Akiko still wasn’t entirely settled when Mr Takenaka left, so she decided to gather a bit more litter before trying to leave. She strongly suspected that she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she tried to go too early, anyway. She went back to the edge of the wood, the ground uneven, the soil shifting slightly underfoot. She shone her torch into the shadows at the bases of the trees and in the undergrowth, looking for the flashes of colour that indicated rubbish. A chill breeze made her shiver, and the trees rustled in apparent sympathy.

A low sound broke the stillness, a grating sound, like two large rocks sliding over each other. The ground did not move, but Akiko still looked around nervously, casting the beam of her torch around. She could see nothing different, even when she trained the beam on the group of rocks behind the shrine, and after a few seconds the sound stopped.

Slightly puzzled, Akiko went back to collecting rubbish. She stepped over a tree root, and stumbled as the ground shook slightly. The grating sound of sliding rocks was larger this time, and Akiko ran out of the woods, into the open ground, in case the earthquake got worse. By the time she was standing by the shrine, the ground was still again. The noise of grinding rocks had still not stopped, however, and it seemed to be coming from the stones behind the shrine.

Cautiously, Akiko moved a bit closer to get a better view of them. She couldn’t see any obvious movement, and she shone her torch on them, its light casting sharp shadows of one rock on another. The individual stones were large, one taller than she was, and a very deep green, with swirling white veins running through them. She could see four, one set vertically, with two others leaning against it over a horizontal one at the base, and they seemed completely still, even as the grinding sound continued, and even got louder.

Keeping her distance, Akiko began to move round the rocks, wondering if there was another one round the back. As she lifted her foot to take a step, the ground kicked up, sharply, and she lost her balance, shrieking in surprise as she dropped the torch and little bag, throwing her hands out to catch herself as she fell.

The ground was cold, and both her hands landed on several sharp pebbles, leaving them grazed and bleeding. Her torch went out as it hit the ground, and she heard it rolling across the grass, a thin, tinny sound. Sucking her breath in at the pressure on her smarting palms, she pushed herself up to a kneeling position, looking up at the rocks as she started to stand up.

There was a light within the rocks, a deep, angry red, like a banked fire or lava in the heart of a volcano. It brightened, its source apparently hidden in the crevice where the four rocks met, and as it did so, a blast of warm air struck Akiko in the face. The light faded again, almost disappearing, and then brightened again, warm, dry air heavy with the smell of hot metal blowing over Akiko. She found that she couldn’t summon up the will to move, instead sitting fascinated by the light. It strengthened again, and this time the wind, very warm this time, was accompanied by a slight tremor in the earth, which passed as the light faded once more.

The pulsing continued, each interval shorter than the last, the light brighter, the wind stronger and hotter and the tremor worse every time. Akiko’s paralysis was replaced by terror, panic pouring through her as a hot wind blew over her, and she sprang to her feet. As she did so, the earth shook again, violently, and she lost her balance, falling back to the earth, tasting soil in her mouth as she sprawled in the dirt. She looked up, and a strong wind as hot as an oven blew grit into her eyes, making them sting and water.

She tried to push herself upright, but the tremors were too strong, every time she fell back onto her stomach. Looking up, she could see the rocks, apparently unaffected by the quakes, and the red light burning within them, now bright and hot enough to make her eyes water if she looked directly at it, a rising sun held within a rocky embrace.

The wind was constant now, and hot, although it still pulsed stronger and weaker, faster and faster, and the clouds of grit blown from the rocks forced Akiko to keep her eyes closed. She pressed her face against the soil, gripping the shaking ground with her hands, whispering desperate apologies to she knew not what.

There was a deafening crash of thunder, felt as much as heard, shaking her bones and making her shiver to her core, with a flash of lightning so bright that she could see it, red through her eyelids, even though she had her face down. And then the rain came, falling straight down, heavier than she could ever remember, soaking her in moments and turning the earth she was lying on to mud, which seeped into her clothes.

She tried once more to lift her head, looking at the rocks, at the red light from within them, which still shone brightly, the rain steaming as it struck the rocks around it. The wind had dropped, and the earth was no longer shaking, so Akiko tried once more to stand up, caked in mud. As she did so, the wind started again, blowing the rain straight at her. The rain was heavy, but warm, and even as it soaked her to the skin, she was not chilled. The wind was so strong that she had to lean against it to avoid being blown backwards, but she did manage to stand up.

Not sure why she did it, she managed to bow twice, clap twice, and then bow one final time.

The light vanished, the rain and wind stopping as if someone had thrown a switch. The ground was still wet, covered with puddles, and Akiko was drenched, but clean, the rain having washed all the mud from her. Nervous, she grabbed her torch and bag of litter, and hurried from the shrine.

The path from the shrine building to the torii was dry.