Whispers by the River

I went camping in Hokkaido for the final two days. It was scorching hot in the Honshu Zone, where cities like Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka are located. My destination was Gifu, specifically Hida Takayama, known for its scenic soaks and precipitous regions. Instead, I headed to a camping site adjacent to a river.

"Hey Roy My friend I've been waiting for your arrival Did you walk here? I thought you had a motorbike, the famous sidecar?" An old friend of mine approached and welcomed me with a hearty hug.

"Hey, Bryan How long has it been since we last met? And by the way, I'm currently in Hokkaido. Did you see my SNS post about getting the motorbike?" I slapped my friend's back as I hugged him back.

We reminisced about old times when we were both in Nagoya. Bryan, a young man from Australia, was almost 24 when I first met him. Now in his 30s, he was the one who introduced me to camping.

We arrived at our campsite, located near an ancient cherry tree by the river. Every April, the riverbank is carpeted with cherry blossom petals, a sight I truly wanted to see. We set up our tents and lit our stoves.

The campsite attendant came over and checked if everything was alright. "Well done!" he said with a thumbs-up. He pointed at the sky and warned, "Rain clouds are coming; don't go into the stream." We looked up and saw dark clouds, wondering if it would truly rain.

Later that evening, it downpoured heavily. We packed our things and planned to move to a higher area near the log house. The attendant advised us not to move, but we could tell the river current was very strong. In my dim vision, I saw a child-like figure standing in the center of the river. "Hello, Roy," Bryan tapped my shoulder hard and quickly. "Do you see that kid there?" Bryan was looking at the spot where I saw the image.

"You see that too? I have poor vision and it appears hazy," I told him.

He shook his head and said, "We shouldn't talk about him."

As I recall this story, Bryan seems "gifted"; his mother was a famous Indian fortune-teller, and his father left them when Bryan was very young. After his mother passed away, Bryan began to see and hear things... Back to my story.

I wondered why he said that, what if the child was real? I ran out and caught the attendant, telling him there might be a child in the river. He drove a van down to our location and yelled out if there was anybody there. I saw Bryan standing still in the tent as if he was paralyzed. I looked at the river but there was nobody.

"Hey Bryan Where did the child go?" I yelled. Bryan still stood there. The attendant drove back down the riverbank, and I went back to the tent to ask what was happening. Bryan said the child was in the tent with him all the time but vanished the minute I came back.