...PAGE - ONE...

...1955...

A chill rolled down my back as my friend Riru

and I gazed up at my new house. The house was

dark gray with peeling paint. Black shutters

tilted at the dust-smeared windows.

Under the sloping roof, one attic window was

broken and covered with cardboard. The wind

whistled into the window, high above our heads.

It sounded like someone screaming.

I wanted to scream.

"It's a haunted house," I said. “It belongs in a

horror movie."

"Your mom will get it cleaned up, Asahi,"

Riru said.

I knew Riru for only a couple of weeks. She

was the first friend I made since we moved

to Sunshu Village. She was cheerful Miss

Sunshine all the time.

I told her that. She said, “I'd rather be Miss

Sunshine than someone howling at the full moon."

Does that make any sense?

Riru was always saying things like that. But

I liked her anyway. She was cute. She was fifteen,

like me. Tiny, with a pointed chin and pointed

little nose.She had short blond hair and green eyes. And she usually wore the same green sweater witha lacy white collar. I guess because it matched her eyes.

“I couldn't get to sleep last night,” I said. “I

kept hearing a tap-tap-tap above me. I knew what

it was. It was mice running across my ceiling."

“Tap-tap-tap is better than thump-thumpthump," Riru said. That made me laugh.

I turned away from the house. It made me sad

that Mom and I had to live in such a creepy old

wreck of a place. But we really had no choice.

My dad was in the war. And Mom was working two factory jobs to earn enough money for us to get by. I almost never saw her.

"You're the man of the house now, Asahi,"

Mom told me the day we moved into this horrible

place. "It's a tough time for everyone. And being

gloomy isn't going to help.”

"But Gloomy is my middle name," I said.

"Asahi Gloomy Tokugawa."

I was trying to make her laugh. She hardly

ever smiled these days, and she had these lines

under her eyes she never had before.

She swept her black hair behind her shoulder.

"Promise me you'll do your best,” she said.

I raised my right hand and swore I'd do

my best.

"We are lucky to have a house," Mom said.

"Lucky," I repeated.

She tugged at the brown leather bomber jacket

I liked to wear because it made me look tough.

"Asahi, that jacket is getting small on you,"

she said.

"I'll try not to grow anymore," I told her. I

tightened my stomach and hunched down to my

knees.

That made her laugh.

Now, Riru and I stood in front of the house with

the October wind gusting around us. Fat brown

leaves danced around our legs.

"I guess the worst part is living across the

street from a graveyard," I said.

Riru poked me in the ribs. “Are you scared?”

she asked in a singsong voice. “Is little Asahi

scared of a graveyard?"

“I'm not scared," I said, poking her back. "It's

just ... depressing."

“Ooh. Big word,” she said. "So? You live in a

haunted house across the street from a graveyard. What is the big deal?"

The truth is, maybe I was a little scared. I'm

not a tough guy. Sometimes I have nightmares

that make me wake up all sweaty and shaky.

And I've never been in a fight with another kid.

I always find a way to talk my way out of fights,

or Captain Marvel, the new comic book heroes. I

When I was little, I pretended to be Superman

wore a towel for a cape and had my underpants

over my pajama pants. And I ran around, pretending to "leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

I think I really believed there were these powerful guys in capes and tights who were around

to fight bad guys and protect everyone else. But

then my dad went off to war, and I had to grow

up a little and forget that comic book stuff.

Riru leaned into the wind and trotted across

the street, her blond hair bouncing behind her.

"Hey, wait up!” I shouted. “Where are you

going?”

I could see where she was headed. Into the

graveyard.

Our shoes crackled over the brown leaves as

we followed a path through the tilted stone graves.

Wind gusts made the old gravestones creak and

groan.

"Why don't we go to the candy store instead?”

I asked. I pointed to the little store on the corner

past the graveyard. “I have a nickel. We could

load up on root beer barrels and licorice sticks."

“Mom said not to ruin my appetite for dinner,"

Riru said. "Don't you like walking in this place?

Some of the graves are so old —”

"It's... my first time," I said.

The sky darkened. I looked up and saw storm

clouds rolling overhead. The wind rattled the

limbs of the old tree beside us.

I shivered. I raised the collar of my bomber

jacket. My eyes gazed all around. The blowing,

crackling leaves made the whole place seem

alive.

Riru pointed. “That grave is so tiny. Do you

think a child is buried there?”

Before I could answer, I saw something that

made me gasp.

I grabbed Riru's arm. “Look. Riru. Something

just moved — by that tombstone.”

We both stared into the gray light.

"Oh, noooo," I moaned.

I watched, trembling in horror as someone

climbed out of a grave.

I squeezed Riru's arm. We both froze and watched.

Dressed all in black, the terrifying figure kept

his face down. He stepped from behind the tall

gravestone — raised his arms in front of him –

and began staggering stiffly toward riru and me.

“No000. Oh, noooo.” Another moan escaped

my throat.

And then the staggering creature raised his

head -- and I screamed. “Sai! You jerk!"

My little brother tossed back his black hood and

burst out laughing. He has a high, shrill hyena

laugh that makes me want to strangle him.

