TETSUYA AND THE RANAGAREETLying in the dark, after bedtime, three days before his tenth birthday, Tetsuya noticed a form standing perfectly still in the corner of his room. He closed his eyes, thought of the blossoming new cherry trees it was his job to water, then opened them, but the form remained, silent and motionless. It looked like a monster.
Tetsuya sat up and thought to yell for his father, but he was almost ten and had just stopped sleeping with the nightlight on.
“You see me, Tetsuya, don’t you?” asked the monster in the corner.
Tetsuya curled his feet under the covers.
“I know you’re awake. Why don’t you answer me?”
“I didn’t think you were real until just now. And my name’s Tommy.”
“Tommy may be what the kids call you in school, but your given name, your Japanese name, is
