Never-Never Land-- Shin'ichi Hoshi

Shin'ichi Hoshi is one of the more famous Japanese sci-fi authors. He is most known for his work in the short-short story genre. At present all of his works that were translated and published in English are out of print, which is too bad because he really is a great writer. If I were to describe what his stories and style are like, I would have to say they are like classic Rod Sterling Twilight Zone. So if you are into that I highly recommend Hoshi.

 The story this time is one of my all time favorite short stories. Since I don't want to give anything away, I'll just say that if you are familiar with the old table-top RPG Mage:the Ascension then just picture a world where the Technocracy won.

Original Title: 「ピーターパンの島」

Wendy and the rest of the crowd of children all at once let out a shout of joy. A pirate ship.  Just now, the pirate ship that they had only seen in their dreams was here.  The blackened hull of the wooden ship.  The deck plastered in pitch. The fat ropes soaked with the scent of the sea.

                The children all ran along the side of the ship. Each and every child gently brushing it with their hands, pressing their arms against it, rubbing their cheeks against it, breathing in its scent. Filled with excess happiness, their shouts of joy were tinged with echoes of sobs, and continued rocking the ship along with the sea breeze.