Growing Pains 3
Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown. If there would be a fourth, that would be now. / Tsumugu was a safe place. In their five years, Chisaki trusted him to be her safe place. And yet, why did it have to change now?
Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown.
The first time...Tsumugu tried to remember the first time. He was but eight years old and he remembered chucking off his slippers and running loose barefoot on the gravelly sand in only his swimming trunks. He liked how his feet left imprints on the sand wherever he treaded. He also liked the feel of the sand slipping in between his toes. Young Tsumugu played a game with the waves chasing him across the crescent of beach while he hopped away from its reach. Then, he would chase back the waves and withdraw again when it was the sea's turn.
His mother, on the other hand, hiding her discomfort, tried to strut with as much grace as possible, but she could be seen lifting her sandal-clad feet toe up in the air in an effort to tap off the sand. As for his father, he was reclining on a beach chair, reading a novel, fully dressed and fully out of place.
Tsumugu rose up from the sand fortress he was building and his eyes roamed the beach in search of somebody when there came a grunt behind him. He turned around to see his grandfather crouched down on the sand, digging up, with both hands, a protrusion glinting in the daylight and sticking up from the sand. When he had finally unburied the object, he lifted it up to the light. It was a pebble, no, it was a sea-green, transluscent stone.
Tsumugu's eyes went as round as the stone before him. Reverently, he reached out his palms to receive it but was taken by surprise when his grandfather missed his outstretched hands and dropped the stone with a clang into the empty pail at his feet. Tsumugu looked back to find the old man wearing an amused half smile.
They spent a good deal of the next hour combing the shore for other treasure. Sometimes, they found sea shells that were mostly empty, but sometimes grew legs and ran off from them. Other times, they uncovered smoothened rocks of varying shapes and colors. But, there were plenty more of flotsam and jetsam washing up onshore.
"Grandpa." Tsumugu deposited the latest discovery, a gold and silver spoon, into his almost brimming pail. "Do you also have these things underwater?"
Isamu gazed at his grandson, expression neutral, and then, he inclined his head seaward. "Yes. Even better."
Tsumugu's heartbeat quickened at the promise those words held. Then, "Ah, Grandpa. Your ena." Tsumugu found the words stumbling out of his mouth when the cracks on his skin caught his attention and alarmed him.
Isamu held up his elbow and indeed, the ena was coming off in flakes. He had stayed too long under the heat of the relentless sun. Yet, Isamu only said calmly, "I'll only be a while."
He went farther along the coast, towards the rockier parts, Tsumugu tailing him. Isamu waded in the blue waters until he was shoulder deep in it and then, his head bobbed under and did not surface again for the next few minutes. Tsumugu balanced on the edge of a big boulder, head bowed, amethyst eyes trying to pierce through the depths of the sea and catching a silvery white flash underneath that could be a trick of light or just his imagination. He clambered down from the boulder and dipped his toes, then his feet into the cold waters. Tsumugu pushed through the deeper parts and soon found that he could not touch the ground with his feet anymore. He flailed his arms and kicked his legs to keep afloat but his feet cramped up and his arms tired quickly. He was not getting any nearer inland and was instead being tugged farther away by the rolling tide. He paddled harder with his limbs, yet it only stirred the waves to tousle him, mocking his futile attempts, until the sea overcame him. Tsumugu finally stopped fighting and seawater entered his lungs as he sank deeper and deeper. His last memory moments before descending into the abyss was of strong arms gathering around him and pulling him up to the surface...
Tsumugu coughed up water and then, awoke gulping for air. Slim arms wrapped around his neck and it was followed by relieved voices.
"Tsumugu! Thank God!"
"Son, are you okay!?"
Tsumugu was disoriented at first, like he was still sinking underwater, but eventually, it all returned to him and he found his bearings. He was on the shore, lying on the gritty sand. He was drowning a while ago, but he was safe now. He wanted to follow his grandfather...
Tsumugu hugged back his mother fiercely, as much an attempt to shake off the sensations he felt. "I'm okay, mom, dad," he reassured. It was unspoken but his words were also meant for his grandpa standing back at a distance.
Still, despite his assurances, his parents insisted on taking him to the nearest hospital to do a check-up, worried he might still have water in his lungs or be mentally traumatized by the experience. After Tsumugu was diagnosed as healthy, the doctor left him in the room for a bit, neglecting to shut the door properly. Hushed, angry voices filtered through the crack.
