#wss366 06/18 #stalk
*** The Red Stalker ***
“What’s that?” the little girl said, pointing to a small red face with pointed ears. Its large, ice-blue eyes peered out from under the kotatsu. An unlit cigarette dangling from its mouth.
Her mother continued, calmly brushing her daughter’s hair. “What, dear?”
“The little man. He follows me around.”
“That’s the ‘The Red Stalker.’ Aunt Matsumoto brought him home from America. When she opened her suitcase, it was tangled up in her…” Mother Yoshioka paused, thinking of how to say this delicately. “Tangled in her clothes. It’s been living in the attic ever since.”
“It’s always writing what I do in a book.”
“If you’re a good girl, they will bring you good luck, like a Zashiki Warashi. If you’re bad, they punish you. They keep track of everything you do, naughty and nice, in that book.”
“Everything naughty? Like when I don’t share my toys or run in the house.”
“Yes, like that. But they also keep track of when you clean your room or brush your teeth without being told.”
The girl cried softly, thinking about all the times she snuck treats before dinner.
“But I know a secret. Do you want to know it?” the mother whispered.
Her daughter’s head nodded.
“It’s easily bribed with cookies, mochi, or milk. This one has a fondness for celery stalks stuffed with peanut butter.”
“Oh!” the little girl began smiling again
#microfiction #NMPrompts #NMV366 #elves #Yokai
@samkalensky.com @samkalensky
@ShadowPlay
八尺様
Yaemi Shigyo via (
