She held a box full of useless items and waited. A now defunct ID itched around her neck. People on the crowded platform were wearing masks. Someone sneezed and she felt the spray on her cheek. The train on its way. Could hear them sniffing, wiping drips away with fingers. Beads of sweat on the man’s nose beside her.
The train came in view. It was going to be packed and everyone going to push on, squeezing their sickly wet bodies together. Should have never left Hokkaido. Tokyo a nightmare from the start. No job. No money for rent. No friends. Tomoki long gone and blocked her on all social media. Couldn’t return home an embarrassment.
Her childhood ran before her eyes like an old fashioned movie reel. The summers with the paddling pool in the garden. The laughter of her brothers as they built their first snowmen. Her mother’s cooking. Her grandmother brushing her hair. The sounds of the river.
Total silence folded on the station. She dropped the box, closed her eyes as the ashes fell. Jumped.
The train came in view. It was going to be packed and everyone going to push on, squeezing their sickly wet bodies together. Should have never left Hokkaido. Tokyo a nightmare from the start. No job. No money for rent. No friends. Tomoki long gone and blocked her on all social media. Couldn’t return home an embarrassment.
Her childhood ran before her eyes like an old fashioned movie reel. The summers with the paddling pool in the garden. The laughter of her brothers as they built their first snowmen. Her mother’s cooking. Her grandmother brushing her hair. The sounds of the river.
Total silence folded on the station. She dropped the box, closed her eyes as the ashes fell. Jumped.
