The Snow Maiden Read online

  Isamu's face turned into a twisted mask of grief. “He did not survive. When I got to him he was frozen

  solid in the snow and the child he had so carefully been holding was gone as well. I managed to drag his body back to village and told his family that he had somehow gotten lost in the storm and had

  succumbed to the cold.”

  “I am sorry for the loss of your friend chichi, but I have to ask again. What does this have to do with my

  mother?”

  ”That,” started Isamu. “Is what I am getting too. You should understand that it was many, many years

  before I could look at another woman let alone have any feelings for her. Meeting the Yuki-Anno left

  my soul and heart burning with an unnatural desire but also hatred and disgust for allowing her to

  murder my friend. That is... until I met your mother.” Chapter Three

  Kichiru watched with interest as a wistful look came over his father's face.

  “You mother was one of the loveliest women I had ever laid eyes on. In some ways she very much

  resembled the Yuki-Anno and perhaps that is why I was so attracted to her. We met at the market place

  where she was selling baked goods and tea. Oyuki had unblemished, fair skin and a curtain of shiny

  black hair that she woven expertly into one long, delicate looking braid. Your mother was very petite

  and always smiling no matter what the day or weather. How could I not fall in love with her?”

  Kichiru lifted a hand to his chin and tapped it absentmindedly with his finger. “I just had a thought

  chichi. My mother was called Oyuki and Oyuki means snow doesn't it?”

  Isamu nodded and raised an eyebrow. He began to wonder if his son was finally discovering the true

  nature of his story. “Yes, that is true. Oyuki once told me it was her deceased mother's love of the winter

  and her fair colouring that she was named after the snow.”

  Silence.

  Isamu continued. “Our courtship was a brief one and as your mother had no living relatives, we got

  married quickly in small ceremony with only my parents present. It quite beautiful. Your mother was

  dressed in a blood red kimono and her hair was lifted high on her head. She had painted kohl around her

  beautiful, dark eyes. Oyuki looked too beautiful to be a real woman. I considered myself a lucky man to

  be marrying such a creature. I remember her whispering into my ear as to how “handsome” she thought

  I looked...and how “human”. It was a remark I never thought twice about until much later.” “Father, I think maybe you are...” Kichiru's comment was interrupted by violent wave of his father's

  hand.

  “Silence please until I am finished. There will be enough time for comments later. Your mother and I

  were happy for many years. I had never known any woman before her; not physically. Her desires in the

  bedroom were almost insatiable.” A sly grin crossed Isamu's face as he recalled their first night of

  lovemaking. Oyuki stood in front of him with her silky hair hanging down and was slowly loosening the

  blood red kimono they had just been married in. Isamu was startled when his new wife revealed she had

  no under garments on but was instead naked. Her flesh was pale with only the lightest pink colouring

  around her tiny nipples. Isamu felt his body trembling in response as his bride walked toward him and

  bravely cupped his own genitals in her hand, lovingly stroking and caressing him. He recalled her

  seductive voice as she told him to lay on his back in their marriage bed and slowly and hungrily kissed

  his hairless chest and abdomen until he felt her take his erect member into her mouth. She suckled him

  until he lay twitching and panting with desire. If he had not know any better, Isamu remembered

  thinking that is new wife had been an experienced lover and had not told him. When Oyuki finally

  straddled him and took him deep with her moist center, he was ready to explode. Within moments both

  newlyweds were writhing and bucking their hips together; culminating in a powerful dual orgasm. So

  many nights like that. He thought. I should have known.

  Isamu coughed to cover his momentary daydream and poured more tea for both his son and himself.

  “I don't care to know your intimate details father.” Kichiru stated, embarrassed to think of his parents in

  any sexual situation. “Why not?” Isamu asked. “Those moments are crucial to your coming into this world! You young men

  are so squeamish these days. Loving your partner is a natural process and sex is natural. At any rate,

  your mother and I had an all consuming love and when she finally revealed she was with child I was the

  happiest man alive!”

  Kichiru nodded. His father had always told him that finding out he was having a son was his proudest

  moment.

  “I was there every step of the way even though it was frowned upon for a man to be so involved. When

  Oyuki went into labour and requested ice to chew on, I gave it to her. Even when the mid wives wanted

  to kick me out of the room, I stayed and watched as you were brought into this world. You should have

  seen your mother's face when you were finally wrapped up tightly and given to her to nurse. She would

  smiled and sing songs and would kiss your head. Oyuki would repeatedly say to me how lucky she was

  to have such a human looking boy. Although I thought this an odd statement, it is well known that

  woman sometimes have a hard time after the birth of a child.”

