InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Sesshomaru Story ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

Alexandra used her wrist to push back the tendrils of brown hair falling in her face as she sat back on her knees. She had been digging in the garden all afternoon and the sun had really been beating down. She was tempted to rest for a bit but she knew winter would come too soon. She turned to look back at her modest hut. There were repairs to do as well. She sighed.

How her life had changed! She thought how amused her friends and family would be if they could see her now, living like this. Alexandra smiled to herself and went back to work. It wasn't a bad life but certainly not one she would've chosen for herself.

She'd grown up in a small town in Canada so country-life wasn't something that was new to her but she had always set her sights on traveling and seeing the world. And until a year ago fate had always seemed on her side.

As a kid she learned languages easily. She had been completely bilingual in French and English by the time she was seven. In high school she developed a strong interest in eastern culture and learned Japanese. She continued in university when she went to study teaching. She was so successful at it her professor had recommended her to a large Japanese company. They were looking for someone to improve their executives' English and help them with the finer points of Western culture. The position was for a year. Alexandra had leapt at the chance.

The job had been fantastic. She enjoyed teaching and her students were enthusiastic. The company had set her up in company apartments. She'd met some great people and was making a lot of friends. In fact living in Japan was everything she’d thought it would be. It was like everything she'd ever wished for was coming true.

Things got even better! After six months her boss called her in for a meeting and had offered her the job on a permanent basis. She couldn't believe her luck. Alexandra had called her family and discussed it. Her family as always was great and encouraged her to follow her heart, but there was never any doubt in her mind that she would accept. She knew her life would change forever but never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed how.

To celebrate, on her day off she booked herself on site seeing tour. A friend was supposed to come with her but had to cancel at the last minute so she ended up going by herself.

Late in the afternoon they were touring a large museum full of ancient artifacts when everything around them started to shake. The guide had urged everyone to stay calm but the floor buckled and heaved. Pieces of the ceiling started to fall. Pandemonium broke out, people screaming and scrambling everywhere.

Alexandra knew it would be impossible to make it outside. She saw a large heavy box covered in carvings. She thought it looked tough enough to protect her from the debris raining down on her.

With great difficulty she made her way over to it and climbed inside. As the lid closed all the noise, light and movement were instantly sealed off. Although she wasn't claustrophobic, Alexandra immediately wondered whether it had been a good idea after all. Maybe she wouldn't have enough air or she could get trapped. She decided to climb out and take her chances.

To her relief the lid opened easily. A totally unexpected sight greeted her eyes. Instead of a museum in the midst of an earthquake there was a simple rustic room. She closed and opened the lid again but the room remained. She climbed out of the box, found the door and walked outside. The building appeared to be a small old fashioned shrine in the middle of a forest.

What had happened to her? Was this a dream? Was she dead? She could hear the sounds of the forest around her and feel the sun on her face. She went back inside and tried the box again but nothing changed. She went back outside and sat down. She didn't know where to go or what to do. She came to the conclusion that even though things might seem real, they couldn't be. She must have gotten hit on the head and be in a coma. After all she reasoned no one knew what went on in the mind of a person in a coma. It was the most logical explanation she could come up with.

She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there when she heard someone coming through the trees towards the little shrine. It was an elderly Buddhist monk. He was quite surprised to see her there.

After they'd introduced themselves to one another, Alexandra decided to tell him exactly who she was and how she came to be there. To her amazement, the monk believed her. He said that the box was a magic one. Things would appear in it though no one ever knew from where they came. It was his opinion that Buddha had provided them because they were needed. If she had come then she was needed here.

He had arranged for her to live with an elderly woman who lived alone. Her husband and sons had been killed in different battles over the years and she was ailing. Alexandra had to agree with the monk she had been needed. The old woman had taught her quite a bit but then she had died. Alexandra had stayed on preferring a solitary life to living in the village a day walk away.

Who knew? Maybe one of these days she'd wake up and find herself back in the real world! Until then she still had to eat. She stood up dusting the dirt off her hands looking at her handiwork. All that was needed was a good rain. She looked up at the sky and could see clouds building in the west in the late afternoon sky. She walked back to her house satisfied with a job well done.



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