Ishimaru
Page 13
“Perhaps you’re right. I guess we’ll never know,” said Connors.
“Hai!”
“It’s good to be going home,” remarked Connors.
Hiroshi just smiled before asking him:
“What would you say after all this drama is over we have a rematch?”
“What are you kidding me?” exclaimed Connors.
“No. I thought not,” laughed Hiroshi.
“What? You think after what I’ve been through I can’t take you?” protested Connors.
“That remains to be seen,” replied Hiroshi as the two men laughed away at the prospect.
Just then, a tall American red-headed Flight Attendant with an elaborate up-do hairstyle stood at the top of the aisle to address the passengers via the ships public address system in English and Japanese:
“We thank you for flying with us. Please make sure all your restraints are properly buckled. We shall be entering Earth’s atmosphere over the Asian continent in five minutes and landing in Osaka Japan shortly after we clear the stratosphere. The local weather is a cool eighteen degrees Celsius overcast with morning fog. Please enjoy the rest of your flight.”
Connors closed his eyes once more. He looked forward to reuniting with his wife in time for their daughter’s delivery. He looked at Hiroshi and smiled.
“Thank you for coming out so far to bring me back home. Domo Arigatou’ Gozaimasu.”
Hiroshi smiled and made a slight bow of his head from his seat.
“It was my pleasure,” he replied.
Connors sighed once more before asking one last question.
“I know the crew of the Red Adair is the ones who rescued me. As soon as I get settled, I will be sending my thanks to their crew. But I have to ask, what’s the chance that I really did encounter Captain Murakami and the ghostship Ishimaru?” he asked.
“In my culture, it is possible,” he replied.
“And what if I did? Would they sail on or would they finally return home?” asked Connors.
Hiroshi smiled as he turned off the small projection tablet.
“I would like to think so,” wished Hiroshi.
And so did Connors as he could see their ship passing through the red glow of re-entry that quickly changed to thick clouds and thoughts of what might be.
“You know; I believe we’re good,” said Connors.
“Yes. I believe we are,” replied Hiroshi.
Satisfied, the two men looked out of the passenger window once more. They could see space and fire turn to the thick gray mist content that all was right in their world knowing that they would soon be home.
CHAPTER VIII
FROM OUT OF THE FOG
Like out of a dream, she appeared from out of the fog. It was a big white hulled three mast ship. Her ships prow gracefully cut through the thick gray-white mists of Chita Bay as she slowly made her way towards the small rock-lined port near at the base of Mihama Village. Her appearance came as an unexpected surprise to the villagers who were busy repairing fishing nets along its shore. The inhabitants of Mihama Village had never seen such a large Western built merchant vessel before flying the ensign of the Rising Sun at her stern. Nor had they ever seen a ship flying the crest of the Ōmura Domain ever make port in their tiny deep water harbor. But the day would be like no other for those who were there at Mihama and like none other since.
It was the Ishii-Maru who unexpectedly sailed into Mihama that day. Her sheer size and design could almost pass for one of the Dutch trading ships that frequented her home port of Nagasaki astounding those along the shore prompting the harbor master to send a young man to climb up the village fire tower to ring the bell to alert the villagers of the ship’s arrival. But no surprise would be greater than for seven-year-old Takako Tamura who had been playing along the rocks when she looked up and spotted her older brother Ryuichi standing atop the ship's rail shouting
“Oka-san!”
Little Takako-chan instantly recognized her long-lost brother and shouted back:
“Ani-chan! (brother) Ryuichi!”
Almost all the villagers dropped the nets and stood up as the little girl in her tattered clothes raced to go find her mother shouting
“Oka-san! Haha-we (mother)!”
“Ani-chan!”
The little girl raced up to the village screaming for her mother the entire way until she had reached the small row of wood and paper houses where the Tamura Family lived. Nearly out of breath, Takako-chan burst through the sliding paper door startling her mother!
“Haha-we! Big brother Ryuichi has come home!” she cried.