  “My mother had postpartum depression?”

  Isamu closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully. “That is what they call it now but I felt something deep

  with her had become undone and I did not know why. I provided everything she ever needed and she

  had you but at times she would sit and stare out the window, touching the glass as if longing for

  something.”

  The two men, one young and one old sat silently for a moment as if in reverence to the memory of this

  woman. Isamu stood up and stretched, adjusted his robe and sat down. “A year after you were born,

  Oyuki seemed to be coming back to her senses. She would smile and laugh and play with you. My heart was full when I saw her with you like that. One night she came to me after many months of sleeping

  alone in the guest bedroom. My body; my heart and my soul yearned for her. “Winter is coming and I

  don't want to be alone. Keep me warm my love, my Isamu ,my brave one.” Of course I could not deny

  her as she was my wife, my lover and the mother of my child. We joined together as we did when we

  were newly married. Our hearts and bodies filled with passion and longing for one another. Until...”

  Isamu's voice broke as if recalling something hurtful.

  “What is it chichi?”

  The old man wiped a tear that had fallen from his eye to his cheek. His hand trembled and he clasped

  both hands in his lap in an attempt to regain his control. “While in the throes of passion I heard my voice

  call out another woman's name. “Yuki-Onna”.”

  “I stopped dead and drew back, watching in horror as your mother recoiled back against a pillow.”

  “What did you say? What have you done? What have you done? Not that name!”

  “With each question your mother's voice broke and grew more shrill until finally she stood, angry and

  naked on the bed in front of me with her tiny hands clenched in fists by her side. “Yuki-Onna? You call

  out the name of the Snow Maiden? Do you not recall the vow you took to never speak that name? I gave

  your your life! You promised to never tell a soul of my existence!!!”
/>   Kichiru stood up from his chair and frowned at his father. “What? I am sorry chichi but you expect me

  to believe that this mythical creature, this snow maiden that murdered your best friend is my mother?

  Father are you ill and not telling me? Have your senses left you?” The old man stood up, his body shaking in anger at his son's irreverence. “Sit down and give me enough

  respect as your father to finish! No, I have not yet lost my senses. Do you presume to know everything

  about the universe? I did not believe it at first either. I sat up in bed and watched as your mother, naked

  and angry shrieking at me about another woman and a past life. It made no sense until she came in close

  to me and breathed icy air into my ear. “You are lucky that I love that child more than you Isamu. I

  came to you and loved you and gave you a son. You have betrayed my trust. You should be dead now.

  And your soul should be mine! Many men have died for just looking at me! I can not stay now that the

  truth is revealed. Take and raise the child but never forget who gave him life!” I lurched forward to grab

  her and she disappeared like the wind, leaving only a cold mist in her wake. A sharp pain in the centre of

  my back caused me to double over. When I regained my wits, I looked around the room and your

  mother was gone! My beautiful wife and your mother had disappeared! A horrible burning sensation

  made me run into the bathroom and turn my back to the mirror to see what she had done to me. I was

  shocked to see a large burn mark although I had not been near any heat or fire. But, they say if

  something is cold enough it can burn the flesh just as well as any heat can. It was the remnant of the last

  touch your mother ever lay upon me. It was a brand to remind me of what I had done and a mark so I

  would never again forget.”

  Kichiru's hand cramped as he gripped the kitchen table in disbelief and concern. He felt that his father

  was losing touch with reality and the grief of perhaps dying alone without his wife was too much to

  bare. “Chichi, I think you and I need to see the doctor together.”

  Isamu banged the table with his fist. “I am not crazy! Come here and I will show you the proof you seek.

  I will show you who your mother truly was!” Isamu turned his back to his son and undid the belt of his

  robe. Slowly and carefully he shrugged the silky material past his shoulders and then down to his waist. When he heard his son gasp in horror he nodded, satisfied that the truth was finally understood. There in

  the centre of Isamu's back was a large, circle shaped scar. Although somewhat withered and faded with

  age, the pattern was still very visible. A flesh coloured, raised snowflake decorated the old man's

  wrinkled skin. The Snow Maiden had left her indelible mark.