Dreams Page #2

Human, aren't you?

What's wrong?

Are you a demon?

I suppose so.

But I used to be human.

What a world.

How stupid!

Long ago...

...this place was a beautiful field

of flowers.

Then those nuclear bombs,

those missiles...

...turned it into this desert.

Now...

...because of all that fallout...

...strange flowers grow.

Dandelions.

Dandelions?

Monster dandelions.

This is a rose.

The stem grows from the flower...

...and a strange bud at the top.

This is all radiation polluted.

It makes this mutation.

The flowers are crippled.

Not only flowers.

Human beings, too. Look at me.

Stupid mankind did this.

It made our planet a junkyard

for poisonous wastes.

Nature has vanished from the earth,

the nature we used to enjoy.

We've lost the birds, animals, fish.

Some time ago...

...I saw a two-faced hare...

...a one-eyed bird...

...and a hairy fish.

How do you eat then?

There's no food!

We feed on ourselves.

The weak ones go first.

It's about my turn now.

Even here, we have grades.

One-horn demons like myself always get...

...eaten by those

who have two or three horns.

Before, they were powerful and pretentious.

And now they still throw

their weight around as demons.

So, let them have their way.

Let them have all those horns.

So, let them live in torture,

looking the way they do.

It's hell.

Worse than death.

They can't die even if they want to.

That's their punishment...

immortality.

Tortured by their sins...

...they must suffer forever.

They'll eat me soon. I'll be released.

But I don't want to be eaten.

That's why I'm running away.

But then I get so hungry that...

...I feel disgusted with myself.

I was a farmer when I was a man.

I dumped gallons of milk

in the river to keep the prices up.

I buried potatoes and cabbages

with a bulldozer.

How stupid!

Hear that?

When night comes...

...those famous demons

scream out in pain.

Their horns hurt them worse than a cancer.

They pray for death, but are condemned

to live in pain for eternity.

But no one kills them.

So they just scream.

Come, I'll show you.

You'll see how they cry.

My horn's beginning to hurt, too.

Go away.

Go where?

Do you want to become a demon, too?

VILLAGE OF THE WATERMILLS

Good day.

Good day.

Good day.

Good day.

What's the name of this village?

Doesn't have one.

We just call it "The Village".

Some people call it Watermill Village.

Do all the villagers live here?

No.

They live in other places.

There's no electricity here?

Don't need it.

People get too used to convenience.

They think convenience is better.

They throw out what's truly good.

But what about lights?

We've got candles and linseed oil.

But night's so dark.

Yes. That's what night is supposed to be.

Why should night be as bright as day?

I wouldn't like nights so bright

you couldn't see the stars.

You have paddies.

But no tractors to cultivate them?

Don't need them.

We've got cows, and horses.

What do you use for fuel?

Firewood mostly.

We don't feel right, chopping down trees,

but...

...enough fall down by themselves.

We cut them up and use them as firewood.

And if you make charcoal from the wood...

...just a few trees can give you

as much heat as a whole forest.

Yes, and cow dung make good fuel, too.

We try to live the way man used to.

That's the natural way of life.

People today have forgotten...

...they're really just a part of nature.

Yet, they destroy the nature...

...on which our lives depend.

They always think

they can make something better.

Especially scientists.

They may be smart but...

...most don't understand...

...the heart of nature.

They only invent things that

in the end make people unhappy.

Yet they're so proud of their inventions.

What's worse, most people are, too.

They view them...

...as if they were miracles.

They worship them.

They don't know it,

but they're losing nature.

They don't see that they're going to perish.

The most important things

for human beings are...

...clean air and clean water...

...and the trees and grass

that produce them.

Everything is being dirtied...

...polluted forever.

Dirty air, dirty water...

...dirtying the hearts of men.

On my way here, I happened to see...

...some children putting flowers

on a stone beside the bridge.

Why?

Oh, that.

My father told me once.

Long ago...

...a sick traveller died by the bridge.

The villagers took pity

and buried him right there.

They placed a large

stone on his tomb...

...and put flowers on it.

It became a custom to put flowers there.

Not only the children.

All the villagers...

...put flowers there as they pass...

...though most don't know why.

Is there a celebration today?

No, a funeral.

You find this strange?

A nice, happy funeral.

It's good...

...to work hard...

...and live long and then be thanked.

We have no temple or priest here.

So all the villagers...

...carry the dead...

...to the cemetery on the hill.

We don't like it

when young adults or children die.

It's hard to celebrate such a loss.

But fortunately...

...the people of this village

lead a natural way of life.

So they pass on at a ripe old age.

The woman we're burying today...

...lived to be ninety-nine.

You must excuse me...

...but I'm going to join the procession.

To tell the truth...

...she was my first love.

But broke my heart...

...and left me for another.

By the way, how old are you?

Me?

One hundred-plus three.

A good age to stop living.

Some say life is hard.

That's just talk.

In fact, it's good

to be alive.

It's exciting.

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