Page 15 of The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop
Everyone’s eyes turned on Shingo, but he would not have noticed. Then, he heard hurried footsteps approaching. Judging from the sound, it was clear that this wasn’t the pace of an elderly person. Words like ‘What’s happening?’ and ‘Well, it’s this gentleman…’ were exchanged.
When he realised that someone’s hand was patting his back, Shingo finally came back to his senses.
‘What’s wrong, Grandpa? Are you all right?’
Shingo looked up to find a name in front of him. It said ‘Matsumoto’. As his eyes skimmed over the name, he thought:This surname only has a small number of strokes.As he wrote out the kanji characters in his head, mentally confirming the stroke order, a bit of clarity returned to him.
‘My name is Kikukawa. You have no right calling me “Grandpa”.’
He hadn’t meant to say them out loud, but the words had already escaped him. This wiped the smile off the face of the worker named Matsumoto. It somehow made Shingo feel a pang of guilt, and he instinctively said, ‘Sorry,’ although he didn’t really know what he was apologising for.
The group of elderly people who had been watching from a distance gradually started to turn away. Some sat back down in front of the television, others disappeared down the corridor, and a few gathered together and opened the glass door to head out to the courtyard.
What is this place?Shingo wondered again as the female worker helped him up from his seat. He guessed that it was some kind of care centre for older people. If this was the case, how long had he been there? Had he quit his job? He didn’t know the answer to any of these simple questions. Then, thinking about his wife again, he considered the possibility that she could also be here. But if she was, surely he would have seen her. It would be too strange for him not to have.
* * *
After the incident, Shingo spent most of his time inside his room, leaving only for meals. His heart was completely crushed. Still, on days when he was feeling better enough, he was able to acknowledge that there was something important that he had forgotten, and that he was desperate to know what it was. But holding onto that feeling for a day or two wasn’t easy. Only the dregs of an inexplicable sense of urgency kept accumulating inside of him.
About a week of such misery had passed when he was told that someone who claimed to be his daughter had come to see him. But the moment his visitor entered his room, he was truly surprised. She looked just like his wife.
‘I’ve come to check in on you,’ the person said as she set her bags down. ‘I heard that you seemed to be feeling low, so I was worried.’
Shingo was dumbstruck as his eyes followed the figure moving towards the west-facing window.
‘Yuriko. I’ve been looking for you. Where have you been all this time? Please, I beg you. Don’t keep me locked up in a place like this. I want to go home. I’ve got to go to work. At this rate, I’ll end up forgetting how to drive a train.’
The woman turned to face him and shook her head solemnly.
‘I guess we’re doing this again, then. I suppose I’ve gotten used to it by now, and I know in my head that it can’t be helped, but my God, this can get tough. Listen, Dad. I’m going to tell you once more. I am yourdaughter, Sanae. I’ve gotten married and my surname is now Yasuhara. I live with my husband in a town that’s not close to here. That’s why I can’t see you so often. I know it may not seem like it, but I am sorry about that. Also, you retired from your job as a train driver a long time ago.’
Right. We did have a daughter with that name.
‘Ah, Sanae. I remember now. You’re Sanae. But where is… What has happened to Yuriko? Is she not with you?’
‘Mum passed away five years ago. After that, you were living on your own for a while. But three years ago, you had a stroke while you were out. Fortunately, there were people around you, and you got help immediately, so it didn’t turn into anything life-threatening. But as your daughter, I was too worried to let you keep living on your own, and so I got you to come live here, at Mai’s workplace. It took some effort to convince you to say yes, you know. I guess you don’t remember any of that.’
Is that so? But who is Mai? Who does she mean by ‘you’, anyway?
‘By the way, I have something for you,’ the person who was supposedly his daughter said.
Without paying any attention to Shingo’s puzzlement, she pulled out a large item from her bag.
‘You asked me to bring this.’
From the brown envelope emerged a single book. The text on it read:Ten Nights of Dreams.
‘The book that Mom loved. Last time, you said that you wanted to read it.’
‘I would never say such a thing.’
‘But youdid. I even had to put in a special order for it because you wanted the large-print edition.’
Had he really asked for this book? He certainly had no recollection of it, but perhaps it was one of those memories that had slipped away from him. That was the most plausible explanation. After all, he couldn’t even trust his own judgement about whether the person opposite him was really his daughter.
As he was thinking this, there was another knock on the door. Before Shingo could respond, Sanae answered with a ‘Come in’ and the door opened.
‘I asked for a little break so that I could come and see you. How’s it going, Mum? Has Grandpa cheered up a bit after seeing your face?’
