As usual, I am not the author of the story. I'm only translating it.
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It was my habit to go to sleep with music playing.
I would often wake up in the morning with headphone still on my ears.
I don't remember about it very clearly but the other night I was finding it hard to fall asleep.
Usually after my head hit the pillow I needed only ten minutes before my consciousness was gone.
And you know how your heart sometimes starts beating fast when you can't sleep?
I didn't know why but I could feel my heart beating wildly inside me.
Alright, let's listen to some music! I thought. Tonight I could listen to some rock music for a change.
Probably I would just end up being more awake, but never mind! I could stay awake until the morning. No problem.
I used the shuffle option on my hi-fi and enjoyed listening to my favourite band.
But when the songs I didn't like came up I fast forwarded them all.
So there was no point in using the shuffle option after all...
After a while I began nodding off.
A few songs went by without me knowing it. Oh well I'm just going to sleep like this. I'm too lazy to move.
Sometimes when I slept with music on, I dreamed of the singers who sang the songs I was listening to.
I wish they weren't dreams....
The music kept on playing........
A long pause. The end?
I checked the display. The time showed 1 minute 55 seconds, which then changed to 56 seconds; the music was still going on.
Did it have such a song ? I didn't remember.
Soon my ears caught a faint sound.
It was a pleasant sound of wind that made you imagine of a large open meadow.
Someone was walking towards me.
'Hello.'
It was a girl's voice.
What a pretty girl.
I could imagine her looks just by listening to her voice.
'Hello. Oneh-san (big sister)?'
The voice was talking to me?
I replied to her in my mind.
'Hello. How old are you?'
The girl asnwered:
'I'm seventeen. I'm glad I have a friend now.'
'Oh then I'm five years older than you! Tell me your name! I'm Kumiko, by the way. Nice to meet you.'
I experienced a warm feeling when I heard from her the word "friend."
'I'm Atsumi. You write "warm sea" in Chinese characters and read it "Atsumi." Can I call you Kumiko Oneh-chan?'
'OK! Then I'll call you Ah-chan.'
We talked about many things.
About myself, and about Ah-chan....
Ah-chan told me about her problems too.
It sounded like she was not getting on well with her father.
I then asked her out of the blue:
'Ah-chan, what are you doing here?'
'AAAAAAAHHHHHaahhhhhhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH'
The scream rang in my ears. No, no, no!
It was like a scream of someone in her death throes. The terror of it drew me back to the reality.
I must take off the headphone........ but, I can't???
The scream is breaking me down.......AAHH I love headphones AAhhhh I always have headphone on my ears AAHH I don't know what's so funny but I can't stop smiling. People around me are saying I've gone mad. They say I've always been a bit odd and now finally I've gone all mental AAAAAHHH I don't care what they say. Because Ah-chan is with me AAAAAAHHHHH It feels so good in hereAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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It was my habit to go to sleep with music playing.
I would often wake up in the morning with headphone still on my ears.
I don't remember about it very clearly but the other night I was finding it hard to fall asleep.
Usually after my head hit the pillow I needed only ten minutes before my consciousness was gone.
And you know how your heart sometimes starts beating fast when you can't sleep?
I didn't know why but I could feel my heart beating wildly inside me.
Alright, let's listen to some music! I thought. Tonight I could listen to some rock music for a change.
Probably I would just end up being more awake, but never mind! I could stay awake until the morning. No problem.
I used the shuffle option on my hi-fi and enjoyed listening to my favourite band.
But when the songs I didn't like came up I fast forwarded them all.
So there was no point in using the shuffle option after all...
After a while I began nodding off.
A few songs went by without me knowing it. Oh well I'm just going to sleep like this. I'm too lazy to move.
Sometimes when I slept with music on, I dreamed of the singers who sang the songs I was listening to.
I wish they weren't dreams....
The music kept on playing........
A long pause. The end?
I checked the display. The time showed 1 minute 55 seconds, which then changed to 56 seconds; the music was still going on.
Did it have such a song ? I didn't remember.
Soon my ears caught a faint sound.
It was a pleasant sound of wind that made you imagine of a large open meadow.
Someone was walking towards me.
'Hello.'
It was a girl's voice.
What a pretty girl.
I could imagine her looks just by listening to her voice.
'Hello. Oneh-san (big sister)?'
The voice was talking to me?
I replied to her in my mind.
'Hello. How old are you?'
The girl asnwered:
'I'm seventeen. I'm glad I have a friend now.'
