CYOA Episode 2 - Recovery (Patreon)

Dear Patron! It is the start of a wonderful week I am hoping. It is still hot and humid and basically horrendous for me. It is a busy week and already I feel like a lot of my time is being wasted and I am being disrespected! In other words, business as usual. I have to remember to bring the removable armor I put around my heart to work. After being away for a bit I tend to forget that sometimes. Ah, just a few more deep breaths, and I will be home free.

Anyway! We are making progress! Take a look at the results of the previous poll along with my personal one-off notes on the situation:

A. Reason for growth: Started taking the medicine/prayed at the shrine. (Nice tie.)
B. Starting size is small.
C. Attitude is supportive and caring.
D. Blue/Green Collar & Sports Related? (Tricky situation to reconcile.) Engineer in SPorts event space? Sports healer? Sports equipment designer/builder.

I was able to reconcile some of the ties, but I am really at a loss of how to mix Green/Blue Collar and Sports related. I want to kind of go with a personal trainer or coach because it means clients which means more ladies and guys and stuff to interact with. It's really easy to slip in new characters without having to have a 'workplace'.

There is also the amateur sports, 'climbing up the ranks' kind of angle, or the full-blown 'blue/green collar angle where you might have a coworker or client or something. A junior worker or something that helps you.  Basically, this decision will directly impact today's poll for the nature of option (B), the person who recommended the shrine. A half-Japanese cutie who you worked with and whose life you basically saved.  So keep that in mind when you vote.

Also lastly, I have (Seriously for whatever reason I don't even know at this point.) been writing in a 'You feel ~ You see ~' style as opposed to a 'I feel ~ I see ~'  Please tell me if that needs to stop right now or if you want to go with it. I believe this is second person and I suppose this is how my brain reacts to a poll asking for all manners of points of view to write in. I came up with that. Whew.

I will let this poll go on for a couple days and hopefully you can actually select multiple options. I am CERTAIN that I clicked allow multiple choice so maybe it is an app thing. If it happens again please let me know and let's bomb patreon with claims about the app/desktop issue and see if they can fix it.

Please enjoy this slow warm up. We will be getting to the fun stuff soon.

Ta ta!

~Michelle

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After the morning’s explosive start filled with hope and new pleasures, inevitably your thoughts drifted back to the incident. You still blocked most of the detail out of my mind, but you remember the pain all to clearly. You had done a number on yourself and parts of your lower spine, pelvis, and hips had been stressed and broken in too many places to count. You remember lying there while people called for the paramedics thinking to yourself. It’s all over.

But thankfully, it wasn’t. You worked as a (A) now. It was a position that had high physical demands and you went to the gym to keep up with you workload and ideally stay out in front of it. You’d been doing all I could and all it takes is one small slip and boom, you were done for. You’d do it again, though, because in the process you were able to save one of you (B)s from the same fate. You did everything you could for you (B)s and you guess it just cost you. People always told you to care a bit more about yourself, ‘look out for number one’ and all that. It’s just in your nature.

But the very girl you saved actually came and visited you in the hospital plenty of times. It had been a week or two after the surgery and rehabilitation was starting and you were making some progress, but it was slow going. Being a (A) meant you naturally gave it your all, but the damage was extensive and some doctors told you to get mentally comfortable with the idea of never walking again, and others told you similar stories about never being able to use other parts of your body again, parts that you have reservations about, but wanted to use all the same of course.

You weren’t a big guy by any means, and had said a few things in frustration behind closed doors, but didn’t think you’d end up in the hospital after being crushed or anything like that. ‘Careful what you wish for’, people say. And funny enough, after your (B) told you about some shrine and encouraged you to pray for your heath there, she was partly Japanese and her family had been visiting it for years and years, something inside of you clicked.  Maybe it was finally letting go of a lot of the anxiety and misgivings about your situation, maybe it was just that kindness your (B) showed you after having visited you for months and months, but rehab started going much better.

