Binoculars


(Translated from Japanese by Saya)
I had a strange hobbie.
After midnight I would go up on the rooftop of my house and, using binoculars, observe the town where I lived.
I took joy in looking at the quiet town, so different from how it was in daylight.
Huge water tanks in the distance, a taxi going up the hill with a drunken customer, or a solitary vending machine glowing in the darkness - all such things somehow excited me.

To the west of my house there was a long, steep hill which went straight down to my house.
So when I looked to the west, the entire hill easily came into view.

I was looking at a vending machine placed on the hill with binoculars, thinking something like "oh, a huge moth is flying around it," when I noticed a guy rushing down the hill like there was no tomorrow.

"What was that?"
I refocused my binoculars, and it turned out that the person was a naked, skin-and-bones childish-looking guy, with a broad smile on his face, who was waving madly at me while he ran towards my house at breakneck speed. 
He clearly acknowledged my presence, and moreover he was looking at me straight in the eyes.

For a few seconds, I was too stunned to move, but I had a hunch that something really terrible was about to happen, and quickly ran down the stairs to go back inside the house.

"Oh shit! What was that? What was that? What am I gonna do?"
After I had closed and locked the door, I became totally panicky and terrified.

Then I heard the sound bam bam bam bam bam and realised that the guy had just ran up the stairs to the rooftop. He was clearly looking for me.
"This is really bad. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Really, what the hell is it?" So on and on I kept thinking in my mind while I stood in the middle of the sitting room with a steam iron (weapon) in my hands and prepared myself for whatever was about to come.

Soon, I again heard him go bam bam bam bam bam bam  as he ran down the stairs.
I was shaking like a leaf and thought I would go mad from fear, when the door went Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!! and the doorbell rang Ding-dong ding-dong! Diiiing-dong! Ding-dong !!
Not only that, he was groaning like, "Argh! Hummmm! Argh! Hummmm!"

My heart skipped a beat and then began to race and pound like it was about to burst.
Even though my body shook violently, I tried to hold my breath as best I could.
Some ten seconds later, the knocking, doorbell and groaning all came to a halt, and it returned to the usual silence.

But I stood rigid and held on to the steam iron until the dawn broke.
What on earth was that guy?

Comments

Unknown said…
itsudemo soko ni.....mcdonaldruuuuu
George V said…
Okay, now that could keep one up at night. Very nice.
Gabriel said…
This one reminds me of the Kunekune!
Anyway, really creepy. It's dreadful to imagine myself being in the narrator's shoes. I'd probably have done the same thing... well maybe I'd have called the police too, lol.

Thanks for the great story! Take care
Diogo Valverde said…
He might want to let go of that sense of security and hold on to the steam iron instead, seeing as though the story suggests naked guy knows him and might not be done. After all, naked guy came running down the hill and waving at his unwitting victim as if he had a very specific purpose in mind and knew exactly who he was going after. Maybe the noise stopped because he managed to find a way in. Putting away the steam iron would be a terrible idea until the protagonist is absolutely sure he's safe and has checked for creepy, extremely suspicious naked men in every nook and cranny in the house.
OMG Saya you're BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels strange how years ago I was a high schooler who took refuge from my stressful life by reading your stories and rituals. And yet here I am now, a full time working adult who still visits your blog from time to time for the creep and nostalgia. I hope you still remember me xD

Anyway, it seems like the strange man was really, a strange man instead of a superntural being? (which is scarier, considering what human can do to other). I'm really glad the OP had quick reflex to go back and hide. I can't imagine what could goes wrong if s/he didn't listen to their gut feeling :(
Vita said…
this one is scary! i can't decide if the strange man is a supernatural being or an ordinary person that was possessed, but either way i don't think i would be able to sleep in that house after something like that happened! i hope OP invested in a security system after that, lol.
@Martin Ly haha that never came to my mind, but it certainly seems like our beloved Ronald.

@George VanMeter Good! I was waiting for someone to leave such a comment! ;)

@Gabriel Oh! Good old Kunekune! I was going to translate a Kunekune story but many people on the web have already done a good job with that, so I think I'm going to leave it alone.

@Diogo But I wonder how effective a weapon is a steam iron against a creature like this one! XD


@Prisilia Hello there! I do remember you, dear. Nice to see old faces! :D Thank you for still remembering me too. I can't believe how much you've grown! I hope you are happy and everything is going well in your life. <3

@Vita My first impression was that this creature can't be human, but yes it might be he is a guy possessed by some supernatural being. If that happened to me I'd be moving out of the house the next day! XD


THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOU COMMENTS! I love you all <3
Nunu. said…
Great story, Saya-san.

I always felt that being trapped in a closed area hiding from an unknown entity relentlessly trying to get to you is one of the scariest situation a person could ever experience.

Normally, I would encourage the narrator to get into a car and just run away to a public area. But I think he did great when he acted quickly to get into and secure the house as soon as he could considering the speed of the entity.
If I'm him I would get on the phone with police and would be very afraid to fall asleep until morning. Now I'm going to make sure all my grill windows are secure.

-nunu-
Petzie said…
Woaaagh this one is creepy! We never knew the things we could find out in the middle of the night. Sometimes the things we found are... Trully hellish and undescribable.

In my country there are a lot of undescribable things if the narrator's here, the kind of things he discovered, whether its supernatural or simply weird human being is dicoverable in here..

But still, i bet the narrator won't continue his hobby for a while.. but i kida like he idea of staying awake seeing ppl passing by in the middle of the night
Unknown said…
There are many references to Supernatural beings that fit the M.O.
I would wager it being a Wendigo, it matches the most, but the locational constraints kinda prevent that. Probably ;)
Spectra said…
I hate smiling creepy beings ;-; Like what's so funny, huh?!
I'd be scared as hell too tbh..
i think i should stop my hobby from now
ReignTracer said…
maybe he was being chased by that giant moth, this reminded me of this manga

http://mangakatana.com/manga/green-worldz.338
ReignTracer said…
reread it again and now I realized it was not the moth but the guy that was scary. He might be some kind of wendigo like they said
The scary guy is an actual moth and the narrator/op is a lamp. That's why the moth rushed immediately towards the op because LIGHT SOURCE xD
Jokes aside, I'm so happy you're doing well, Saya! My friend and I have been a fan of your translations since highschool (we were 15 and now we're 22). We would occasionally wonder how you were doing since you haven't posted in a while and we got worried. But i'm sure you were busy with life stuff. Looking forward to new content ^^
Thank you my dear friend, for your kind welcoming words. It's great that you remembered about my blog after all these years and came back to leave a comment. I hope to post more stuff for you and your friends to enjoy! :D Thank you again and take care! <3 <3
Unknown said…
This reminds me of the 'Jashi' story! Maybe it was a similar being?