By Natsumi Tanaka
Translated by Toshiya Kamei
Once upon a time, deep down in the sea there lived a mechanical doll named Mai-hime. When she was still human, she lived in a small fishing village by the sea. While collecting seafood on the beach, she was captured and brought to Ryūgū Castle at the bottom of the ocean. Like other prisoners held captive by the tyrannical king Ryūoh, she was turned into an automaton, deprived of the freedom to move her body at will. Still, thanks to Ryūoh’s whim, she was allowed to keep her consciousness.
Along with other female automatons, Mai-hime was assigned to entertain guests at festivities inside the castle. Against her will, she was forced to wear a revealing kimono that barely covered her body and seduce her guests with alluring moves.
The hall overflowed with male guffaws ridiculing Mai-hime, but she was helpless to stop it. She wasn’t even able to frown on her own. She kept wearing her mechanical smile for the pleasure of her guests.
One day, a young land-folk arrived on a turtle’s back. His name was Urashima. Like Mai-hime, he was captured while getting ready to go fishing. But unlike her, Urashima wasn’t held against his will.
As a horde of servants kowtowed before him, Urashima felt like a daimyo with his own castle. It never occurred to him that he was surrounded by automatons.
Mai-hime appeared in the hall every night, performing a welcoming dance in her risqué kimono. She sat next to Urashima—her knees almost close enough to touch his—and poured him one cup of sake after another.
As she was once a land-folk herself, Mai-hime’s appearance pleased Urashima. Under Ryūoh’s control, she seemed graceful and fascinating in his eyes. Her constant attention boosted his ego. Urashima never imagined Mai-hime was forced to serve him against her will.
Ryūoh concocted everything to amuse himself and his guests. While he pretended to entertain Urashima, he enjoyed the farce unfolding in front of them. Ryūoh took pleasure in watching Mai-hime humiliated. He revealed his ruse to his guests so that they could also savor the vulgarity.
One day Ryūoh brought his own daughter to the banquet to pit her against Mai-hime. Ryū-hime made a striking contrast to Mai-hime. Her rival boasted prominent curves, which made quite an impression on Urashima, as he’d never seen a sea-folk before.
Look at that princess in this extravagant castle! She’s nothing like the girls back home! Charmed by her smile, gestures, and conversational skills, Urashima was smitten right away.
Urashima couldn’t take his eyes off Ryū-hime. Against her own will, Mai-hime was forced to shamelessly flirt with Urashima. She clung to him and attempted to seduce him away from her rival in vain. Every guest snickered. While Urashima was oblivious, Mai-hime suffered greatly as there was nothing she could do.
The banquet lasted three years. With dark bags under her eyes, Mai-hime looked haggard and exhausted. On the other hand, Urashima looked more plump and round after eating, drinking, and sleeping every day for the last few years.
Around this time, Ryūoh became bored with the farce. So did his guests. Ryū-hime got tired of flirting with Urashima. It was time to pull the curtains over the stage.
As the turtle sensed Ryūoh would ask him to take Urashima home, he asked for a long holiday. Thus, it fell to Mai-hime to take him back to his village.
Mai-hime had a map embedded in her, along with an ability to swim like a mermaid. Still under Ryūoh’s control, she started out with Urashima in her arms.
As the turtle had predicted, their journey was a difficult one. Despite her newly acquired skills, Mai-hime lacked features suited for long-distance swimming. Yet, she had no choice but to keep going. Urashima struggled in her arms, slowing her down considerably. They were constantly exposed to rapid changes in the tide. Just as they approached the beach, a fierce storm gave them a harsh welcome. Still with Urashima in her arms, she landed aground, utterly exhausted.
As she felt strange sensations, she looked at her hands. To her astonishment, she was able to move her body. She got up. No one controlled her. At last, she was free. Now what? In order to gather necessary information, she gazed at the sea.
The current had shifted. The route stored in her map was no longer useful. She’d lost communication with the castle.
What should I do now? She stood at the water’s edge, dazed, the soft salty breeze tickling her face. I’m . . . free. As she started down the beach, the wet sand scrambled up between her toes. I don’t need to go back!
Mai-hime gazed at her hands again. She closed her fists and opened them. They moved according to her will. She’d never imagined she’d recover this ability.
“Something’s wrong?” Urashima asked as he got up and dusted the sand off his body.
“Nothing, really.” She shook her head. He must think I’m in love with him. He looks so defenseless.
“Well, the map isn’t working,” she confessed. “I don’t know how to get back.”
“Seriously?” He sounded surprised. “Then, why don’t you come live with me?”