You visited the shrine more than a few times. The first time you had actually been wheeled up around the back using a special driveway meant for deliveries and stuff because the place was practically made of stairs. As your strength came back and you could walk again using a cane or a pair of hiking sticks, you finally challenged the stairs before resolving to make a nominal offering and prayer for health like your (B) suggested. This time though, on your own. It was a shrine that was meant to help people stay healthy or in difficult circumstances, restore health. Or something like that. You didn’t really know the details and didn’t speak any Japanese or anything, but there was a shrine maiden that worked there who did her best to explain things to you using a few words you understood interspersed between lavish and passionate explanations in her native language. You mostly just like watching her talk with such intensity before she offered you the customary small paper cup of cooled barley tea and a little rice cracker for your efforts. You’d become a bit of a small-time celebrity as the guy who climbed the stairs every other morning and they would applaud you and bow in appreciation for making the effort to visit their humble shrine.

The place was wonderful and felt like it was right out of some Ghibli animation or something. A long well-trodden set of thin stone stairs split with a wooden railing were set into the side of a large hill surrounded by woods. The shrine itself was a feature of a large park that boasted cultural exchange and international understanding and was mostly a tourist destination, but people who believed in that kind of thing visited often, especially around new years. The first few times you made the climb you had to support yourself using the railing and a cane and were practically falling over the first time you crested the final step. There was a large red tori gate in the unmistakeable reddish orange color decorated with a metallic-looking signboard placard with some chinese characters on it and draped from side to side was a single thick rope, little folded strips of some kind of paper dangling from it blowing in the wind.

The wind. Feeling it blow against your body after what felt like four or five stories of steps was majestic. You turned around, carefully, and enjoyed a look at the city from this vantage and smiled. You felt hope again and know that (B)’s name was right. You muttered some thanks in a sigh while still catching your breath and hobbled into the main area of the shrine passing under the tori and taking it in. It was a small open space enough to park a handful of cars in, between the gate and the shine structure. The shrine was old and built in traditional Japanese style using all wood and was topped with a roof adorned with rounded clay tiles in a matte green. There were accents of golden paint and a number of old-looking stickers or bills posted on the outer walls of the structure in seemingly random spots.

To your left, while still catching your breath, you spotted a small mini pavilion that had a place to wash your hands or something. There was also a small bench there and the splashing water from some decorative spigot created enough cooling mist to pull you there. To the right of the gate was a little cabin-like shack where a handful of charms, fortunes, and other souvenirs were arrayed ready to attract a wandering eye and a wallet full of cash. The miko behind the counter’s eyes were neutral and met yours with a gentle head bow while your took it all in. Following the instructions on the sign which showed how the water was supposed to be used, you splashed some of the water on your head while cleansing your hands. While dabbing your head with the small towel you brought you smiled involuntarily at the miko who was watching your intently and she bowed her head again with a more conservative grin this time.

And that was basically it. Maybe you were expecting some ninja displays or flying dragons or something, but the ground was a beaten white gravel that was pretty much completely flat and broken up only by a quintet of larger trees near the border of the walkable space. One of the trees was closer towards the center casting some shade over much of the central area and a small row of stone statues that someone put red bibs on smiled eternally. You took a long sip of water from your water bottle and fought back to your feet still leaning heavy on the cane. Chanting swelled up from the shrine building suddenly and your looked around and saw nobody but the shrine maiden behind the counter who was sitting, eyes still politely studying you until you noticed again and she looked away after bowing her head subtly seemingly arranging something.

The chanting was obviously in some language you didn’t understand and the voice was older and had a croakiness overlaying the pure pipes on the guy who apparently never needed to take a breath. You made your way over towards the shack to talk to the shrine maiden and see what this place was about. You told her a friend recommended you to visit and it was good for health and she went on about it for a while. You stood in the sun and sweated it out while she continued until she laughed and saw how badly you were struggling to keep standing and offered you a seat and brought out some cool tea after debarking from her shack of charms and goods. After some chatting you managed to suss out that her name was (C) and told her yours too.

She was older than she looked at a distance since she pretty much just seemed like a doll from the far side of the tori gate, but she was in her late 20’s or 30’s you figured. She was asian, Japanese most likely but you are no expert, and had straight long black hair down past her shoulders. She wore the traditional garb of a miko shrine maiden, a white robe with a very simple red accent along the hem running diagonally across her feminine chest up to her thin milky neck and in large crimson stitches around the cuffs of her long distended sleeves which covered her hands completely save for three of her fingertips.

