Only an Oni

This story is called Only an Oni, written and read by Ryan Aoto. This is a LibraryCall recording. The clothes dryer exploded. That was a problem. There was a pair of underwear stuck to the ceiling. That was funny, but also a problem. There was a pair of underwear on fire, in the middle of the room. That was funny, and a problem, and also extremely dangerous. Why had the dryer exploded? There had been a demon in it. Why was there a demon in the dryer? A boy named Haruo had put it there. Why had Haruo put a demon in a dryer? He thought his dad would have freaked out if he had seen a demon in the house. And Haruo was right about that. Unfortunately, his dad also freaked out when he saw the burning underwear in the middle of the room. Earlier that day, when Haruo had come home from school, he had had no idea that demons and exploding appliances were in his near future. His biggest problem was simply that he was not allowed to read Manga until he finished his homework and chores “You need to do your chores first.” his dad had said. “Go take the trash out, empty the dryer, and do your homework. Then, you can read your comics.” Haruo frowned. “For the last time, they’re called manga!” He let out a sign of frustration as he went to take out the trash. He always started with the compost, because it smelled the worst. He had taken the compost bin to the curb and was struggling with the heavy recycling bin, when he heard a loud crash out front. Haruo ran out and saw that something had knocked over the compost bin, and had spilled all the leaves and food waste in the driveway. “Whoa!!” he said when he got to the pile. There was a small creature in the bin. It was about the size of Haruo’s backpack. It had two thick arms, two thick legs, dark red skin, large yellow eyes, and horns on its head. It turned to look at him. “Whoa!” he said again. The creature did not seem bothered by his presense. It turned back to the pile of compost and continued to dig through it. It found an apple core, sniffed it, threw it into its mouth, and kept searching. “What are you?” he said quietly. This time, at the sound of his voice, the creature turned and smiled at him. If you could get over the fact that it shouldn’t exist, it was fairly cute, with its round belly and big eyes. “Can you understand me?” Haruo asked quietly. The creature nodded. “Can you speak?” “Hrrmg garpple mng,” it replied. There was a small pause. “Can you speak English?” Haruo clarified. The creature shook its head “no.” “Ok. Where did you come from?” The creature looked around and shrugged its shoulders. Its eyes suddenly looked very sad. “Are you lost?” The creature nodded slowly. “Are you hungry?” The creature nodded again. “If I let you come in the house, do you promise to be quiet? I think my dad would freak out if he saw you.” The creature smiled and nodded vigorously. He led the creature into his kitchen. It got really excited when it saw the bowl of apples on the counter. “Haruo!” his dad’s voice called out. Sounded annoyed. “The compost bin is knocked over.” “Quick!” Haruo said, grabbing the creature’s hand. He opened the dryer and tried to push the creature inside. It did not want to go in. “Please. Dad can’t see you.” The creature went in, reluctantly. Haruo felt bad seeing its sad eyes before he closed the door. “There you are. The compost bin fell over. Go get a broom and I’ll help you sweep it up.” There was a bang from the dryer. “What was that?” Several louder bangs were coming from the dryer. “Nothing. Let’s go sweep that compost.” Haruo’s dad squinted his eyes and was about to take a step forward, when the dryer exploded. Bolts of electricity shot out of it. Clothes and bits of metal flew through the house. A pair of underwear was stuck to the ceiling, and another pair was on fire in the middle of the room. Haruo’s dad quickly stomped out the pair of flaming underwear. “What in…” he started to say, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the creature sitting in the middle of the wrecked, smoking dryer. Haruo’s dad’s face went pale. He pointed at the creature but said nothing. “It’s okay Dad!” His dad continued to stand statue-still. “It was an accident!” His dad’s knees began to shake. “He’s friendly!” His dad’s arm fell to his side. “Dad!” Haruo could not tell if his dad was breathing. “Dad!” He had not blinked in a while. Haruo had to grab his dad’s face and shove his own in front of it to get him to hear him. “Dad! He’s friendly.” “What?” his dad managed. “It’s friendly.” Haruo looked at the creature and gave it a big smile and thumbs up. The creature smiled back. “What is it?” “I think it's an oni…” Haruo said as he tried to remember the stories his mother read to him, “...a Japanese demon.” “A demon!” “No! Not a demon,” Haruo said quickly. “Oni aren’t evil. That is what you are, right? An oni?” The oni nodded vigorously at the word. “Oni live in the mountains,” Haruo took the oni’s hand and led him to the back yard. He pointed to the mountains in the distance. “Is that where you came from?” The oni smiled and nodded quickly. “How did you get way down here?” The oni shrugged and went back into the kitchen to eat more apples. “We need to take him home, Dad.” “We need to call the police! Look what it did to the dryer!” “He was just scared.” “It’s a demon! Look at it!” “You always told me not to judge people by what they looked like.” “I told you not to judge people,” his dad emphasized. “People. Not monsters!” “Some oni are monstrous,” Haruo agreed. “But there are also stories of oni that bring good luck. Mom used to tell me stories of oni who would protect people. This oni needs our help. We need to get him back to his family.” His dad