Chapter Ten — Garden News

Mei and Amelia ran to Hana’s house. They went into the garden. It was a mess! Dirt was everywhere. Flowers were broken. Koro the dog was running around. Hana’s mother was in the garden too. She was angry.

Hana’s mother shouted at Koro. “Koro! Bad dog! Look what you did! My flowers! My trees! It was a nice garden!” She was very loud.

Koro barked and ran around. She pushed the dirt with her nose. She looked at Mei and Amelia. She wanted them to see something. Koro ran to some dirt and started to dig×掘る again. She made sounds to tell them to come.

Mei and Amelia walked into the garden slowly. Koro moved and looked at them. Mei stopped. She looked at the dirt. She was surprised.

“Mei? What is it?” Amelia asked. Mei looked strange. Ms. Kelly came into the garden. She was tired from running. She looked around.

“What happened?” Ms. Kelly asked. She looked at the ground, like Mei. She was surprised too. Hana’s mother was still shouting at the dog. Bees flew around the broken flowers.

Amelia was confused×混乱した、わけがわからない. “What? What are you looking at? Is it magic?”

Koro sat down in front of the dirt. She looked at Mei and Amelia. Her eyes looked sad and clever. She made a soft, sad sound.

Mei pointed to the dirt. Her hand was shaking. “Look… the dirt. Not just lines… they are letters×文字.” She spoke quietly. “Katakana… Ha… Na…”

Ms. Kelly looked closely. Then her eyes got big. She was quiet for a moment. “Wow,” she said. “It is Hana’s name. The letters say ‘Hana’.”

Amelia did not understand. “What does it mean?” she asked.

Koro sat still in front of the letters. Then she made a sad sound, like a person sighing×ため息をつくこと.

Mei had tears in her eyes. She spoke softly to the dog. “Are you… Hana?”

Koro wagged×（しっぽを）振った her tail in the dirt. Then, slowly, she moved her head up and down. Yes. She nodded×うなずいた yes.

Hana’s mother stopped shouting. She saw Mei, Amelia, Ms. Kelly, and the dog. They were all quiet and looking at the ground.

“What is going on?” she asked. She was not angry now. She was confused. “Why are you looking at the dirt? Hana, why are you quiet? Say something!” She looked at Amelia.

Amelia tried to speak nicely. “Um, hello, Yamato-san. I am not Hana. My name is Amelia. I am from Australia.”

Hana’s mother blinked×まばたきした fast. “Amelia? Australia? Hana, stop joking. Are you okay?” She touched Amelia’s head. “You’re not hot.”

“No, really, Yamato-san. I am not Hana. This morning I woke up in Hana’s body. I think our souls changed places. And Hana… I think Hana is Koro.” Amelia pointed to the dog. Koro made a soft sound, like yes.

Hana’s mother stepped back. “Are you making fun of me? And Koro is acting strange!” She looked at Amelia, then at the dog. She was confused and a little scared now. “This is a joke, right? Mei, Ms. Kelly, tell Hana to stop!”

Suddenly, Ms. Kelly saw something brown on the roof×屋根. A big fox. It was very still. It was watching them.

Quickly, the fox jumped from the roof. It landed in the garden near Koro. In a cloud of smoke, the fox became a woman. Ms. Fujiwara!

“I’ve got you!” Ms. Fujiwara said. Her voice was fast and mean. She grabbed Koro. She took a big metal key×鍵 from her sleeve. The key glowed purple. A round portal×別の場所へ通じる魔法の入り口 of light opened in the air behind her. A magic door!

Hana’s mother screamed. “Kyaaaaaaaa!” She was very scared. She pointed at Ms. Fujiwara, the dog, and the portal. “Fox-woman! Magic! My daughter! DOG! What is HAPPENING?!”

Ms. Fujiwara did not listen to the screams. She looked at Mei and Amelia and smiled a bad smile. “Too slow,” she said. She jumped through the portal with Koro.

“No!” Ms. Kelly shouted. She grabbed Mei and Amelia. “Come on!”

Ms. Kelly pulled Mei and Amelia into the portal. It became smaller and smaller. Then the portal closed. Hana’s mother was gone. Mei and Amelia fell through a tunnel of colors and shapes. Far away, they could still hear Hana’s mother: “Kyaaaaaaaa! Hana! Koro-chan! My flowers!”