hot angry bruises

SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Elton John on Freddie Mercury. 

A 2ch story from 2004, posted in the middle of a thread called “Post About Strange Occurrences Around You: Thread 26.” The poster was anonymous at first, but started attaching their name later.

For your convenience, #??? and Hasumi indicate posts made by the thread creator. #2ch indicates a post made by any other 2chan user, they are not all the same person.

Please enjoy this story.

#??? This may just be my imagination… Can I post it anyway?

#2ch Go ahead.

#2ch What’s going on?

#??? I’ve been riding a certain train for a while, but something seems off.

#2ch Hmm…

#??? I always take this train to work. But it hasn’t stopped at any stations for the past twenty minutes or so. It usually only takes five minutes, seven or eight at worst. Oh, and there’s five other passengers, but they’re all sleeping.

#2ch Did you take the express train by mistake?

#2ch Is it a high-speed train?

#??? Well, it’s possible I may have just missed my stop. I’ll wait a little longer. If anything else strange occurs, I might bring it up here.

#2ch Try going to the car on the end to see the conductor, maybe?

#2ch It would be really bad if the driver had an epileptic fit or something. You should check on the conductor!

#??? Still not sign of stopping, so all right, I’ll take a look.

#??? There were blinds or something covering the window, so I couldn’t see the conductor or the driver. The route is a private railway in Shizuoka.

#2ch Knock on the window?

Hasumi I tried that, but nobody answered.

#2ch Can you see out the window? Names of stations you’re passing, etc.

Hasumi We came out a tunnel, so we’re dropping speed slightly. There usually aren’t any tunnels, though… It’s a train from Shin-Hamamatsu.

Hasumi Looks like we’re finally stopping at a station.

#2ch You aren’t going to get off there… are you?

Hasumi We’re stopped at Kisaragi Station. I wonder if I should get off. I’ve never heard of this place before.

#2ch Definitely check it out.

#2ch No, stay on until the last stop.

#2ch Oh, but it’s probably already departing now…

#2ch When did you get on the train?

Hasumi I’ve gotten off the train. The station’s unmanned. I believe I got on the train at 11:40.

#2ch I’m not finding any information on Kisaragi Station… And Hasumi, your train was going for over an hour? Well, that’s really strange.

#2ch Yeah, I’m not getting any results for Kisaragi Station…

Hasumi I’m looking for a schedule so I can get back, but I can’t find one. The train is still stopped, so it’d probably be safest to get back on… Well, it left while I was writing that.

#2ch Is there anyone nearby, or any buildings? It’s cold out, so be careful.

Hasumi I’ll look for a taxi from the station. Thank you very much.

#2ch Sounds good. Take care.

#2ch Way past the last train, at an unmanned station… Really questionable if you’ll have any luck finding a taxi there.

#2ch And so Hasumi became an inhabitant of the two-dimensional world…

Hasumi There don’t seem to be any taxis anywhere. Hmm…

#2ch Call 110? [Number for police.]

#2ch Call the taxi company?

#2ch If there’s a telephone booth nearby, look up the taxi company in the phonebook and call.

Hasumi I called home and asked to be picked up, but neither of my parents seem to know where Kisaragi Station is. They’ll look for it on the maps so they can come get me, but I’m getting a little scared now.

#2ch What about the others? Are you the only one who got off the train?

#2ch I checked online too, and the name Kisaragi Station isn’t coming up. Am I wrong in assuming it’s around Shin-Hamamatsu? I’ll check Yahoo.

Hasumi I looked for a public phone, but there’s nothing. And no one else got off, so I’m alone now. It’s definitely called Kisaragi.

#2ch Sometimes they have phones outside the station.

Hasumi Looking into it, apparently it’s written with the kanji for “Devil,” but it’s read “Kisaragi”…

#2ch Devil Station…? Yikes…

#2ch Are you a gaming nerd? ‘Cause a game comes up if you Google it.

#2ch Tell us the names of the stations before and after Kisaragi.

Hasumi What do you mean, a game? It doesn’t say what the next and previous stations are.

#2ch Walk back along the track.

#2ch If you start running now, you might catch up to the train!

#2ch There must be houses around the station, right?

Hasumi Yes, there are. I didn’t quite notice since I was panicking. I’m waiting for my parents to call while walking along the track. I tried checking town information on i-mode, but it gave me a “point error” or something. I want to go home.

Hasumi There’s really just nothing around here. All I can see are fields and mountains. But I think I’ll be able to make it back if I go down the track, so I’ll keep pushing on. Thank you very much. Treat this as a joke if you will, but can I come to you if I encounter any more trouble?

#2ch Of course. Just be careful out there.

#2ch Sure! Just make sure you don’t run out of battery. Your phone’s your lifeline right now.

#2ch Don’t get lost. And be careful in the tunnel.

