The Birthday

is a story collection by Japanese writer Koji Suzuki and first published on February 5, 1999 in Japan. It is the fourth installment of Suzuki's Ring series. Plot The book consists of three short stories occurring in different timeframes within the Ring universe: Coffin in the Sky (空に浮かぶ棺, Sora ni Ukabu Hitsugi) In November 1990 during the events of Spiral, Mai Takano wakes up at the bottom of an exhaust shaft of a building near Tokyo Bay. The only way out of is by climbing a cloth tied to a beam above, but her ankle is broken and the shaft is too small for her to move about. Mai also finds out that she is pregnant, despite never having a sexual encounter. She experiences bouts of leaving and entering unconsciousness and tries to recall her life and the events leading up to this point. As a former aide of Ryuji Takayama, who died of the ring virus, she was ordered by his publisher to search for some missing work papers in his childhood home. Once there, Mai was entranced by Ryuji's copy of the cursed video, took it home and watched it. Upon watching, she felt movement in her belly and underwent morning sickness. Mai realizes that the fetus caused her to go into a trance. Under its control, she left her home with a cloth and a sack of towels, went to the shaft, tied the cloth to climb down. She slipped, fell, and broke her ankle. Mai's pregnancy is soon due and she gives birth to a baby whom she realizes is Sadako Yamamura, reborn. The baby Sadako cuts her umbilical cord from the placenta, wipes herself with the towel, and leaves the shaft using the cloth. It flashes a grin at Mai and throws the cloth back into the shaft, leaving her to die.