Moirae

Last Saturday I taught a class I titled: Mysteries. The week before, students had been asked to research a mystery as homework. The class was then divided into three groups and each was given the task of discussing and presenting to the others a single mystery. After this each group was to present explanations or solutions. These could be as scientific or fantastical as the students desired. This particular class came up with a tale I think worth relating.

THE MYSTERY

Yoko (not her real name) is a young woman who has spent each summer for the last 10 years or so on a tiny island near Okinawa called Miyako-jima. She usually travels there with her sister, to escape the various pressures of life in Tokyo. She spends her vacation time wandering the island, shopping, snorkeling, and enjoying the local customs, festivals, and cuisine.

Two summers ago, while walking through a forested area she had explored many times, she and her sister became strangely lost. After wandering for some hours, they came across a glade they had never seen before. In the glade, three old women were dancing and singing old Min'yō songs (Okinawan folk music). They were accompanied by a small plastic battery-powered CD/cassette player.

The first woman was around 50ish and extremely friendly and garrulous. She invited the girls to dance and sing. She talked non-stop about nothing in particular, offering the girls tea. Yoko described her as mother-like.

The second woman was younger, and silent. She never spoke, but danced.

The third woman was ancient, in her 90s, and blind.

After twenty minutes of dancing these old dances, the girls decided they needed to move on. The talkative woman led the girls to a small white car parked nearby and drove them out of the forest, back to a nearby road where there was a small store. She cheerfully bought the girls icecream and bid them farewell, returning the way she had come.

The next year, Yoko returned to the island, and sought to find the glade again. When she returned, however, there was nothing to be found but a tall stand of old trees. The glade had disappeared.

THE RATIONAL EXPLANATION

Yoko had made a mistake on her return to the island, and failed to find the glade that is undoubtedly still there.

THE FANTASTICAL EXPLANATION

Yoko had met the three Fates. The glade was an otherworldly place, outside of normal space and time. The white car was a supernatural conveyance (white is the color of death and of Japanese animistic gods.) This meeting with the Fates hinted at some great change to come.

keitai