Two Dolls

Yokohama Daily News is known as the best publication that can "fully understand the city from all aspects". This newspaper, which usually publishes political news and major events, and reports folk anecdotes, is now also seriously recording the daily life of Yokohama, and even slightly shares an important task with the literary publishing house next door, which is very idle.

It was a rare publication that published a horror story that was said to be very meaningful. The readers' reactions were almost the same. No one cared to think about the meaning. In one word, it was scary.

“The ultimate horror feast! It is a completely new approach to writing that is completely different from ghost stories. The delicate description and the sticky feeling created by the atmosphere make people’s hair stand on end and they can’t calm down for a long time. It can completely create a precedent for horror literature!”

"It's so scary! Not only can I feel the biting coldness in the author's writing when reading, but now I look at all the heads and smiles with deep fear, and can't help but doubt whether the things in front of me are real. The author's writing vaguely reveals unfathomable meanings, which makes people terrified when they think about it carefully..."

"Ahhh, I see someone who looks just like Lily. She looks like Lily when she has a cold face, and even more so when she smiles. And when I see other people smile, I feel like they have no clue! What the hell is going on!!!"

【This is an unprecedented ease. There is cold liquid medicine in my mouth and nose, and the sound of running water is humming in my ears. Countless people come to the morgue to see my smile. They are smiling, and I am smiling too. They think this is the intersection of life and death, but I have already become completely immortal. And what else can they have left except a corpse destined to be corroded?

No matter what, I am indeed dead, so I don’t have to worry about formalin and the morgue, and Lily can’t do anything to me. But your smiles are to welcome the beautiful Lily. 】

"It can indeed be explored further. The protagonist, Lily, and the visitors all have deep references, and formalin and the morgue can indeed be found in connection. Is this really just a ghost story? No, there is no obvious sign that they are more like people. It is really clever to write people as ghosts and ghosts as people."

"But it's still arrogant to preview the story in Yokohama before publishing it."

Mori Ouwai rested his elbows on the table, put down the newspaper in his hand, crossed his fingers in front of him, and smiled with an ambiguous smile.

"Boss, I don't know who sent the manuscript to the publisher and asked them to publish it on the same day. The publisher was vague about the matter and acted as if they knew nothing about it."

Higuchi Ichiyo put his hands behind his back and continued to report meticulously: "The events that happened that night are mostly consistent with the content of the article, but other than that, I can't find any other related information. Boss, do you want to continue investigating?"

"Chuya-kun, what do you think?"

Mori Ogai looked at the auburn-haired man in front of him, and a dark light flashed in his amethyst eyes. Nakahara Chuuya frowned and replied, "It's weird everywhere."

Yes, there is something strange everywhere. Whether it is the bodies that were all returned in the two days, or the fact that only a few people who had direct contact with it still have memories of that night. But the chaos and destruction caused that night are still preserved. Although it caused basically no damage, its power should not be underestimated.

"I have a feeling this matter won't end like this. How about this, Chuuya-kun, you will be in charge of this matter from now on, okay?"

"Yes, boss."

.

And on the other side.

"Dazai Osamu! You actually published this thing. Have you ever thought that this might be a conspiracy?"

Kunikida Dopo grabbed Dazai Osamu's collar and yelled, veins popping up on his forehead, "How could you just take it away without even saying a word!"

Dazai Osamu tilted his head to avoid facing Kunikida Dopo's angry expression and said helplessly: "It's not me, it's a corpse."

"Ah? A corpse? You still dare to make excuses! Come up with a better excuse!"

Kunikida Dopo was almost unable to bear it any longer. He took a deep breath and prepared to lecture Dazai Osamu again, but he saw that he looked very serious.

"There were so many corpses on the field that day, but the next day Yokohama acted as if nothing had happened. When the corpses returned to their places, they took the novel with them. Isn't that normal, Kunikida-kun?"

"But the manuscript is with you!"

"Ah, I gave it to them. After all, it wasn't mine."

"What! And you still say it has nothing to do with you!"

Kunikida Dopo continued his education, making sure Dazai Osamu understood what he could and could not do, such as he must not suddenly disappear when completing a commission and let him rescue people from the river!

Dazai Osamu continued to look hopeless, thinking about the bright weather today. The river water must be warm, which is a good day for jumping into the water. He must give it a try, maybe he will succeed.

Although the sky was clear, the wind was gentle and the sun was warm, it looked like a peaceful day. But at this moment, all those who knew about it were wondering, or guessing when this thing would happen again. But they didn't expect that tonight would be another sleepless night.

.

After that day, I kind of wanted to explore the world.

Humans are social animals. No one can exist completely without others, and I am no exception. I want to meet some interesting people, see some interesting things, and see beautiful or ugly flowers and plants. But this is a whole new world. Anyone I meet on the street can turn a blank sheet of paper into a gun, and who knows how dangerous it could be. I am still wondering how I could be so calm when I went out for a walk that day, and I didn't even think about preventing wolves.