From the waist down above the white kimono-like robe she wore a red hakama, which was a pair of skirt-like pants. She was beautiful and gave off vibes of purity and cleanliness compared to yourself, sweating and wrapped up in more bandages than you’d care to admit under your shirt and pants. IYou weren’t overweight and still in good shape thanks to your profession, but you had certainly lost that fine edge over the month or two of rehab and your confidence was down for sure.

“You alright, mister?” She said while kneeling down and looking around to see if there was anything else she could do for you. “Please take a rest time now.” Her voice was soft and caring and betrayed a bit of innocence as well. You sipped the tea and told her your story and she was blown away you could even make it up the stairs. She had wondered if you were the same guy who was wheeled up a month ago but couldn’t tell. While you were chatting a couple peaked the steps and were walking around and nodded in your direction. Miko had already bowed quite deeply to them and once they went off taking photos she slowly turned back to you. The whole while the chanting was going for a solid fifteen or twenty minutes. Unrelenting and unwavering in its disciplined intoning.

“That guy has been chanting a while, he might need a drink of tea more than me.” I let out a small chuckle after the remark and she nodded thoughtfully.

“Very kind to say.” She had been squatting the whole time and you only realized it now as she stood back up to refill your cup. “Guji San is a great priest. If thirsty, he will drink. Will you watch his prayer? Almost complete. You can greet him if you’d like. When he is finished.” You glanced over at the open door to the shrine which lay beyond a small offering area where the couple were in the process of reading a little notice while practicing clapping and bowing and confirming with eachother. One of the guys, wearing a beige hiking outfit, was scratching his head and his friend was shaking his head in response. “Excuse me. Please stay as long as you will.” Miko said and proceeded to slip over in their direction explaining the more common prayer and offering traditions to the couple.

You were beat and helped yourself to one more sip of tea before struggling to your feet with the help of the cane feeling a lot better than before. The thought of going down the steps was filling you with dread, but you shook it off and started scanning the wares deciding on a little charm for healing that caught your eye and resolved to pick it up on the way out. It would make a neat key chain and was made out of fine red thread ropes and well embroidered white cloth. There was kind of a bell on it or some other shiny trinket as well and the embroidery had a symbol of a crane on it.

You caught the tail end of the lesson from the miko to the couple and thankfully picked it up without much fuss. They tossed in some coins into an offering box, bowed twice, clapped twice, paused to pray, then bowed again. When they both finished Miko applauded them and said kind assuring words to them their prayers would come true. She escorted them over to the souvenir station and gave you a smile on her way past with the couple who also exchanged greetings with you warmly. This place is something else. Maybe it was all these trees wrapped in rope with those little papers hanging off of them or maybe it was the chanting and smell of incense thick in the air despite the light breeze, but it was nice here, you thought.

Reaching into your pocket you produced a handful of change since your (B) mentioned that offering coins was the best way and tossed it in. The metal clacked off of the wooden slats which guided it down into a box where it fell with a clinky crash onto the other offerings. Bow twice, which was a feat considering your condition, but you managed it, and clapped twice then brought your hands together and closed your eyes.  The chanting stopped and there was silence as you thought about (B), your injury, rehabilitiation, recovery, and growth. A deep incense laden breath filled your lungs and left your body then you opened your eyes.

He was kneeling on a cushion, but was at almost eye-level with you and watching from within the shrine building. There was a hint of a smile beneath the fairly well crooked white moustache which wrapped around the corners of his mouth and pointed downwards, split only by a similarly wispy beard that hung a bit lower. He wore a more regal looking version of the white robe that the miko wore, but it was completely red and had a simple pattern of cranes that was only visible where the light caught those threads setting them to shining in a pinkish white. He wore a simple pair of rectangular black glasses and had a traditional black paper cap on his head that looked like of like a thimble. In his lap rested a wooden stick that had been flattened which his hands protected. He nodded to you and his smile cracked showing a glimpse of his remaining teeth, and a finger beckoned me to come closer.

