12: Creek Where the Moon Gushes up

When I was a second-year university student, in summer vacation, I had an opportunity to tag along with my friend to his home town.
He was my master of occultism.
Master seemed to be looking for something uncanny, while I had nothing to do but going out to kill time as I felt awkward to stay his relative's house. Every day, I mostly spent time in the mountain where I could find nothing.

A full moon was shining at night of the fourth day.

After finishing dinner served by Master's relative, I went out for a walk, again, not feeling like staying, leaving Master who went to somewhere alone.

As I was walking around aimlessly, I got a faint sense of discomfort. I stood still at the point.

There was a creek. Although it was a somewhat secluded part of the mountain, a moon threw light on the creek which I had passed by yesterday and the day before yesterday. I thought it was a dried up creek but this time, mysteriously, the moonlight danced on its surface.

As I came closer, the creek contained water, mirroring a beautiful moon.

――Hmm…　It's kinda strange. Haven't rained lately though.

When I came back to the house being puzzled, Master had already been there.

"That's a creek where the moon gushes up," Master said as I told about the creek. Apparently, the creek was famous around here. It was usually dried up and only when the moon was full, it was filled with spring water.

I was curious about the reason of such a mysterious phenomenon.

"There's a reservoir,“ Master began to explain matter-of-factly. "Located around 300 meters down below this village. I think that's it. The elderly of this village say that the places of spring water have changed much since the reservoir had been constructed. It's changed the flow of ground-water artery, I guess."

Well, but I thought it was still weird that water gushed and dried up so frequently. Besides, that's too good to be true that water gushes up only at a night with the fullmoon.

"It's 'Tide-producing force'," despite my confusedness, again, Master said frankly. "Even though attraction of the moon causes some just minimal changes on the Earth, but liquid -like sea- is directly affected. The rise and fall of the tides is a well-known example, you know. And the power like this is called 'Tide-producing force'. When the fullmoon rises, the force is maximized to affect even a reservoir," Master continued. "There might've been a slight change in water pressure of the reservoir. I guess, this change caused another change in the pressure of under-ground water pouring into the reservoir, which decides where spring water wells up."

"I see."

Though I didn't understand everything about what he said, simply felt admiration for his answer.

"But the point is, listen, the creek is a place where the moon gushes up to the end in this village. Not due to the tasteless mechanisms I mentioned. Tradition has it; Those who have drunk the moon gushed up in the creek will acquire a spiritual power."

Romantic story.
But, I also certainly felt something ominous in the sound of 'spiritual power' when he said.

"Okay then, we're going," said Master. Sure enough.

We took our route through the gloom, narrowing the range of the flashlight.

The creek is not so far away. If someone saw us, two strangers, sneaking out in the midnight, it would be even more awkward to be here. Fortunately, we didn't passed by anyone.

I gave a sigh with relief as we were at the creek. Because I had a feeling that water would possibly disappear like an illusion. On the surface of the water running down the mountain slope, the fullmoon swung and swayed.

Master crouched on the edge of the creek, looking down at the moon with glairing eyes.

In the meanwhile, I was thinking of what I got in my mind when he told me "It's a tide-producing force."

Though I've never been good at science, I knew about the force existed.

However··· I wonder wether the tide-producing force would be maximized only when the fullmoon?

If my dim memory serves right, the force becomes the maximum in the day of new moon either. If so, then, what about this creek that wells only with the fullmoon?

Above all, his eyes looked like denying his own answer, a tide-producing force. A chill from nowhere attacked me. I saw Master scooping the water, making a sloshing sound.

Had Master seen the scooped fullmoon on his hands? He began to drink the water as if giving his body and soul. Again and again. Scoop after scoop. I was looking at it, standing stock still.

In the end, I collapsed to the ground as I saw an unbelievable thing. Master had stopped moving his hands and the surface of the water was waving softly.

The moon wasn't there anymore.

It had disappeared.

I was trying to give a reasonable interpretation to this unreasonable occurrence, restraining myself wanted to run away.

――It's 'Tide-producing force'

I just wanted to find a convincing word like he said before.

While I was stunned, Master walked up to me as if nothing had happened saying, "Finished drinking the moon. Let's go home."

That was the moment I found out the truth. As I looked up at the sky, I began to ridicule myself, still sinking down. Before I knew, the sky had been clouded, hiding the moon.

It was absolutely ridiculous… if I had forgotten about the question of the new moon.

The next day, Master revealed a trick to me so easily.

"That reservoir does a test discharge every 30 days."

The period of discharge and the period of waxing and waning of the moon happened to be almost the same.

The period of the moon waxes and wanes is called lunation. It makes a round in roughly 29.53 days on average. Since the test discharge is held each 30 days, there should be about six days of time gap a year between the period of the test and lunation. However, if the scheduled date of the test is a holiday, the test is held one day before, which makes the period of the test closer to lunation.

"It's still rare that the creek gushes up on exactly the same day of the fullmoon though."

To hear that, I grew weak. It was neither the change of under-ground water pressure nor even a tide-producing force but just a discharge of a reservoir.

I was deceived after all.

However, when I understood the true meaning of what happened at the night, Master had already disappeared.

A few years later, after his mysterious missing, I was remembering the night and aware of one thing that hadn't been solved.

That night, Master and I headed to the creek with a small light of a flashlight. To the creek where the moon gushes up.

Since when was the sky clouded at the night…?