Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe

was talking from the right side of the room.
    Wataru tensed, the camera falling from his stiff fingers into his lap.
    “And if you did get a good shot, you can always just lie and say you didn’t,” the voice said from the left side of the room.
    “Saying you have something that you don’t makes it yours. Saying you don’t have something you do makes it go away,” the voice whispered right in Wataru’s ear.
    The next time she spoke, the voice came from the ceiling, each word falling like drops of rain.
    “You are everything in the world, because you are the world.”
    Wataru noticed that the tone of the voice seemed to be changing. The sing-song was gone, replaced with a sort of…sadness. Wataru felt trapped and confused. He lifted his head to the ceiling. “Where are you?”
    He could feel his heart finally returning to its normal size and place. Thump. Thump. Thump. Wataru counted five beats before the voice answered.
    “I think you already know.”
    And then she was gone. Wataru couldn’t see her or even figure out where the girl’s voice was coming from, but Wataru knew she wasn’t in his room anymore. It was like…like the connection had been dropped.
    Wataru’s neck and back were soaked with sweat. His hands were trembling. Twice he tried picking up the camera he had dropped in his lap, but both times it slid out of his trembling fingers.
    I think you already know.
    How could he? The voice sounded too nice—nothing like any of the girls in Wataru’s class. He would know if it were one of his friends.
    Who in the world could it be?
    Wataru suddenly felt abandoned. Or was it he who had abandoned her? Somehow, it felt like both.
     
    The money left over from Wataru’s monthly allowance wasn’t enough to pay for one-hour development for the disposable camera. He would have to take it to a drugstore and pick it up the next day. And since the store wasn’t open when Wataru went to school in the morning, he would have to drop the camera off in the afternoon, further delaying the process. This, he thought, was the disadvantage of being a kid.
    Wataru had hidden a secret stash of money in an empty cookie tin, which he kept behind the comic books on the shelf next to his desk. He was saving up for Eldritch Stone Saga III , the latest installment in one of his favorite video game series, due to go on sale in September. If he dipped into that money now, he could develop the photos more quickly. He slid the comic books from the shelf to reveal the illustration on the side of the tin: a cream-colored bunny happily munching cookies. Wataru stared at the bunny for a while. Finally he shook his head and replaced the comic books. It was the middle of June. If he spent the money now, he wouldn’t have time to save up enough to buy the game when it came out.
    In the end, Wataru slipped the disposable camera into his school backpack and took it to the drugstore the following afternoon. The slip of paper the clerk gave him said the pictures would be ready for pickup after four o’clock the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow! He read the slip again and again, his heart sinking. How could he stay in that room for so long without knowing?
    Wataru trudged out to the neighborhood shops, finding himself in front of the video game store he often frequented with Katchan. The windows of the small storefront were plastered with video game posters. Peering inside, Wataru could make out rows and rows of game software along with monitor screens advertising newly released products.
    A poster for Eldritch Stone Saga III had been placed right next to the sliding door at the front of the store. The game magazines had already run images of the main characters and even some screenshots, but the poster featured a far simpler design: fluffy white clouds hanging in a blue sky. In the center of the scene was a sailboat, its sails full of wind, flying above the sea through the air. Wataru had already determined that the boat belonged