"The Bath House" - Eine Geschichte von Kim Saegesser - Young Circle

«The Bath House» – Eine Geschichte von Kim Saegesser

Member Stories 2023

«The Bath House» – Eine Geschichte von Kim Saegesser

In search of an escape from a dreadful job, our protagonist stumbles upon an intriguing job advertisement. Their decision to work at a remote mountain village bathhouse in Okayama sets the stage for a mysterious journey.

Chapter 1

I was so sick and tired of my job! Everything about the company I worked for was awful! The people that worked there were rude and they treated others dreadfully.  I, somehow, had to escape and find a new job!  One faithful night I found a poster which was stuck on a pinboard outside my house. As I took it off the board, I saw that it was a job advertisement and they looking for someone to work at a bath house in a small village on the top of the mountain! How lucky was I. From this point on, I decided it my destiny to move to this little village Okayama on the top of the mountain to work at this particular bath house.

Chapter 2

It was already evening when I finally arrived in Okayama. I had some things to unpack but it was only a few boxes with clothes and stuff, so nothing too important… the first priority was to get the key so I could get into the new apartment. I looked at the piece of paper that they had sent to me and it said that I was to occupy apartment Number 8. I was moving the boxes from my car and putting them in front of the door, when a man came over to me. He introduced himself as Itsuki Kobayashi and he said that it was a pleasure to meet me. He wore a white t-shirt with shorts and flip flops on his feet. He was practically bald and looked very sweaty. “You must be our new employee at our Bath House”, he said in a husky deep voice. “We are pleased to welcome you here. Come tomorrow evening to the Bath House to start your new job and feel free to take a nice hot bath after your work shift. Here take this, it’s the key to your apartment”, he said as he handed me the keys to apartment number 8. I thanked him just as he disappeared around the corner.

Chapter 3

The next evening, I walked to the Bath House to start my shift and as I was walking there, I noticed the town was much smaller than I had expected. The Bath House itself had a dull appearance on the outside. The building looked boring and colorless but once you stepped inside it, it felt cozy. Faint music was playing in the background, you could hear a fan whirring and the sound of people, who were taking their daily evening baths, splashing in the water. My workplace was similar to a reception which had shelves stacked with shampoos, razors, creams and towels. My job was to give the people who came there, the items that they needed and to take their payment and put it in a storage jar (I was told each person had to pay 164 Yen to take a bath). I started my shift and I have to say, I was busier than expected but I did a good job handing out towels and razors. Whilst working, I noticed the people on the news were talking about a 21-year-old girl that had mysteriously gone missing a few weeks beforehand. I don’t know why but something about this news worried me. At the end of my shift, I was exhausted but then I suddenly remembered that I was allowed to take a bath after my shift. I thought to myself that a nice hot bath was what I needed as I stripped off my clothes. I first showered and in order to do this, I had to sit on a booster seat which at first hurt a little bit, but then I got used to it. Whilst washing my hair, I noticed somebody was standing behind me. It looked like a girl who was younger than me and her hair was practically covering her whole face. She looked terrifying! When I looked closer, she was gone. I pondered on this for a moment and decided that I just was hallucinating and over tired.

Chapter 4:

The next evening, I returned to the bathhouse to work my next shift. This time a mother and her son were present. The son didn’t look any older than 11, but regardless of how old the child was I have to admit he was LOUD. This child truly screamed the place down and I had to stop myself from telling the child to keep quiet. As the child ran around the place like a lunatic, I didn’t even notice that he had ran into the fan that stood in the corner. When I heard the child scream even louder than before I wondered where his parents were and what the child was screaming about. Finally, I caved in and decided to check out the situation. The child was crying and clutching his hand which was covered in blood. He looked in a bad way so I decided to help by getting the First Aid Kit from the utility closet. After tending to the boy’s hand, he seemed a bit better however his mother came to me afterwards and was extremely angry because she thought I was responsible for her son getting hurt. Finally, the mother and son duo left and I had time to clean up. As I was mopping the floor the power went out and I stood in the dark. I got my flashlight out and started looking for a backup generator. After frantically searching the whole Bath House, I went back into the bath section and proceeded to continue mopping the floor but then I noticed something was… different. Everything was suddenly red and hair was stuck on the walls and on the floor. There she stood in front of me, the girl I had seen a few days ago whilst washing my hair. I shouted “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” and tried hiding but she…

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