A girl called Arelle lived within the woods. She’d been looking for her mother for years. One day, as she prepared for dinner, she thought, “I may find her,” and with that, she ran out, knife and fork in her hands.

Arelle searched, and soon it was pitch dark. At the top of a hill, she saw a figure. “That must be Mother!” She followed the footsteps.

Arelle began to whistle with excitement. However it was midnight, and snakes gathered to the sound. Scared, Arelle yelled “Go away!” as she threw her knife. The knife stabbed the mysterious red moon, which started to melt and cover up the footsteps.

Arelle stood in despair as she watched. “Oh no, I thought I finally found Mother…”

Minutes passed, and Arelle noticed that the snakes did not scare her now. “I’ll give up for today, and enjoy this situation.” she said. She whistled til sunrise.

Afterword: In Japan, there’s a saying “When you whistle at night, snakes come!”

Illustration, story, music: Gumiko Translation: Teineko