You hobbled around the offering box towards closer to the shrine itself while he slid forward away from the brilliant metallic and ceramic items arrayed behind him along the back wall of the inner sanctum towards you. You made it to the low deck and he beckoned you to sit there and proceeded to set himself besides you. He was struggling with old age cracking and groaning into position while you were doing much the same, but from your injuries. With a little coughing and a few guttaral throat clearings he sighed peacefully and nodded at the miko who was waving goodbye to the two tourists who had gotten what they needed and were on their way.

“We sound the same.” His voice was low and he spoke slowly and carefully with deliberate pauses. You huffed a short laugh at the sentiment nodding while stretching your back.

“You are right there, father. This place is beautiful.” You said trying to offer reverence to the elder priest. He returned the huff and smiled nodding and looking at the trees and the shrine surrounding you both.

“Please call me Guji. This place is a rare beauty in this country.” He continued to breath deeply. Just as you thought about asking for details about the shrine to keep conversation going he spoke. “What you did for (B) was selfless. And honorable. Thank you for your offering. I shall pray on your behalf.”

“Th-thank you Mr. Googee. I am just trying to get better and the view from up here makes the climb worth it. Thanks for sitting with me. And for all the tea and rice crackers. They are addicting.” Your enthusiasm and kindness was outpouring despite the negative condition that would have shaken and broken lesser men.

“Yes, I think you will recover. Mugicha and senbei aren’t medicine, but I would like to prepare some tea for you. Will you return again this week?” Wayward eyebrow strings raised and you could see his eyelids as he arched his brows in your direction.

“Yeah, well. It was a tough climb and I’m nervous about heading back down, but I can come back. As long as it isn’t doing more damage I think I will be back for sure. Yeah.” You were more nervous about compounding damage on your back and legs from the trek up the stairs, and would make that call over the next couple days.

“Good. I would like to see you again. (B)’s family has supported us for a long time. Your kindness has prevented catastrophe. It will be such a little thing, but I want to give you a gift.” He started to his feet slowly and helped you down back on your feet giving you your cane. You exchanged a few words with him and he sent you on your way. You popped by the miko’s souvenir area and picked up the charm you had your eye on before. She said it was a good one and liked it a lot.

“I am seeing these birds everywhere. Is this a symbol of the shrine or something?” You asked making conversation while she carefully wrapped the charm in a paper bag and got you your change.

“It is a crane. Famous for long life and heath. It will protect you.” She was confident in her words as she said them and I bid her adieu. When you returned a few days later since the return trip down those stairs wiped you utterly, you needed almost as much break time as before. After a small offering and another prayer and some friendly chat with the miko, Guji found a chance to meet with you inviting you into the inner sanctum of the shrine. There was a small side room with a single low table and some cushions arranged around it with boxes piled against walls and a number of portraits, most of them in sepia tone or black and white.

“You returned. How is your condition?” Guji stated once settled. He set out a pot of hot water and some cups and more rice crackers. He produced an envelope of thick white paper.

“My trips to the rehab center are going alright. It still hurts a lot and the medicine they gave me is working pretty well. I made some good progress and I can walk well again with the cane, but I fear I won’t be playing sports or doing any more strenuous physical activity any time soon.” The disappointment in your voice was palpable and the Guji listened intently nodding while stroking his moustache and beard.

“This is a special blend of tea.” He opened the envelope packet and sprinkled some of its contents into a white dish between us in the center of the table besides the rice crackers. He explained some of what was in it describing semi-crushed seeds, flower petals, other vegetation, spices, and herbs. His accent kind of caught up with him during this part and I don’t remember much of it except what he said towards the end. “It is hot tea. It will feel warm in your body. Too hot and please come here. This much.” He gestured towards the dish with some, to me, arbitrary amount of seeds, flakes, and leaves. “Not too much. Mortar and pestle.” He had one on hand like some ancient apothecary and poured the contents into the bowl and began to grind it up. “Even. But not smooth. Not powder, too fast. Grainy.” He slowly tipped the bowl into the dish again and there was a roughly greenish brown piled of grainy mulch with specks of reds, pinks, and yellows throughout it.

“Just a minute, Guji.” I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the dish. Didn’t want to mess any of this up. What if this stuff gave me a heart attack or something? I held the button and snapped off a volley of about a dozen or so pics then smiled at him. He was paused mid movement and continued after I apologized a few times. “Sorry about that. Bad memory.”

