Momotaro

Suki was a woman who lived in a small cottage within the pastures of the woodlands of Honshu Island, Japan. The woman's cottage was built behind the garden of the Okayama Prefecture. The establishment and it's estate had been in place for decades, and for all it's time standing the leaves of the trees only bared peaches. Suki had took note of this, and throughout her years of living on the island she was the self-proclaimed caretaker of the peach trees of the Okayama garden. She would thoroughly water the roots, trim the weeds, and oftentimes Suki would even speak to the trees. While picking the sweet fruit they constructed, Suki conversated with the plants, praising their growth rates and blooming accomplishments.

Suki's husband, Obake, was very fond of Suki's protective habits of the land around their home. He was a lover of the peach fruit himself, and encouraged Suki's curiosity of the plant life. There were times where the two of them would put together a picnic and sit beneath their favorite tree. The sapling that Suki and Obake were the most attached to was the one that started growing directly beside the entrance to their home. It was small but mighty; with a thick trunk and healthy leaves, juicy orange peaches grew from it's branches. Every evening, Suki and Obake would have their dinner outside, watching the sun set as they sat beside their peach tree. They vowed that they would present the tree as a gift to their unborn child, which was still growing and developing in Suki's stomach.

Unfortunately for Suki, a day of demise reached her abruptly. She had received news from her doctor that she was medically incapable of giving birth to her child, and would be having a miscarriage. Saddened by such distressful news, Suki locked herself away in her bedroom, isolating herself completely. She stopped nurturing the peach trees in the garden–the roots were uneven, the weeds overgrown, and the peaches quickly became mushy and overripe. The Okayama garden soon transformed into a reflection of the painful sorrow that Suki was feeling in her heart.

Seeing his wife display such feelings of despair made Obake feel miserable. He needed to take action in order to restore Suki's once vibrant and joyful attitude. Obake was aware that Suki's time in the garden was something she valued greatly, something she put love and energy into each and every day. Therefore, Obake decided to head out to the prefecture to find a natural solution to his problem. He found that every plant that was previously being taken care of by Suki had reached a state of decay. However, despite the state of the surrounding trees, Obake discovered that the sapling which was favorited by he and Suki was still standing upright with a healthy glow. 

As Obake got closer to the tree he noticed how one of it's peaches had grown significantly larger than the others, and it seemed to radiate a dazzling aura of light. Obake was starstruck by the discovery, and immediately reached for the overgrown peach. Just as he came in contact with it, the peach detached from it's branch and plummeted to the ground, landing with an unsettling squish.

Obake watched as the peach trembled, the crack made from the impact of the fall separated more and more in mere seconds. As the fruit was fully split in half, a small child sat in place of the seed, covered in the silky juices of the peach. Obake's jaw dropped at the sight, quickly picking up the child. She was a girl with light brown hair and big, innocent eyes. Obake rushed into the house, calling Suki out of her room. When he burst through the door Suki was surprised to see her husband standing with a slime-covered baby in his hands.

"My wife, look at this child that the Gods of fruit have given us!" Obake stated joyfully. "She was born from the seed of a peach, grown from the very sapling that you have done so much care for!"

Suki was incredibly impressed with the information Obake was saying to her. She held the child in her hands, looking deeply in her eyes. She got lost within a feeling of comfort and memory inside her mind. Tears swelled in her eyes as she held the child close to her.

"This is our miracle child," Suki whispered blissfully. She smiled as she kissed the forehead of the small girl. "I will care for her like she is my own. And we will call her Momotaro, the peach child."

Obake hugged his wife as she wept tears of happiness, feeling the weight of her depression being lifted off her shoulders. A sense of love and inner peace washed over the family. Momotaro was raised and loved by her newfound parents for many years, and she too grew on to care for the Okayama peach garden alongside her doting parents.