1 The Women who Brings Death

I was little when it had happened. I was doing what all children did, I played outside most of the time. I was visiting my grandparents house, in Japan. I always loved going into their backyard, the beautiful cherry trees and the prickly green grass. My grandparents had a hedge. It was eight feet tall, and no one could be taller than that! While I was playing, my grandparents were in their house, probably playing some old board games or sipping tea. While I was playing, I heard a noise... it sounded like,, "Pom...." it was in a deep... very deep voice. It came from the he hedge, I quickly turned my head. It was a tall,, very tall women, she was as tall as the hedge! How was that possible? I thought. Then, I heard the noise again, "Pom..Pom...Pom" it came from her. As curious as I was, I asked, "who are you?" She didn't answer.i opened my mouth to ask again but then the woman started to walk away, and faded out of sight.

I was shocked from what I had seen, so I went inside to tell my grandparents what I saw. They didn't pay any attention at first, until I mentioned the sound she made, "Pom..pom...pom" their eyes widened. My grandpa immediately turned to me and held my shoulders, he looked frantic. "How tall was the women?" He asked in a very concerned tone. "As tall as the hedge." I answered. He then walked towards the phone, while my grandmother held me close to her. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something was bad.

A few minutes later, a women came to the door. My grandparents let her in and she looked at me with much concern. She looked back to my grandparents and started talking, "she must stay in an empty room, with four bowls of rice sitting in each corner, and statues that will keep her safe. She must stay in the room for 24 hours, and mustn't leave." She held a bucket in her hands, "not even to use the restroom." I trembled, "what's gonna happen to me?" "Well,,, people who have seen the Hachisakusama will die in a few days." The woman told me. I was even more terrified than before...

I sat on the floor in the room, they locked the door and put wood over the windows. I felt petrified,,, will I really die in the next few days? A lot of thoughts went through my head. Until suddenly, I heard a knock. It was my grandpa. "Hey, are you okay in there? Let me in I wanna check on you." I happily got up and went to open the door.... but— something didn't feel right, I stopped and I heard it again..... pom...pom...pom.

It's been 10 years since that happened, and I'm still not dead. When I left Japan the next day,, I never came back. I am now eighteen years old. I still talk to my grandparents, but Yeah one day my grandpa passed away. I couldn't come to his funeral because of that stupid Hachisakusama, I was heartbroken. I didn't get to say goodbye to my grandpa. When I found out my grandmother was going to die soon, I couldn't take one. Last. Straw. I told her I was going no matter what, and I don't care about Hachisakusama. It's been EIGHTEEN years and I'm not dead, what could go wrong?