Solitary Shrine

No.33391646

>Once the times were unhappy and a plague spread across the land.
>little anon brushed his teeth twice a day and ate his veggies so he was fine, but everyone in his village died, and so he left
>night came and he became lost in the woods
>little anon was afraid, but then he saw a light in the dark
>he arrived in another village, and here everyone had died also
>but the night watchman had cared for his lamp, and this lamp had become a Chochin-Obake
>anon was glad to find light in the dark, and the Chochin-Obake was glad to have someone whose path to illuminate again, and so they set out together
>then came the rain
>anon and his lamp became wet and sought refuge in another village, but here also everyone had perished
>from only one house's chimney there came smoke, and thence anon and his lamp went
>here had once lived a man who made and sold parasols and umbrellas
>the first he had ever made he had never sold, but had kept for himself, and cared for greatly, and now it had become a Karakasa-Obake
>the umbrella girl was glad to shield anon and the lamp, and so they set out together, and for a time they were glad
>then came the wind, and it made the flame flutter and the umbrella couldn't protect her friends from it
>they sought refuge in another village, but here too everyone had died
>but a voice called out to them, and on a clothes-line they found an Ittan-Momen who had once been the robe of a monk, and his only possession
>the cloth-woman shielded her friends from the wind's chill, the umbrella kept them all dry and the lamp lit their way, and so anon and her friends went up to the great lake in the woods
>here they found a solitary shrine, and a Ryu who the people had once worshipped
>"I am glad you have come" she said, "for I have been very alone since the people stopped visiting"
>so anon and his friends found a new home in the shrine, and none of them were alone anymore, and they were all cared for because a dragon's most precious treasure are the people she loves