The blossom festival

The bittersweet air of blossom came again, a constant reminder of death. For most peoples in this world, the blossoms were a sign of spring, and summer just around the corner. For me it reminded me of the loss of the dear ones, and what happened to my mother long ago. The evening of the blossom was commonly known around these parts, a celebration of life and death. Many forget these old tales and just focus on the happiness in life. 

My mother disappeared on the evening of the blossom festival, she was supposed to go two blocks down and get some candy for me. She never returned, the police found nothing and no one had seen her. With that many peoples celebrating, it's always hard to keep track of who and what, or at least that is what the police told me. I never saw her again, I've waited for years but nothing. I was 6 when she disappeared and now im 18, and the case got cold quickly. I was sent to live with my grandfather, he always said that "The Lantern Man" took her away. Either that or "The Sly fox got her fooled", he always stood by those things. All these years he never changed those words, even the police thought he was a bit nutty. To be honest I did too, for the longest time. The story of the sly fox and the lantern man was a tale from when grandfather was young, he claims that a lot of "young women" were snatched. 

They said that if a young woman went out alone past midnight, the spirits would lure her from the human world to the spirit world. It was never clear who did, or what occurred after you enter the spirit world. My grandfather described the spirit world as a limbo, where spirits could either be stuck forever or pass on. The spirits would always have multiple choices, but the two biggest in the spirit world would be The lantern male and the sly fox. They were good friends once many eons ago, but the sly fox started slowly lure souls away from the man's lantern on purpose and no longer let the souls decide for themselves. The male was a collector of sorts, but also one that cared for the souls deeply. Hurt by the fox he started to do the same thing, and they would never speak to each other again. 

I have never been sure about the parts, but I want to find out. So this night, the evening of the blossom festival I will disappear. I no longer have anything that binds me to the earth, so I will roam the spirit realm looking for my mother. I will find her even if it means I need to outsmart a fox and escape a lantern man.