#2ch Huh, you can get a signal out in the middle of nowhere? I kinda think you shouldn’t stray far from the station…

#2ch All alone on a cold night, at a station with no attendants… Soon the lights could go out, and it’ll be pitch black…

#2ch It really might be safest to wait for daybreak at the station, though…

#2ch Oh geez, this sounds bad…

Hasumi I got a call from my father, and he had many questions, but simply couldn’t find my location. I’ve been told to call 110, which I’m a little opposed to doing, but I’ll try asking them to help me now…

#2ch I really think you should wait until it gets lighter out before you do anything…

#2ch Waiting all alone in the dead of night? And in some ominous place, yikes…

#2ch ^ Going through a tunnel alone in the dead of night? And on some ominous train line, yikes…

Hasumi I called 110 and tried my absolute best to explain the situation, but they thought it was all a joke and got angry at me. So I got scared and apologized…

#2ch Apologized for what? Should probably give up for today. Wait for the first train.

#2ch What’s it like around the station? What’s there?

Hasumi I hear what sounds like a beating drum mixed with some kind of bell way off in the distance. Honestly, I have no idea what to do at this point.

#2ch Get back to the station for now, Hasumi. It’s best to return to where you started when you’re lost.

#2ch Here’s where it gets going…

#2ch Are they having a festival or what?

Hasumi You might think I’m kidding, but I’m too scared to look behind me. I do want to go back to the station, but… I don’t dare turn around.

#2ch Run. And don’t look back.

#2ch You can’t go back to the station now. Run through the tunnel! I’m sure you’ll find you’re not far.

Hasumi Someone behind me yelled “Hey! Don’t walk on the track, that’s dangerous!” I looked around expecting to see an attendant, and saw an one-legged old man, but he vanished. I think I’m too scared to move.

#2ch I told you not to look back! RUN

#2ch Calm down and listen to big bro, okay? Check out where that drum’s coming from. There’s bound to be somebody playing it…

#2ch ^ Where the hell are you planning to take Hasumi?

#2ch Why’d you know it was an “old man” if it was just a single leg?

#2ch ^ …Uh, I think Hasumi meant an old man who lost one of his legs.

#2ch Must’ve been an old man who died and lost a leg after walking along the track.

Hasumi I can’t walk or run any further. The drumming sound is getting a little closer.

#2ch Wait for dawn. It won’t be scary in the daylight.

#2ch I’m glad I stayed on the train…

Hasumi I’m still alive. But I fell and started bleeding, and I broke a heel, so I’m sitting still on the ground. I don’t want to die now…

#2ch It should be safe if you leave the tunnel. Once you get out of there, call for help immediately.

Hasumi I called home. Dad’s calling the police, but the sound keeps getting closer.

#2ch I hope to god that’s not the sound of a train… But it might be too late…

Hasumi I finally managed to make it to the front of the tunnel. The name says Isanuki. The sound’s still getting closer, so I’m going to leave the tunnel. If I’m safe once I get out of the tunnel, I’ll post again.

#2ch Good luck.

#2ch This is the end. Forget about trains and stations. Forget about going back. Forget about someone chasing you. The sound you’re hearing is just something you imagined. Run out of the tunnel. If you stop, you’ll only succumb to something which does not belong in this world.

Hasumi I left the tunnel. There’s someone up ahead. It looks like all your advice was right after all. Thank you so much. My face is such a mess from tears, he might just mistake me for a monster.

#2ch Wait, Hasumi! Don’t die on us!

#2ch Stop! That can’t be good!

#2ch Someone there? This late at night? That’s suspicious…

Hasumi He seems gentle, and was worried for me. He called for a train to take me to the nearest station. Apparently there’s some kind of business hotel there. I’m truly, truly thankful to all of you.

#2ch Hasumi, please answer me this one thing. Can you ask that man what that place is?

#2ch Is he really gentle? He sounds kinda scary from what you said…

#2ch That guy’s no good!! Why’s he by the track at this hour? He must’ve been a corpse or something! Hasumi, RUN!!

Hasumi I asked him where it was, and he said Hina. That seems extremely unlikely, though…

#2ch Hasumi, get off the train!

#2ch Excuse me, Hasumi? Where’s Hina?

Hasumi We’ve been headed toward the mountains for some time. It really doesn’t strike me as a place where trains would go. And he’s stopped talking to me entirely.

#2ch Probably because you’re constantly messing with your phone?

#2ch Hasumi, oh no, oh no… Did you contact your parents after you got out of the tunnel and received aid (?) from this guy?

#2ch Hasumi. Please call 110. This might be your last chance.

Hasumi My battery’s almost run out. Things are getting strange, so I think I’m going to make a run for it. He’s been talking to himself about bizarre things for a while now. To prepare for just the right time, I’m going to make this my last post for now.

* Afterward, “Hasumi” was never heard from again.