If it was Lily who gave me the courage that night, then that would explain why I only dared to do a small expansion outside the house now. And everyone didn't look like an ordinary person, they all carried some controlled knives with them, which was hundreds of times scarier than a ghost story. At least I knew that I wouldn't be scared to death when I read a ghost story, so I could watch it with a completely appreciative attitude.

I have been writing a few more short ghost stories these days, trying to understand the rules of the genre a little bit. Although they have been successful, they are small in scope and not very effective. I can only guess that it is probably related to the length and quality of the stories.

“This cannot go on any longer.”

I was determined to write a story that would keep me alive while I explored the world.

I was vaguely aware of the weapon I had, perhaps this was my only means of survival here. For this top priority, I naturally had to take it 100% seriously.

Moreover, this is a one-stop service for writing bookmarks and booking movies. For a third-rate writer like me, it's great to spend huge amounts of money to make a movie!

"But try not to scare others, and it's best not to let them see it. After all, they are not like me, who know that it is not dangerous and are willing to be in this atmosphere."

I thought of the scene of demons running rampant that day, and I couldn't help feeling ashamed, so I wrote a few words on the paper.

Be considerate of other people's feelings. It will definitely not create a disgusting scene like a corpse that makes you want to stab yourself in the eye as soon as you see it, and it will not cause any sense of threat!

Apart from being reported by parents, there is nothing wrong with it, and it is already another world. The trouble is no longer a trouble.

Two Dolls

[“Mom, the baby is watching you!”

Little Anna held her doll and showed it to her mother with great interest. 】

Wait, am I Anna, the doll, or the mother? I stopped writing and pondered for a while, then made a decisive change.

It is hard to imagine that I could create a daughter for myself with just one stroke of the pen.

[“Sister, the doll is watching you!”

Little Anna held her rag doll and showed it to Vivian excitedly.

Vivian replied impatiently, "No, she's not looking at me, and you don't know who she's looking at. I'm choosing fabrics and I don't have the heart to play house with you. Go play by yourself."

She was extremely busy, and while she was talking her eyes were fixed on the cloth in front of her, not even a glance at little Anna.

Little Anna had no choice but to walk away with her rag doll, feeling aggrieved.

What Vivian said was not wrong. The puppet was an old-fashioned puppet. It had no eyes, but only a round button, which made its "eyes" look stiff and scattered. In fact, this puppet has been out of fashion. Today's dolls have beautiful marble pupils, eyelashes like small brushes and hemispherical eyelids. They can close their eyes and make sounds. They are the most popular styles nowadays.

"Why aren't you looking at her? Look at your eyes. You have eight eyeballs, and one of them is always looking at her."

She was referring to the small holes on the buttons for threading needles. Each button had four tiny black gaps, and it would be very strange if you tried to interpret them as pupils. Little Anna didn't care about that. She just mumbled something incoherent, pulled the buttons with her chubby fingers, and felt inexplicably angry. So she threw the puppet on the ground with all her strength, shouting, "Vivian! I don't want this, I want the doll with eyes that can sing!"

It's not surprising that children always like toys and dislike old ones. But the wooden button of the doll, which should have been hard, hit the ground for some reason and broke into a small piece, like a tear of pain.

She was destined to have a plastic doll with tufts of golden hair implanted in its head. It could not only blink its big blue eyes, but also open and close its mouth to simulate human speech. She liked it very much. She even took the doll with her when she went on vacation to her grandfather's estate. This is where the problem came from.

No one knows where the tragedy began, with the purchase of this doll or the dropping of that doll?

......】

There is no doubt that the doll I bought is a demon. It would sit on little Anna in the middle of the night, waking her up with its heavy body. It would suddenly appear in every corner of the house, holding a knife and singing a weird song. Sometimes you could only hear the sound of its mouth opening and closing, but you couldn't see its figure. You could close its eyes, but it would open them by itself. You could get rid of it, but you would still hear its singing the next day.

My grandfather's manor means being isolated from the outside world for a short period of time. I also specifically described a snowstorm to set the entire story in this manor. If it were transferred to reality, it would probably not have a large-scale effect.

After all, I just want to write a novel, not perform a horror show.

Although things don't always go the way I expected.

.

After several days of editing and revising, I finally finished "Two Dolls". After writing the last sentence [Vivian chopped off the puppet's head with an axe, and blood splashed everywhere. The plastic doll twitched for a while, and then stopped making any sound.], I sighed and was so tired that I almost didn't want to move.

The sun was fading, and the floating clouds were stained with thick and light orange, as if a palette had been overturned, splashing a layer of yellow halo over the entire world.

Looking at the sky which was not completely dark yet, the thought of going out to see the world suddenly came to my mind. Ghost stories only work at night, I told myself to wait, but another thought came to my mind. It looks like it will be night soon, so I should be careful now, and it should be okay. Maybe not everyone can turn a blank piece of paper into a gun.

At worst, if you encounter any danger, just try to wait until night. I am still somewhat confident in what I write. I don't need to have good writing skills, but I can be thrilling!

I thought what I was thinking made sense, and I couldn't help but clap my hands happily. I immediately changed my clothes and prepared to have a good tour of the city.

I walked out the door with a smile on my face, not noticing the doll sitting on my shoulder or the buttons scattered along my footsteps.