What an egoist! He picked Ryūoh’s daughter over me. He surely despises me. He only likes me by default. I don’t trust him, but what choice do I have left? Without revealing her true feelings, she accepted his offer.
Urashima’s village was located in the opposite direction of her village. I wish I could go home now. But what if he finds out I’m a land-folk himself? For now, I’d better follow him as I’m told. Soon he’ll let his guard down. I’ll escape when the time comes.
They walked abreast along a deserted path. After a moment of hesitation, Urashima reached for her hand. She was taken aback. Yet, she overcame her instinct to spurn his hand. Instead, she took his hand and kept walking.
They didn’t meet anyone while he almost dragged her along. Urashima made occasional stops as if to think about something. Soon he resumed his journey toward his village.
The map embedded in Mai-hime indicated they had been going round and round the same places. She stopped. Urashima looked back. He appeared to say something, but he let go of her hand and crouched down, grimacing.
He’s so out of shape. When Mai-hime kneeled down next to him, he grabbed her hand.
“Can’t find it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t find my village.”
“Excuse me?”
“My village was near the beach,” Urashima continued. “I thought we’d taken the wrong path. We wandered around, but we couldn’t find a way to reach the village. The funny part is there’s nobody around here. My home isn’t here anymore. It’s gone.”
“We got caught in a storm on the way. We might have arrived at the wrong beach in the first place.”
“I don’t get it, though.”
“Why don’t we go back to the beach?” Mai-hime suggested.
Urashima nodded.
This time, she led the way. Truth be told, she couldn’t care less about finding Urashima’s home. All she wanted now was to go home to her village.
Mai-hime walked a little ahead; Urashima followed her. She cursed herself for feeling protective toward the helpless man.
I don’t even like him one bit. What’s got into me? Mai-hime didn’t understand why she wanted to help him. Her newfound freedom was confusing, even painful.
She hurried toward the village she once called home. Although the landscapes looked different, she spotted familiar signposts along the path. They looked more dilapidated than she remembered, but she shook away the notion. At least we’re headed in the right direction. She made several stops so that her travel companion could catch his breath.
“There’s no one around . . .” she wondered aloud while they rested on the roadside. Then realisation hit her, making her heart race.
Her village was gone, too.
As she turned and shook her head, Urashima’s face contorted. Then he burst into tears.
“Am I being punished for abandoning my home?”
Ryūoh must be behind this, Mai-hime thought. It’s got nothing to do with us.
Urashima crumbled to his knees. Not knowing what to do, Mai-hime knelt down next to Urashima and placed her hands on his trembling shoulders. While still sobbing, Urashima leaned on Maihime. This was something he’d never done at Ryūgū Castle.
“You’re so nice to me,” Urashima said.
Unfortunately, he’s the only one I’ve got. I’ve got no choice but to stay with him. Better not to make him angry. She kept petting him in a mechanical, half-hearted manner.
All of a sudden, Urashima looked up.
“Now I remember. Ryūoh gave me a gift before we departed. He said, ‘If you ever find yourself in trouble, you should open it.’”
Fear ran through Mai-hime. Ryūoh’s up to no good.
“Let’s open that box. It’s our only hope.” Urashima clung to her, his eyes pleading with hers.
“No!” She glared at him. “Trust me, you don’t need this, Urashima-san. Aww, you’re hurting me. Let me go!”
“Let me have it, bitch!” Urashima tightened his grip on her wrists. “Ryūoh gave it to me!”
Mai-hime struggled to free herself from his grasp.
“Listen to me, Urashima-san. I promise I’ll never leave you. You can’t open this box!”
“Get out of my way! Why do you stop me?”
“Well . . .” Mai-hime hesitated. Should I tell him it’s Ryūoh’s trap?
Urashima shoved her with all his might. She fell, the box scurrying across the ground. Without minding her, Urashima dove for the box.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
He grabbed the box and opened it. Wisps of white smoke rose from inside and enveloped his face. He gasped, dropped the box, and suddenly, to Mai-hime’s horror, she faced a white-haired old man with bent shoulders and bowed back. He sank down to the ground.
The box was empty.
Then it dawned on her that Urashima had spent more than three years at the castle. She cowered in horror. Ryūoh even controlled the passage of time.
So many years had passed that their villages had vanished without a trace.
On top of that, only Urashima aged accordingly. Looking at her own hands, she knew she didn’t age along with him. Suddenly, time was tearing them apart. He was going to leave her behind.
Mai-hime rose to her feet and picked up the box from the ground. She shook it, then struck it, but no smoke came out.