But I grabbed him by the shoulders instead,

and shook him hard. “You little rat. You scared

us to death."

That made Sai laugh even harder.

Riru laughed, too. “He got you this time, Asahi."

“Me?” I cried. “Me? You were scared, too, Riru."

"No, I wasn't,” she said. “I was only pretending."

The sky grew even darker, and I heard the

rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Let go of me," Sai said.

I didn't realize I was still gripping his

shoulders.

He stamped hard on my right foot.

"Owww!" I uttered a cry and staggered back.

Sai laughed again. He's a little creep.

He's always following me and trying to scare

me. I'd like to smash him. But as the man of the

house, my job is to watch over him and take care

of him as best I can.

The truth is, I can't really hate him. Mainly

because he looks just like me. We both have

thick, wavy black hair, round faces, dark eyes,

and we're tall and kind of beefy.

“Look what I found," Sai said. He

grabbed my hand and started to pull me along

the grassy path between the graves.

The wind felt wet. It shook the trees and sent

the dead leaves skipping over the old tombstones.

“Look,” Sai said, pointing down.

Riru and I stared at a deep hole in the ground.

“It's an open grave," Riru said.

I shivered again. I pulled my jacket tighter. "It's

an open grave, waiting for someone," I murmured.

I grabbed Sai. "Maybe it's waiting for you!"

He pulled away. "Maybe it's waiting for someone named Asahi," he said. His dark eyes flashed.

“I dare you to jump down there."

My eyes darted over the grave. It was deep

and the mud walls were black. Even in the din

light, I could see fat worms crawling over the

grave floor.

Riru laughed.

“What's so funny?" I snapped.

“Your face," she said. "You look so terrified.

It's just a mud hole, Asahi."

“No, it isn't," I replied. “Someone dug this for

a dead person. It isn't a hole - it's a grave."

"I knew you couldn't do it,” Sai said. He

laugh and smile, like he'd won a big victory. “I'm braver than you are! I'm braver than

you are!”

Riru turned to me. Her green eyes locked on

mine. “Go ahead. Jump in,” she whispered.

"Don't let Sai win."

I squinted into the grave. I watched the worms

crawling in the mud at the bottom. It looked

so dark and disgusting down there. But I had

just met Riru. I didn't want her to think I was a

coward.

I stepped to the edge.

Should I do it? Should I jump?

Before I could decide, someone gave me a hard

shove from behind.

"Hey!" I let out a scream and went sailing

into the grave.

“Owww.” I landed hard on my elbows and knees.

Pain shot down my whole body.

I struggled to climb to my feet. The strong

smell of the mud floor rose to my nostrils. Wet

clumps of dirt smeared my hands.

Riru and Sai peered down at me. I growled

and shook my fist at my brother. "You pushed

me — you rat! I'll get you! I'm not kidding. You'll

be sorry, you jerk.”

Sai's eyes grew wide. "But ... I didn't,” he

stammered. “Asahi - I swear. I didn't push you."

"Liar!" I screamed. “You dirty liar!” I tried to

rub the mud off my hands on the legs of my jeans.

“I never touched you," Sai insisted.

"He's telling the truth," Riru called down. The

wind gusted hard, almost drowning out her

voice. She brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I

was watching him, Asahi. He didn't push you."

“Oh, yeah?” I snarled. “Someone shoved me

down here. Who was it?”

Riru laughed. “Maybe it was a ghost.”

Rain started to come down. Big, heavy drops

that made a splat sound on the muddy grave

floor.

I rubbed my back. It still ached from the hard

push. I don't believe in ghosts. Sai had to

be lying. He pushed me. It's the kind of thing

Sai likes to do.

Riru was just trying to protect him.

Rain slapped the sides of the grave. “Get me

out of here," I said. “It's too deep. I can't climb out

by myself.”

Riru had her hands on her knees. She bent over

the grave. “You can't climb up the side?”

"It's too muddy,” I said. "I'd just slide right

back down."

She turned to Sai. "Come help me.”

They both reached down for me. I raised my

arms to them. They each grabbed a hand and

tugged. I saw the dirt at the side of the grave

crumble away.

"Noooo!" Riru screamed as she started to fall.

I staggered back as they both came tumbling

into the grave.

Sai landed on his feet. His body appeared

to bounce, but he kept his balance.

Riru landed facedown in the mud.

"I don't believe this," I muttered. I grabbed

Riru by the shoulders of her sweater and helped

pull her to her feet.

She blinked a few times, stunned. Then she

grinned at me. “I wasn't expecting a mud bath

today," she said. “Look at me. I'm dripping in

mud. So this is what pigs feel like."

Cheerful. Always cheerful.

"I ... I'm not happy right now," Sai

murmured.

"Going down into the grave was your idea,”

I said.

He shook his head. “I wanted you to go into

the grave - not me."

The raindrops came down harder. Above us, I

could hear the wind swirling through the graves.

I dug both hands into the grave wall and tried

to climb. But my hands slid right back down. The

mud fell off in big clumps.

Lightning crackled above us.

"We've got to get out of here," I said.

Without another word, all three of us began to

scream.

"Help! Help us! Can anybody hear us?

Somebody - help!"