updated every Saturday at 6pm.

***

Unable to breath, I woke up and couldn’t move. Sleep paralysis. I’d heard of it before, but it had never happened to me. All joking aside, I couldn’t even move a single finger. I did my best to alert my younger sister sleeping in the bunk bed above me, but I couldn’t even cry out.

Still, as I mustered all my strength, I was able to vaguely open my eyes. With my narrow field of vision, I saw a dim face floating in the darkness. I was so surprised I thought my heart might stop, but then I quickly remembered. It was my sister’s poster. She got it from somewhere, and when I saw her trying to put it on the wall, I remembered arguing with her about how ugly and gross it was before going to bed.

Relieved, I fell back asleep, even though my sleep paralysis hadn’t passed.

When I woke up the next morning and remembered what had happened, I got angry. I glared at the poster, threatening to tear it down. But… there was nothing there. The face I saw the night before wasn’t there. I went to ask my sister when she had taken it down.

“You made fun of me so I didn’t even put it up!” She got angry at me.

So then, what was that face I saw? When it a manifestation of the poster’s grudge because I looked down on it? No, the one who had looked down on it was probably my sister. The poster itself didn’t concern me, but sometimes my sister truly was terrifying.

Perhaps on my way home from school I should buy her something sweet to placate her…

 

Original Japanese

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