I race through the woods, tripping over fallen tree branches and scraping my skin on the coarse dry brush. I need to find him, I think to myself worriedly as I jump over another exposed root, I have to. I hear a monstrous roar blare throughout the trees and my fear reignites; I change my course and follow the sound despite my instincts telling me to run the other way. My lungs burn and my legs ache, but I don't care. I have to find him. I see a clearing up ahead and I aim straight for it; worry, pain, and fear are the only things that bring me to a stop right on the edge. He's got to be there, I reason with myself, he has to. I enter the clearing, out of breath and weak. There's a lake, sparkling from the light of the moon, and rocks surround the nearby shore. I quickly scan the area and I see him, hidden within the shadows of some of the larger boulders. Fear grips me and a cold chill runs down my spine. My legs freeze for a moment before I force myself to walk toward his hiding place. As I draw near, a low warning growl emanates from the shadows and a pair of large purple eyes with black slits for pupils glow from where he's hiding. I could feel the hair all over my body stand on end as I force myself to speak. "Why did you leave?" I choke out, I could feel tears begin to run down my cheek, but I'm too filled with emotion to wipe them away. I receive another warning growl for an answer. I look into his eyes…full of fear…full of pain…and full of doubt. I don't know how it happened, but as I look into the whirlwind of destructive emotions concealed behind the veil of anger, I couldn't help but feel as if those same emotions are my own. More tears fall and my lip begins to quiver as I hesitantly take a step toward him. An earsplitting screech rings out from the shadow and I have to cover my ears in an effort to block out the noise, I know he doesn't want me anywhere near him…not like this…but I need to. I want to. I lick my lips, "Listen to me," I say as I kneel down in front of the entrance of his hiding spot. "I…I-I'm afraid of you, okay?" He growls, low and gritty. I know he knows that what I am telling him is the truth, and I also know that he will dismiss anything different I tell him, but I have to tell him everything. He has to know. I steel my nerves, "But…I don't care." A loud and shattering roar blasts from the inside of his hideout, "Liar!" his voice, distorted and mangled, shrieks. I couldn't help but let out a whimper. "Why won't you listen to me?!" I cry out in desperation, tears flowing freely down my flushed cheeks. "I'm telling you the truth! You scare me—yes—but I don't care! I don't care what you look like! And do you know why I don't care?!" I wait in silence for a few moments for his answer. I hear nothing. Instead, I see a large, square shaped head with long, thin strips of flesh for ears pressed flat against his skull and a monstrous jaw that takes up half his face filled with rows of grotesque gnashing canines poke out from the concealment of the shadows. I'm paralyzed with terror. His upper lip lifts in a snarl, "Why?" he growls, as if he is daring me to continue. I feel my bottom lip quiver as I try to form the words. "Why?!" he yells, his face inches away from mine and I could smell the rotting stench of his flesh; I do my best not to gag for fear it'll simply prove his doubt. I focus on his eyes, his beautifully animalistic glowing purple eyes that are filled with so much pain…with so much fear that it gave me the courage to regain my composure. "Because…" I say hoarsely, my voice cracking with emotion. "Because I—"

"Passengers, please return to your seats. We are preparing to land at our destination in just a few short minutes." The stewardess cautioned over the loudspeaker.

I woke up with a jolt, wisps of the rapidly fading dream clogging my connection with reality. I put a hand up to my head as I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. Oh, that's right, I thought to myself a little disappointed as I glanced at the rows and rows filled with restless flyers, I'm on an airplane. Dang, I must've slept for a while, my neck is so sore. I gently rubbed the back of my neck as I looked out the plane's window at the quickly approaching ground below. I heard a man chuckling in the seat next to me.

"Enjoy your nap?" an Asian man, around his mid-forties, smiles, looking up from his large hard cover book.

I let out a sheepish smile, "Yeah, but my neck's killing me. I must've slept wrong."

The man chuckled as he adjusted his reading glasses, the corners of his kind blue eyes crinkling with amusement, "I bet. Didn't you tell me that this is your first trip on a plane?"

It took me a second to remember what happened before I dozed off; I nodded, "Yeah…and I'm kinda surprised that I actually fell asleep. I don't usually fall asleep on long car rides so I wasn't expecting to fall asleep on a plane."

The old man nodded in agreement and then he grinned, "And, uh, how is your Japanese?" he asked in Japanese.

I blinked a few times before I could answered, "Fine, I think." I said also in Japanese. I don't see why, though, that I have to be the one that won the foreign exchange trip to Japan, I thought silently to myself, I mean…out of all the places in the world they could've sent me to, they had to send me to Japan. Typical. I'm glad that my family's friend, Lee, is here, though, at least I won't be all alone in a country I've never been to.

"Well, I hope our little practice conversation earlier helped you a little bit," he said, also in Japanese. "'Cuz from now on, everything'll be in Japanese."

I sighed, "I know," I muttered tiredly. "And thank you again for helping me practice. It was very kind of you."

Lee bookmarked his page before closing it and putting it away in his light brown leather knapsack. "It was my pleasure. You are doing very well for a girl from the States." He grinned.

"And you have a very good sense of humor for an old man." I joked back.

He let out a hearty laugh, "Yes, well, one must learn how to make light of tense situations…especially if it's to help out a certain nervous young girl relax a little."

I smiled, "And thank you for that as well, if it weren't for your companionship, I might've still been apprehensive about this whole ordeal."

"Yes, well, your family and I have always been there for one another—basically, since your father and I were children—and, as you well know, I was more than happy to accompany you, the eldest of you three girls, to a trip to my homeland. It also gave me an excuse to avoid that horrid new boss of your father's and me."

The little orange seatbelt light began blinking on and off, telling the passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

"I know, Dad told me," I said as I tightened my seatbelt. "He said that that guy was basically firing people because he simply didn't like them. That's outrageous, I mean—and I don't mean to be rude—but you just don't do that!"

Lee nodded knowingly, "I know, I think he'll be fired himself within the month and all the people will get their jobs back if they want them. He has a boss too, you know, and once she finds out what he's doing, he'll get a taste of his own medicine. That's why karma can be a bit of a pain…if you do bad things to others, then bad things'll happen to you, but if you do good things, well then, good things'll happen to you in return."

I leaned back in my chair as the plane began its slightly bumpy landing. As soon as the plane was still and all the clapping faded away, the stewardess came back on the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have safely arrived at our destination: Japan. Thank you for flying with International Airlines and have a wonderful day."