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"Hey, Mr. Popo!" You greet the portly attendant, who smile and waves at you on your approach. "Lord Kami said that you could help me go somewhere pretty quickly. Would you mind taking me to my parent's house?" You ask him, which makes you realize that you don't actually have a place of your own yet. Honestly, you've either been camping out in places or relying on the kindness of others for shelter. Perhaps something you'll change later, it wouldn't do to be a bum forever...
"Of course, it would be my pleasure. Please wait one moment." Mr. Popo replies, putting his fingers on either side of his mouth and blowing a sharp whistle. Seemingly from nowhere, a floating carpet flickers into existence just in front of you and Popo. He takes a step up onto its center, and offers his hand down to you. Naturally, you take it and step up onto the carpet as well. "This will only take a second." He advises.
"Should I hold-" You start to say, before the world around you flickers just like the carpet did. In the blink of an eye, the lookout is replaced with the familiar sights you had started to forget the details of - the simple and rustic village houses you grew up around surrounded by countless verdant trees. "-On to something? Oh." You finish saying, not having expected the trip to be as instantaneous as it was. You look around a bit wide-eyed at your surroundings, taking in all those familiar sensory inputs.
The scent carried on the breeze is a nostalgic one, of the pies your mother used to make, and it couples with the sound of the nearby babbling brook to take your mind on a nostalgic trip to the past. You step off the carpet, looking over at your family's house in particular. It's the same as it ever was as far as you can tell, thanks to your resourceful parents doing well to maintain it and protect it from the usual ravages of time. Nervously, you step up to the door, and do as you were taught to: you knock on the door.
"I'll get it! Coming~!" The voice of your mother calls out in a singsong manner. You swallow, feeling anxious about how this could go - you really shouldn't have put this off for as long as you did. Will they be mad? Well, you did write to them as often as you could, and they did usually write back - although that did become a lot harder once you were up on Kami's Lookout. Maybe you should try this another Day.
The door opening breaks you out of your thoughts, and for the first time in nine years you see your Mother. Surprisingly, she looks the same as she did the day you left, like she hasn't aged a day; time treated her well, it seems. Even more surprisingly, for you at least, is that you actually tower over her with your adult height...you were about up to her eyes when you first set out. She seems to be equally shocked as she looks up at you, eyes as wide as saucers and mouth agape.