Mrs. Tamura instantly dropped the wooden tray in her hands in disbelief at the sudden news she thought she would never hear.
“Ryuichi-kun? He’s home?” she asked.
“Hai! He is with Onchi-kun and two other missing boys on a big white ship that just sailed into Mihama!” declared Takako-chan.
Mrs. Tamura stood there in shock and utter disbelief as tears streamed down her eyes. Her long-lost son was finally home. She could not believe her ears as she heard shouts from outside her home all about the village that her neighbor’s son Iwakichi-Kun had also returned home. Then another shout could be heard from across the way that the youngest of the missing boys Yukichi-kun had too returned to Mihama.
With no delay, Mrs. Tamura grabbed her little girl and raced down the hill together along with her three neighbors who were mothers of the other missing boys. Wasting no time, they raced down to the small port landing with tears streaming as fast as their legs could carry them all calling their sons names.
“Miya-chan! Miya-chan! Is it true our boys have come home?” frantically asked one mother.
Suddenly the boys could be seen standing at the bow of the ship shouting
“Oka-san!”
“It is true! Look!” pointed Mrs. Tamura.
The Ishii-Maru had sailed in as close to the landing as possible before dropping anchor to allow the boys to disembark. Crowds began to form along the water’s edge and the small landing as the frantic mothers who had long feared their son's deaths had found a reason for rejoicing in such a long-awaited miracle.
“Tadaima (I am home)!” shouted Ryuichi.
With such excitement, Ryuichi disregarded the wooden launch that was being lowered into the water and jumped into the cold water to swim to shore just as his mother and younger sister rushed into the water to reunite with him.
“Yukichi-kun!” shouted his long-suffering mother with tears of joy as she could see her long lost son excitedly climb down into the wooden launch with Onchi and Iwakichi happily in tow.
As Ryuichi emerged from the water, he embraced his mother and little sister in a tearfully joyous reunion while the wooden launch ferried the remaining boys to the small wooden landing. All about the water’s edge people cheered with joy while back aboard the Ishii-Maru the crew looked on with relief. First Mate Shichiro could be seen standing next to Capt. Murakami expressing a sigh of relief.
“Sencho, I don’t understand. Why are there no Samurai or Bakufu to inspect us?” vexed First Mate Shichiro.
“Does it really matter now?” questioned Capt. Murakami.
“I suppose it does not,” guessed First Mate Shichiro.
“We did right by going back didn’t we?” asked Capt. Murakami.
“Hai! Now we’ve earned our right to go home,” said First Mate Shichiro.
“As soon as the launch returns, weigh anchor and set course for Nagasaki. We’re going home,” ordered Capt. Murakami.
“HAI!”
Within the hour and just as mysteriously as the Ishii-Maru appeared from out of the fog to return the lost boys of Mihama to a joyous homecoming, the Ishii-Maru quietly weighed anchor. Ghost Ship no more, the Ishii-Maru set her sails and slipped back into the mists and into legend.
The End.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
American Mishima is the work of author Louis Edward Rosas, the son of Mexican Immigrants whose father Luis s
erved in the U.S. Army in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. In his youth, he grew up on glamorized war films and military aviation in the sleepy seaside plains of Oxnard California. It was there he watched waves of replica Japanese Warplanes fly overhead as they filmed various WWII dramas including The Black Sheep Squadron out of the nearby Oxnard Airport. Instilled with an early fascination of the Second World War during the Post Vietnam Era, it was his exposure to Akira Kurosawa's Samurai epic Ran (Toho, 1985) that changed his views on war while creating a lasting impression of Japanese culture and history. Further inspired by the works of famed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima, Rosas would go on to become immersed in the study of Japanese language, history, and swordsmanship which led him to the practice of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism and Shinto. Rosas has also trained in Shinkendo, the ideal practice of the Samurai code of Bushido in the modern world under its founder in Little Tokyo which helped shape the creative force that is American Mishima.