“Hot water. Very hot water.” He continued undisturbed by my picture taking. He poured the piping hot water into the cup and began to stir it in a circle until there was a small vortex going in the center. “Spin water and then tea in.” The water was spinning at a good clip and he carefully lifted the dish and poured it in the cup. It quickly drained towards the center and kind of mixed itself up in the vortex and besides a few grains the rest of the bled out into a pleasing honey color which let out a pleasant haze of flowery sweet aromas mixed with peppery spices and a note of sour into the air. We both breathed it in involuntarily. “Don’t touch until water stop.” He pointed at the slowing vortex in the water which began to let off the undissolved grains like asteroids breaking free from the gravitational pull of the central column and began to swim in looser orbits until they slowed. “Don’t touch until water stop.” The little bits were still moving very slowly and finally came to a mostly direct halt starting to sink to the bottom. “Now is ok. Drink.”

He slid the cup towards you across the small table and you picked it up. It was still steaming hot and you winced after bringing it up to your lips. You blew a few times and eventually took a sip and it tasted strange. It was tea and had that early calmness as the foundation of the flavor, but notes of spicy heat, snaps of sweetness, and random stings of sour and bitter came about in varying intensity as you took more or less in your mouth and depending on how much seedy grit you had to crunch between your teeth. When you looked up guji nodded like you was doing it right by eating the seeds and chaff left in the drink.

“Now rice cracker.” He said sliding the snack your way. You unwrapped it and took a bite. It was a very simple tasteless flavor but had some kind of shrimp powder or soy sauce or something mixed in which made it pretty good and the crunch was addicting like potato chips. It felt healthier than chips although you had no idea.

“Is this part of the treatment?” You asked between bites and guji shook his head slowly.

“Just nice pair. How is the tea?” He smiled enjoying some senbei himself. Upon mentioning it you hadn’t even realized but there was a warmth that was trickling through your body. Like sleeping on an arm and waking up releasing it letting the warm pumping blood return feeling again and the relief you didn’t have to amputate it or something. Tingles of feeling returning around your lower back, hips, upper thighs, and everywhere in between reminded you not only that those parts were still there, but they felt good. As you rolled your shoulders and neck while gently stretching your back and core out you could only smile and nod.

“This stuff is amazing. It feels like I am getting a massage or something. The feeling is coming back into my back and hips and stuff too. Thank you Guji. Thank you so much.” You expressed your feelings as respectfully as you could but the excitement of not having stinging pains rifling up and down your back and midsection was elating. The feeling of relieved tension which had become your new normal was freeing. And the tingles that rang like windchimes of hope within your boxers promised a fuller recovery than anyone could have predicted.

Another rice cracker, a bit more small talk with the guji, and you were on your way. One last kind exchange bordering on flirtation with the miko left her giggling and blushing in your wake as you started down the stairs before she came up behind you shouting your name. You turned around and stared up in awe because she was holding your cane.

“Your forgotten item.” She chirped gently. You reached out and took it, your hands touched and lingered in that moment for a while with your eyes locked, and you felt the tea’s magic showing signs of efficacy again. As you made your way down the stairs carefully holding the railing with one hand you could feel the beginnings of perhaps your first erection since the incident.

It has been a couple weeks and you have gone back a couple times and recently and have kind of found yourself accepted as a regular and supported greatly. The guji has already prepared a second envelope of the tea for you despite your insistence that you were feeling much better. You were shushed into taking it and miko told you it would be for the best. Although it was ‘just tea’ (She even used air quotes which was realy cute) she warned that stopping too suddenly could potentially have adverse effects.

You had figured out how to make it well enough and gotten the amounts pretty nailed down and had even bought a mortar and pestle so why stop now you thought? Your smile came back after running through the ordeal up until now and didn’t care. You had nearly a full envelope of the tea left and you suspected that it was to thank for your new sensations. You continued to get ready and were excited to get back to work.

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As a reminder:

 (A) Final Job decision.
(B) Co-Worker Level/Student/Boss/Friend
(C) Name of the Shrine Maiden
(D) What's next?

Bonus: I am writing in ‘You feel ~~’ Is that alright?
            Go back to writing in ‘I feel ~~’
            Whatever.