Keishin tried to lift one of the tent’s fabric walls but could not find a gap between the tent and the floor. He pushed against it. It pushed back, sending him to the ground. He got up, tookas many steps back as the clutter allowed, and rammed the tent with his shoulder. He collided with something as hard as bone. Pain exploded in his arm. Keishin staggered back, clutching his throbbing shoulder. He cursed and pounded the wall with his fist. “Keiko! Keiko! Let us out.”
Hana pulled Keishin away from the wall. “It’s no use. We are trapped. You were right. Keiko betrayed us.”
“We got in here.” Keishin shoved away a stack of baskets. “That means there is a way out.”
The tent shook violently, tossing Keishin and Hana to the floor. Hana tried to get to her feet. Keishin grabbed her hand. “Stay down.”
The rumbling stopped. Bright light poured into the tent. Hana peeked over the clutter and squinted. She gasped and pushed herself off the floor. “The flap’s open!”
Keishin stood up. “Run!”
They scrambled to the opening, knocking over teetering piles of books and jumping over an obstacle course of blankets and clothes. They burst out of the tent, shielding their eyes from the light. Keishin pulled his hand from his face just in time to watch Hana fade away.
—
Collecting the scattered pieces of himself went faster the second time around. Or maybe it only felt that way. It was difficult to get a sense of time without a body. Keishin opened his eyes. Hana stood in front of him, her limbs molding themselves from thin air.
Hana stared at her newly formed hands and flexed her fingers. “What’s happening to us?”
Keishin’s eyes flew around him. They stood beneath a hexagonal gazebo that was surrounded by a shimmering lake. Afull moon floated in the water. Keishin extended his arm, but an invisible wall kept his fingers from reaching beyond the gazebo’s wooden frame. “Another trap.”
Hana looked out at the calm lake. “It does not feel like a trap.”
“What else do you call a place you can’t leave?”
The ground shifted beneath them, sending waves across the lake. They grabbed on to the gazebo’s posts. Light washed over them as though an invisible door had opened and let the sun in.
“It’s happening again.” Hana squinted at the glare.
Keishin took a tentative step toward the light.
“Kei, wait.” Hana grabbed his arm. “We might fade away again.”
Keishin narrowed his eyes at the light. “Maybe that’s what’s supposed to happen.”
“What?”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this isn’t a trap.”
“Then what is it?”
“What if this is what Keiko meant by traveling inside a rumor?”
“You think that we’re inside someone’s mind?”
“Until they pass the rumor on to someone else.” Keishin held out his hand to Hana. “But there’s only one way to know for sure.”
—
People’s minds, Keishin discovered, came in many different sizes and shapes. Some were no larger than cupboards, while others were the length of the train. A few rooms had barely anything inside them, and quite a few overflowed with an assortment of odds and ends. The strangest so far had been aroom perched on top of a tree, with every inch of its floor covered by a carpet of steaming cups of green tea.
Keishin stood inside a curved room made of glass and waited for Hana to become whole. The time they spent in each room grew shorter with each leap into the light. This, he thought, was the nature of a rumor. As it grew, it gathered speed. Keishin took in his latest surroundings, hoping to linger in them a little longer. He liked this mind. It was shaped like an orb and floated among the stars.
“This is beautiful.” Hana admired the constellations.
“Yes.” Keishin watched the stars twinkle in her eyes. “It is.”
“I wonder what kind of person has a mind like this?” Hana pressed her palm against the clear wall.