She screamed in despair. Nothing in the world could help her now. As she reached toward him, seeking comfort, Urashima let out a yelp and crawled away from her.
Following his gaze, she realised what frightened and repulsed Urashima. A tear across her skin revealed her elaborate mechanism, the sun’s rays shining on the nuts, gears, and springs. When he pushed her down, she’d landed on a sharp stone on the ground, cutting open her skin.
“Y-you-y-you’re not human!” Urashima’s voice trembled. “Stay away from me!” As his illusion of her crumbled to dust, his weakened heart gave out. Despair was the last thing that flashed through his mind.
As he breathed his last, Mai-hime remained frozen, unable to reach out and comfort him in his last moments. Her gaze hovered over his shrivelled body until he stopped fidgeting altogether.
After a long while, Mai-hime approached Urashima, who lay lifeless. When she placed her hand on him, he was already cold, unfamiliar to her touch.
“Let the sea take him,” she whispered to herself as she gently closed his eyes.
Left to her own devices, she’d have to forge her own path.
About the Author
Natsumi Tanaka
Natsumi Tanaka is a writer living in Kyoto, Japan. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous Japanese magazines such as Anima Solaris, Kotori no kyuden, and Tanpen.
She is the author of the short story collection Yumemiru ningyo no okoku (2017).
Translated by Toshiya Kamei, her short fiction has appeared in various English-language publications, including Daily Science Fiction, Japanese Fantasy Drabbles, and The William & Mary Review.
About the Translator
Toshiya Kamei
Toshiya Kamei holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Arkansas.
His translations have appeared in venues such as Clarkesworld, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and World Literature Today.
Ion Newcombe is the editor and publisher of AntipodeanSF, Australia’s longest running online speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued since January 1998, and conceived back around November 2007. He has been a zealous reader and occasional writer of SF since his childhood in the 1960s, and even sold a few stories here and there back in the '90s.
Mark Webb's midlife crisis came in the form of attempting to write speculative fiction at a very slow pace. His wife maintains this is a good outcome considering the more expensive and cliched alternatives. Evidence of Mark's attempts to procrastinate in his writing, including general musings and reviews of books he has been reading, can be found at www.markwebb.name.
Evan James Sheldon’s work has appeared recently in American Literary Review, the Cincinnati Review, and New Flash Fiction Review.
Jake Dean is a writer and waverider living on Kaurna land in South Australia.
Matthew R. Doherty currently resides in Leeds, England, where he spends most of his free time writing about military history, but his other consuming passion is for science fiction.
Joanna is a writer who lives in the bush near the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland.
Geraldine Borella writes adult short stories and stories for children and has been published in anthologies for both. In 2018, one of her children’s short stories placed second in The Buzz Words Short Story Prize and she won an ASA Emerging Writer’s Mentorship. She currently works part-time as a hospital pharmacist and as an online creative writing tutor.
Andrew writes science-fiction and fantasy from the state of Maryland on the eastern coast of the United States, often drawing ideas from jogs through forest trails at sunrise or a tasty beer at sunset. 
Tim Borella has never lost his childhood passion for SF and writing in general and has been lucky enough to have worked most of his life as a pilot — in other words, he’s never properly grown up.
Old enough to just remember the first manned Moon landing, Kevin was so impressed he made science his life.
Simon Petrie, born and educated in New Zealand, now lives in the Australian Capital Territory, where he is paid to be careful with words.
Mark is an astrophysicist and space scientist who worked on the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn. Following this he worked in computer consultancy, engineering, and high energy research (with a stint at the JET Fusion Torus).
Pixie is a voice actor, cabaret performer & slam poet From the Blue Mountains in NSW.
Although a writer of the baby boom persuasion, Ed has not boomed for quite a while.
Margaret lives the good life on a small piece of rural New South Wales Australia, with an amazing man, a couple of pets, and several rambunctious wombats.
Sarah Pratt is an avid fiction writer and a Marketing Consultant.
Garry Dean lives on the Mid Coast of New South Wales Australia, and has been a fan of SF for most of his natural life. Being vision impaired, he makes good use of voice recognition and text to speech in order to write. Many of his stories have appeared in AntipodeanSF over the years, and his love of all things audio led him to join the narration team in 2017.
Timothy Gwyn is a professional pilot in Canada, where he flies to remote communities. During a lull in his flying career, he was a radio announcer for three years, and he is also an author.
Laurie Bell lives in Melbourne, Australia. She was that girl you found with her nose always buried in a book. She has been writing ever since she was a little girl and first picked up a pen. From books to short stories, radio plays to snippets of ideas and reading them aloud to anyone who will listen.
