'Unlike Sentaro, the people of the island were not afraid of dying. In fact they longed for it, so desperately did they want to experience paradise. They were tired of their long, long lives, and wished to live in Horaizan instead.
'But nothing could help them. When they drank poisons, unlike you or me, the people in the Land of Perpetual Life did not get sick or die, but carried on living, even healthier than before. The people there would eat the poisonous globe fish in their restaurants, and even sauces made from Spanish flies…'
'Ewww…' said Toshiko. 'Flies? That's horrible!'
'That's right. Spanish flies.
But they were never sick and they never died. Sentaro could not understand it. He thought that he would enjoy living for ever, and so he was the only happy man on the island.
'After many years, however, Sentaro realised that living for ever was not as enjoyable as he had thought it would be. He wasn't always happy, and things did not always go to plan. Sometimes, in fact, life was very hard and not much fun at all, and nothing ever seemed to change.
'Sentaro prayed to Jofuku once more, to take him away from this terrible place and, all at once, the origami crane leapt from his pocket, spread its wings and flew him swiftly away from the island and across the sea to Japan.
'They were halfway across the sea when they flew into a storm. The magical paper crane was soaked through, and its paper began to crumple. Soon enough it could no longer fly, and it fell into the sea with a SPLASH! and took Sentaro with it.
'Terrified that he might drown, Sentaro cried out for Jofuku to save him, but no rescue came. As he struggled to stop himself from sinking, he saw a terrific SHARK! swimming in the waters nearby. It drew nearer, and nearer, and NEARER!
'"Help me, Jofuku! Help me!" cried Sentaro as the shark opened it's great big jaws wider and WIDER!'
Toshiko now hid her face behind her mother's arm, so that she couldn't even see the illustration of the shark inside the book.
'Suddenly Sentaro awoke and found himself lying on the floor of Jofuku's shrine on Mount Fuji. He realised that all of his adventures in the Land of Perpetual Life had been nothing but a dream.
'As he thanked the stars and all the gods for his good fortune, a bright light came towards him, and in the light there stood a messenger. The messenger held Sentaro's hand and said, "I am sent by Jofuku who, in answer to your prayer, has given you this dream so that you could see for yourself how it would be to live in the Land of Perpetual Life, and to see how you begged to return to Japan so that you could live a natural life and then pass through the gates of death to the Land of Horaizan. You also saw, when threatened by the shark, that you were scared of death. You now fear both eternal life and death, and this is as a normal man lives. Now return to your home, Sentaro, and live a good and industrious life. Remember your ancestors, and provide for your children. Thus you will live to an old age and be happy, for when selfish desires are granted they do not bring happiness." 'And so Sentaro returned to his home, and he did as the angel had told him, and he lived a long and happy life, where he remembered his ancestors and gave to his children. Sentaro died a very old man, but he is now in the Land of Horaizan, where he lives happily ever after. The End.'
'Another one, another one,' said Toshiko, and her mother laughed.
'No, Toshiko. Not tonight. You're very tired. All those fireworks and the boats… It's been a very long day.'
Toshiko moaned and sulked, though she knew there wouldn't be another story that night. As her mother placed the book on the shelf and went to turn off the light, Toshiko's father appeared in the door.
'Have you eaten all the edamame?' he asked.
'No,' replied Toshiko's mother.
'There's none in the refrigerator. I was feeling a little hungry. Maybe your mother?'
'She doesn't like edamame.'
'Mmm.'
Toshiko's mother turned to her.
'Goodnight, Toshiko,' she said, beaming.
'Goodnight, Mum. Goodnight, Dad.'
The light went off, and the door was quietly closed, plunging the room into darkness.
As Toshiko drifted off to sleep, she thought of faraway places, like the Land of Horaizan. She liked the stories her mother told her. It felt, sometimes, as if the characters were her friends.
Osaka was such a big and noisy city and had so many people, but none of the people were like the ones in the stories her mother read. There was no magic in Osaka; only buildings, and flashing signs and subway trains. No magic, that is, until that night.
When Toshiko awoke early the next morning, there was a man in her room. Had she been any older than five, this might have filled her with terror, or perhaps a greater and deeper sense of threat, but instead the strange appearance of the man simply confused her.
'Who are you?' she asked.
The man looked scared, as if he'd seen a ghost, or perhaps the shark out of the fairy tale.
'What did you say?' he asked, in English. Toshiko could speak English. Her parents had taught her when she was little and they had lived on the other side of the world, and so she understood him.
'Who are you?' Toshiko asked, now speaking in English.
'My name's Michael,' whispered the man. 'Where am I?'
'This is Osaka,' said Toshiko, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning.
'Where's Osaka?' asked Michael.
'In Japan,' said Toshiko.
Michael laughed, and put his hand over his mouth to silence himself. He started shaking his head and padding quietly from one side of the room to the other.
'Japan…' he whispered. 'I'm in Japan.'
He walked over to her window, and opened the blinds just enough so that he could see outside.
'Oh my God,' he said.
'What is it? What's the matter?' asked Toshiko.
'This… this city… It's… huge.
It's like something out of a film. And the cars… Look how many cars there are.'
'How did you get here?'
'I don't know,' said Michael. 'I still don't know. It's like magic. But don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to go home.'
'Where's home?'
'It's a long, long way away.'
'Like the Land of Horaizan?'
'No. No… It's further away than that.'
Outside, in the hallway, Toshiko's parents were leaving for work. Michael looked this way and that around the bedroom, before diving inside a small, pink wardrobe and closing the doors after him. The door to Toshiko's bedroom opened, and her mother leaned into the room.
'Were you talking to yourself, Toshiko?'
'I was talking to Michael,' said Toshiko. 'He's a magic person.'
'It's those fairy tales,' said her father, standing in the hallway. 'Imaginary magic friends! Whatever next?'
'We're going to work now,' said Toshiko's mother. 'Grandma is watching television. You be a good girl and we'll see you later.'
The door closed and, as she heard her parents walk down the steps toward their cars, Toshiko said, 'It's OK, now. They've gone.'
Michael stepped out of the wardrobe. 'I need to go,' he said. 'I need to find a way out of here.'
'Why can't you use magic?'
Michael sighed. 'It doesn't work like that,' he said. 'It just happens.'
Michael's stomach made a growling noise, like the noise Toshiko's father made when he was pretending to be a lion, like in a story, and Toshiko laughed.
'Sorry,' said Michael. 'I'm hungry. I can't remember the last time I ate properly. I took some peas in the pod from your refrigerator last night…'
Toshiko laughed. 'Those weren't peas in the pod, silly!' she said. They're edamame!'
'Oh,' said Michael. 'Do you have any more food I can eat? I'll eat something, and then I'll go. God knows what anyone would think if they found me here. I'd probably be strung up.'