An Unexpected Find

Dark Lore Digest Prompt #6: Before it All Began

Image by 小满 郭 from Pixabay

Hiroto regarded the creature. “What is it?”

“Some kind of turtle?” Itsuki poked at it with a stick from the riverbank. “It’s got the shell.”

“What’s with the weird dent on its head?”

“Maybe it’s injured?” Itsuki poked it again.

The creature stirred slightly.

“We can’t just leave it here.”

“So what, we take it home and nurse it back to health? My parents would freak if I kept it as a pet.”

“We can put it in my shed. My mom never goes in there.” Hiroto bent to pick it up, grimacing at its smell, a mixture of rotten fish, musk, and something he couldn’t quite identify. The creature was heavier than he’d anticipated. He glanced up at his friend. “You gonna help?”

Together, the boys managed to wrap the creature in Hiroto’s jacket and half-carry, half-drag it to Hiroto’s shed.

“I’d stay,” Itsuki told him, “but mom’s expecting me for dinner.”

Hiroto shrugged him off, his focus on the injured animal. With its long arms and legs, it was unlike any turtle he’d ever seen, but it had a shell, so it had to be a turtle. Right?

Regardless, it was probably hungry. Hiroto went inside and grabbed some cucumber slices, lettuce leaves, and a little bit of salmon — just enough that his mom wouldn’t notice — and returned to the shed. He set the food down in front of the animal, alongside a bowl of water. The creature still hadn’t moved. Hiroto tucked a blanket around it.

“Goodnight, little buddy. I’ll be back tomorrow after school.”

All day, Hiroto could barely concentrate. He hurried home, straight to the shed, not sure what to expect.

“Konnichiwa, Hiroto.” The creature sat on the blanket, the dent in its head filled with water, an unreadable expression on its face.

The kappa is a Japanese cryptid, described as a humanoid figure with reptilian features, including a shell. Its most remarkable feature is the indentation on its head, which must be filled with water or the kappa will weaken and die. Kappas are tricksters, and while their pranks can be harmless, they can also drag people into water to steal their shirikodama, which is a ball-like organ in the butt that houses the soul.

Based on this prompt:

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