Half World by Hiromi Goto

her.
    Melanie stared up at her abductor.
    She was an ancient woman, dressed in cast-off clothing, her scraggly white hair tangled and knotted, her small eyes glinting wildly in her dark wrinkled face. Her abductor was scarcely taller than she was, and Melanie quaked at how she had managed to drag her body so easily. Melanie took a deep breath.
    â€œWhy—” Her voice cracked. She swallowed hard and tried once more, her words soft but clear. “Why have you brought me here?”
    The woman suddenly dropped onto all fours. She shoved her face into Melanie’s and the girl scrambled backward, even as the old woman scuttled forward.
    â€œUh! Uh!” Melanie gasped, until her way was blocked by a mound of books.
    â€œYou have something of mine!” the ancient woman hissed, her face too close. “Give it back to me!”
    My life, Melanie thought, her heart gulping inside her throat. She wants to be alive. Like I am. She wants my life for her own. . . .
    The maddened woman reached out with two gnarled hands. But instead of wrapping them around her neck, the old woman began patting the outside of Melanie’s clothes. As if she was looking for something. She found the unzipped pocket and eagerly crammed her hand inside.

    The old woman gave a jubilant cry.
    She yanked her hand out, fingers clenched into a fist, the red strings of the jade amulet dangling.
    â€œOh!” Melanie cried out, reaching out to grab the woman’s arm, but she scurried back, holding the amulet to her chest, her second hand pressed protectively over her closed fist.
    â€œIt’s here! Found! After all these years. These eons! This interminable Half Life! Jade Rat! Jade Rat! You are returned to me!” The old woman’s voice broke apart. She sank to her knees, eyes closed, and great tears rolled down her wrinkled face.
    From between the cracks of her fingers a green light began to glow, stronger, brighter, and the old woman opened her eyes. Wonderingly, she opened her hand and the brilliant light filled the cavernous room. As if a warm breeze was lifting off the small bright stone, the old woman’s tangled hair began to stir. For a moment the air smelled sweet, like a stand of young aspens after a spring rain.
    Melanie, her mouth slightly open, could only stare with wonder. The green light flared, a halo around the old woman’s torso, then it began to fade, growing dimmer, the rays shrinking, until all that was left was a small emerald ember inside the heart of the stone.
    Melanie looked up at the old woman’s face. The hard lines beside her mouth, the harsh glint to her eyes had faded. She looked human.
    The old woman slumped to her bottom. She gazed at the glowing amulet in her palm. The face she raised was full of peace.
    â€œChild,” the old woman said, gently. “I thank you. With all my spirit.”
    Melanie gulped. Several seconds passed. “You’re welcome,” Melanie said softly, accepting the old woman’s gratitude. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it seemed that she wasn’t going to die. Yet.
    They both sagged with a weary sigh.
    There was a shimmer of movement in the old woman’s trembling palm. The small jade amulet shivered from stone to creature, and Jade Rat, stiff whiskers bobbing wildly with excitement, ran up the old woman’s arm to nestle against her cheek.
    Melanie’s heart gave a pang of envy.
    The woman raised her hand to gently cup the trembling rat. “By what grace are you here with me, after all these years, dear, dear companion?” Great tears rolled down the woman’s cheeks. Tears of joy.
    â€œGao Zhen Xi,” Jade Rat whispered with a softness Melanie had never heard before.
    â€œI have been lost, in the mad cycles of Half World, for thousands upon thousands of years. And yet you have brought me light. I am like someone woken inside my own nightmare.” The old woman shook her head slowly.