'Oh then I'm five years older than you! Tell me your name! I'm Kumiko, by the way. Nice to meet you.'
I experienced a warm feeling when I heard from her the word "friend."
'I'm Atsumi. You write "warm sea" in Chinese characters and read it "Atsumi." Can I call you Kumiko Oneh-chan?'
'OK! Then I'll call you Ah-chan.'
We talked about many things.
About myself, and about Ah-chan....
Ah-chan told me about her problems too.
It sounded like she was not getting on well with her father.
I then asked her out of the blue:
'Ah-chan, what are you doing here?'
'AAAAAAAHHHHHaahhhhhhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH'
The scream rang in my ears. No, no, no!
It was like a scream of someone in her death throes. The terror of it drew me back to the reality.
I must take off the headphone........ but, I can't???
The scream is breaking me down.......AAHH I love headphones AAhhhh I always have headphone on my ears AAHH I don't know what's so funny but I can't stop smiling. People around me are saying I've gone mad. They say I've always been a bit odd and now finally I've gone all mental AAAAAHHH I don't care what they say. Because Ah-chan is with me AAAAAAHHHHH It feels so good in hereAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Comments
I have to say, this story sounded so soft, though the end was a little confusing. Too bad Ah-chan made Kumiko go mad. I wonder what happened.
Thank you for translating this, Saya <3
I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure I understand completely.
I think Ah chan was murdered by her father.
I agree with Simon, Ah-chan was or might have been murdered by her father.
But the end part if confusing...
I think Ah-chan was murdering Kumiko
because Ah-chan was lonely.
Well I liked it! :P
but, nice... just in time for all saints day:D
Perhaps the author went through some trauma and repressed the memory, using the headphones as a distraction. Atsumi may represent the memory of that experience (perhaps Kumiko was seventeen when it happened or she had a seventeen year old sister who died). When Kumiko questions why Atsumi is "here" she gets too close to rediscovering the traumatic memory so her brain does everything it can to keep the memory repressed.
Personally I prefer the latter explanation. Makes a much more interesting story in my opinion. As usual, thanks for posting this, Saya!
Just like the beginning of this story, sometimes I'm used to listen to some music right before falling asleep. One night it's just as usual and I'm dozing off, with my mp3 loosely in my hand, listening to something calm, when the music stops abruptly, I quickly raise my mp3 to check when I see the turn off screen and I hear a loud whisper trough my earphones saying "Don't fall asleep yet.".
I freak out, rip off my earphones and throw my mp3 all the way to the other side of my room. Needless to say I didn't slept at all that night.
I still don't know why that happened, if it meant anything or whatever, and so far it's the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I still listen to music before going to sleep sometimes, hah.
Keep up the great work Saya-san! Take care!
As in AAAHHH?
As you can see the story is posted under the "Inexplicable" category so it's only natural that you are finding it hard to find an explanation for it!
And this blog isn't all about scary stories too. I like things that are simply bizarre.
And the traumatic memory. But then what happened to the father?
Well that explanation is more believable then mine, I like it.
as I was reading I had my headphones on and suddenly the fire alarm rang 8D;; freaked me out.
I guess we'll never know!
With the hints given, the mental breakdown occurred at a "warm sea" and seemed to have been caused by Kumiko's father; perhaps she did something to him, him to her, or it's a genetic trait passed down from him.
Since that day, she's been unable to take out the headphones because they're not in her ears, physically, but she cannot hear anything but the sound from that day.
My actual opinion of what took place:
Kumiko went to or lived at or near the beach, and met the young teen, Atsumi, whose name was probably given by Kumiko (not her actual name). The two may or may not have actually interacted, but Kumiko was interested in her and probably stalked her if the two weren't friends.
One night, Atsumi had an argument with her father and went to the shore by herself... where she met Kumiko. Kumiko listened only to the sounds of the waves as she greeted the teen, something to this day she cannot get out of her head. Something happened and she ended up drowning the poor teen, giving her the name "Ah-chan"; in reference to her "Ahhhh"'s (screams).
Since that day, Kumiko has been in a mental hospital while still obsessing over Atsumi. With how Kumiko's acting at the end, she actually snapped to where she needed to be institutionalized (was obviously insane).
i'd say she's mentally sick, maby schizophrenia, caused by the interaction with thoughts and background words( coming from music)
ah chan obivously comes from "aaaaah". about stalking, i'm sure that didn't happen, since she knows so much about ah chan's attitude for her.