got down on one knee and looked in Haruo’s eyes. He was going to say, “No way.” He was going to explain how crazy and dangerous what Haruo was suggesting was. But there was a look of wonder in Haruo’s eyes. It was a look he had seen before, when Haruo would listen to the stories his mother used to tell. The old stories from Japan. Stories about good people, stories about people doing the right thing. And sometimes, even stories about oni. He had never really listened very closely. Those stories weren’t for him. They were for kids, he had told himself. But now he realized he had made a mistake. Haruo’s dad took one last look at the strange small creature, impossibly sitting in his house. Then, he turned back to his son. “Ok. Let’s do this.” Haruo and the oni got into the back of the car. The oni sat happily munching on various fruits. Haruo had filled a bag for him. “Do oni only eat fruit?” his dad asked. Haruo knew that In many stories oni eat people, but he did not think his dad needed to know that. “Uhhh Yes,” he lied. “Only fruit!.” “Grammmfl mmf!” The little oni got very excited as they approached the mountains. He started hopping on his seat and pointing out the window. They drove as far as they could, eventually parking by an old, barely visible path. A low drumming sound could be heard in the distance. The oni grabbed Haruo’s hand and pulled him along the path. “Look.” Next to the path there were three furry creatures with round pot bellies. They were wearing wide, circular hats and sitting in a circle. Several bottles lay empty next to them. They had large leathery bags that they were drumming rhythmically on. “What are those,” his dad asked quietly. “They look like giant racoons.” “Tanuki,” Haruo replied. “What are those bags they are drumming on?” “Ummm, don’t worry about it,” Haruo said with a little smile. The tanuki looked at them, but did not stop drumming. “We should avoid them,” Haruo whispered. “They like to trick people. But if there are magical creatures here I think that’s a good sign.” After about an hour of hiking, they found their path blocked by a river. There were several rocks that could be used as stepping stones. The trio made it half-way across, when suddenly another creature jumped out of the water and into their path. Haruo’s dad froze. The oni hid behind Haruo. The creature was a little taller than Haruo. It had dark green scales and webbed hands and feet. A large shell, like a turtle’s, was on its back. It stood upright, blocking their path. Its thin wide mouth grinned, showing several sharp, needle-like teeth. There was a large dent in the top of its head, almost like a bowl. “A kappa,” Haruo said. “Are they friendly?” his dad asked, looking at the teeth. “Not usually. They don’t really like people in their waters. They can be bribed with a cucumber. Do you have a cucumber?” “Why would I have a cucumber?” The kappa started to slowly walk towards them. It was a bit clumsy out of the water, but it was still blocking their path. “We have to get the water off of its head. That will weaken it. There was something Mom said…. Oh I remember!” He stood perfectly straight in front of the kappa with his hands at his side. Then, he gave a deep bow. Seeing this, the kappa immediately stood up straight and returned the bow. As it did so, the water in the bowl part of his head poured out. The kappa shuddered and fell to its knees. “Hurry!” Haruo said, The three of them rushed past the kappa. It made no move to stop them. Just as they were about to get to the other side, Haruo stopped. “What are you doing,” his dad said. “Let’s go!” “Wait.” Haruo went back to the motionless kappa. He carefully cupped some water in his hands and refilled the head bowl. Instantly, the kappa sprang to life. It stared at Haruo. “We’re trying to find that oni’s family,” he said. “Are we going the right way?” The kappa stared for a few more seconds, then it raised it’s thin arm and pointed a webbed finger to a path on the right. “Thank you.” In an instant the kappa jumped back into the water and vanished. The trio continued on the path for another hour. Eventually, they came upon a clearing. The oni let go of Haruo’s hand and ran to the middle of it. “Mgaaaa!” It cried out loudly. After a few moments another, much deeper cry responded. “Gwaaa?” “Mgaaaa!” the oni said again. “Gwaaa!” came the response, this time much louder. At the other end of the clearing another oni burst through the trees. It was at least ten feet tall and three feet wide at the incredibly muscular shoulders. It had bright red skin and long, sharp horns. This time, Haruo’s dad screamed. Haruo shook his head, embarrassed. The two oni ignored the scream and ran to each other. The large one swept up the little one in a giant hug. After a solid minute of hugging, the little oni lifted its head and waved at Haruo. “Should we go and say, ‘Hi,’?” “P-p-please, no,” his dad responded. Instead, Haruo just waved back as the onis walked away, behind the trees. “I hope the way down is less exciting than the way up,” his dad said as they started down the mountain. “Hey Haruo?” “Yeah, Dad?” “On the drive home, do you think you could tell me some of those stories Mom used to tell you?” “Sure, Dad. I’d like that.” “And then when we get home, maybe we can read some manga together.” “Really?” “After you finish your homework, of course.” “Ugh,” Haruo sighed. “...And help me clean up the mess in the laundry room.” Haruo was about to groan. Instead he thought about the underwear that was stuck to the ceiling, and started to laugh. He and his dad laughed all the way back to the car. This has been Only an Oni, written and read by Ryan Aoto. This has been a LibraryCall recording.