Alice's last journey to Kyoto had been with her brother, Travis. They had laughed and explored the city, marveling at the ancient temples and vibrant market streets. Although the trip was mainly for the purpose of grieving, the fusion of Japanese traditional culture and the modern, captivated the youthful Alice. But this time, Alice was alone with minimum baggage. After the long flight, she peered out of the window of the taxicab, taking in the city's much changed yet familiar skyline. She breathed in the impression of the city, the mix of faint maple flavor in fresh air just like how she remembered.
The driver, a middle-aged man with kind eyes, spoke in English with a heavy accent. "Mrs., you are not going to the hotel?"
"No, just take me to this address. Thank you," she replied in perfect Japanese.
He glanced at her from the rear-view mirror in surprise. "How come you speak perfect Japanese? You lived here?"
Alice smiled, but inside, she was fighting to block out her sullen memories flooding back like a tidal wave. "Yes, a long time ago."
"Were you a student here? Or your family is here?"
Alice hesitated for a moment, then decided to share a piece of her past that she had held for too long with this curious stranger. "My ex-husband was Japanese."
The driver fidgeted with his hands on the steering wheel and cleared his throat. "Oh, I see. Are you here to see him?"
Alice's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her ex-husband. She hadn't thought of him in years, but the memories were still painful. She shook her head, her eyes fixed on the passing scenery outside the window. "No, he passed away."
The driver hung his head in acknowledgement of his mistake. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
Alice gave him a tight smile of assurance. "No, it's okay. It's been a long time."
☆☆☆
The streets of the city were blanketed in flamboyant neon lights that fought for attentions of by passers, yet there was a pattern of integrity contributed by the collective formation of its disorder. As the taxi made its way towards a towering high-rise building near the hill side, Alice in silence, watched the tree shadows fluttered by the window, then she began to recognize her surroundings. The vehicle came to a halt in front of a heavily guarded property, the massiveness of this hill side luxurious apartment had a profound impression in her memory. The two gigantic marble lions at the main gate still stood with prestige as last time she saw them, and their eyes seemingly followed her every move. Alice handed the fare to the driver and stepped out onto the pavement that she was once familiar with.
"Is anyone still living in unit 1516?" she asked the security guard.
The guard regarded her with a wary expression. "Not for some time, Mrs.," he replied, his tone with cautious.
"Can I go up for a look? I used to have a friend who lived here," she explained.
The guard let out a long sigh, his shoulders sagging. "Alright, but be quick about it," he warned her, stepping aside to let her pass. "I'd lose my job if the boss found out I let someone up there without permission."
Alice nodded, grateful for the opportunity, and stepped into the elevator. The doors closed behind her with a soft hiss. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her nerves as the elevator began to ascend, it had been a while since she came back here.
☆☆☆
Alice stepped inside the abandoned flat, located on the fifteenth floor of the high-rise building. It was the only unit on that floor, designed to offer its occupants the utmost privacy. The place reeked of emptiness, shrouded in a thick layer of dust that had settled over every surface. The security guard had told Alice to take her time looking around, but she couldn't help but feel like an intruder in this long-forgotten place.
As she entered the grand living room with its two large windows, the night light of the city infected the space with its electricity. Alice noticed something out of place--a collection of footprints leading from the window to the guest bedroom. Her curiosity piqued, she followed them, wondering why the origin of them came from the window, but not from the front door. Someone would have to enter this abandoned flat from the height of at least several hundred feet above ground floor.
The guest bedroom was dimly lit, and as Alice's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she spotted something familiar in the corner--a small red traditional Japanese fragrance sack. The frail aroma that it released sent her back to the summer of 1992, when she had first visited Japan with her brother.
On the second day of their trip, Alice had awoken to find her brother gone. He had ventured out into parts of the city forbidden for a girl her age, so she had decided to explore for herself. As she stepped out of the hotel, she felt as though she had time-traveled into another world. The locals, dressed in their formal attire, made her Western clothing all too obvious.
The punishing heat of the summer that year had reached a scorching 36 degrees. Desperate for help navigating the unknown city, Alice had visited her hotel's front desk and begged for a translated map of the metro. Eventually she found out that the station was only a five-minute walk away.
Once she found the metro station, she was right away welcomed by crowd of commuters stood in orderly fashion at the entrance. She uncomfortably lined herself behind a group of teenage girl students to descend by the long escalator that led them into underground. As a world emerged from beneath ground zero, restaurants, malls, and theaters overflowed with varieties, Alice couldn't help to be convulsed by the fact that such scale of metropolis could be installed just beneath the one above. Like any girls at her age, she tried to blend herself among the synchronize fast-paced commuters in suits, uniforms, and work girls with trendy outfits. Her imagination ran wild while she became obsessively curious of the lives of those passed her by. Where they came from, where are they going? Being lost in her own wonders for the time only she knew, she then recalled the reason of her destination was to find the ticket counter, which it eluded from her for another good hour. Finally, when she found the mechanically functioned ticket vendor, she was once again clueless and confused by its operating instruction in Japanese. While her helplessness made her extremely insecure and self-conscious, in the river of strangers, she spotted something oddly familiar--a dog that appeared to be her beloved Snowy.
Alice followed the silhouette in the thousands of people for of what she thought was her pet, until she eventually faded away into the unpopulated part of the station. Disoriented, a mysterious shop with two giant cacti guarding its entrance in the corner caught her eyes. Faint incense smoke of some kind wafted from within attracting her soul.
The shop was minimalist in design with unmistakable Chinese influence in its furnishings. But it was the bed in the middle that caught Alice's eye as soon as she stepped inside--it was extravagantly decorated and a beautiful middle-aged lady clad in black cheongsam lie atop it, puffing away at opium.
"Welcome! You are looking for someone, aren't you?" The elegant teller spoke through the cloud of smoke in fluent English.
"Sorry," Alice began to fidget by the door, "I'm a little lost."
The seer smiled knowingly. "My darling, it's alright to be lost--maybe you're not as lost as you think." She fixed Alice with an unyielding stare. "What if I tell you, it's not your dog you're looking for--it's someone else who is far more important."
Alice's eyes widened in shock. "How do you know about my dog? I haven't told anyone!"
The goddess-like teller simply smiled and said, "It's time to find out who is waiting for you."
Alice felt the gravity of the room suddenly reverse, as if her body had been lifted high into the sky. A strange power thrummed through her veins, an ecstatic sensation like no other.
The Asian woman's silky black hair sat on her shoulder like a blanket of cream like skin, her gaze like a goddess. "My dear, I do this for a living. I'm never wrong. I can sense your need for help as soon as you stepped foot in this door," she said, voice as soft and seductive as silk. "Your dog's name is Snowy, am I right?"
"How do you know? How do you do that?" Alice asked, still feeling giddy, but captivated by the woman's talent.
"Would you like to be able to do what I do?"
"Yes, I want to find my friend!" Alice, who had been searching for a way to regain control of her state. While her vision blurred, she felt a surge of strength overcoming her. She leapt from her seat and bolted out the door as fast as she could manage.
"You have great potential in you, Alice! You will soon realize you are one of us!" The teller shouted after her. "And if you wish to see your friend again, you must find the entrance to the afterlife."