The first voice spoke with strong resentment. "I knew it was the wrong idea to take him to these yearly visits to Oshiooshi. He almost suffered the same fate as my older brother."
The second voice released an anguished cry. "Oh, God. We almost lost him to the sea!"
From that conversation, Tsumugu derived two things. One, that he was banned from going near the sea. Two, that this would be their last visit to Oshiooshi. Isamu knew as well, for Tsumugu noted the melancholy in his sea-blue eyes.
On the day they left to go back to the city, Grandpa Isamu had gifted him with a conch shell that fit just right in his childish palms. Tsumugu's parents turned a blind eye, yet Tsumugu did not miss the frown on his father's features nor the anxious lines carved on his mother's forehead. Tsumugu quickly stowed away the shell in his backpack, afraid his parents might discard the precious item as soon as they drive out of Oshiooshi.
His parents were, by nature, city people. Tsumugu could see how his mother seemed more at ease, more confident walking in pointed high heels than crunching sand beneath her sandals or how his father lost his stormy mood and looked more relaxed in the comfort of his concrete city house.
Yet, Tsumugu was different. He was more restrained in the city. He felt misplaced. He ached for that vast expanse of blue. Against his parents' knowledge, Tsumugu stashed a portion of his daily allowance so he could make frequent trips to the aquarium. Tsumugu's favorite part was sitting in the room with the biggest tank and passing long minutes watching contentedly as the fish, big and small, darted back and forth. When he arrived home, Tsumugu did not let on about his after school activities. He would eat his meals obediently; he would take a bath, do his homework quietly in his room, and every night, Tsumugu would lie down in bed, pressing the seashell to his ear and falling asleep to the sshh sshh of the waves.
However, his routine was broken when his parents discovered about his trips to the aquarium. His mother was not so harsh in reprimanding him, yet his father was more imposing. If there were no after school activities, Tsumugu was to go home immediately.
Days passed. Tsumugu continued to eat his meals obediently and go straight to his room to do his homework. His only solace was his grandpa's seashell. Night after night, he was lulled to sleep listening to the resounding tides trapped in the seashell much like how his longing was trapped in his heart.
One day, Tsumugu formulated a plan. He took out his tin box of savings hidden in one of his drawers. There were more coins than paper bills, it seemed, judging from the sharp jangling it made when he tried to shake the box. But he was not disheartened and began to count everything he had. By the time he finished counting, he estimated he had enough to purchase a child's train ticket to Oshiooshi.
The phone rang loudly at the Kihara residence. The older Kihara picked it up.
"Kihara," he said tersely into the receiver.
A young voice crackled over the telephone. "Grandpa."
"Tsumugu?" Isamu called out, the slightest disbelief in his voice.
"Grandpa," repeated Tsumugu and then, "I'm at the train station."
Tsumugu held his breath, anticipating his grandfather's reply. He almost thought that the call might have been disconnected when he heard shuffling and Isamu finally replied, "I'll come for you."
Tsumugu did not pack much except for a few days' worth of clothing, the remainder of his savings from his tin box, and his seashell. Isamu did not ask if his son was aware of Tsumugu's actions and only gave a silent nod towards his cargo bicycle. Tsumugu sat just as silently at the back of the cargo bike. His heart pounded tremendously in his ribcage, fearful of what his father might do to him, but the swish of waves nearby echoing like a sweet refrain in his ears eased his body and mind and then, his heart. He no longer felt trapped.
It took no less than a couple of hours for the phone to ring again. This time, it was Isamu's son calling.
"Father, is he there?"
"Yes."
"We're coming over to pick him up."
"Understood."
They exchanged words that were clipped, impersonal, like a business transaction between two strangers. Isamu turned to Tsumugu. "You heard that?"
"Mmm," Tsumugu hummed in his throat, nodding. He did not really hear the voice on the other line, but he could imagine what it might have said.
They waited in the living room. Isamu sat at the porch mending his fishing net, while Tsumugu observed, pulling his knees up to his chest.
"Grandpa, thank you," Tsumugu spoke. "For saving me before."
"Hrgh," briefly acknowledged Isamu, his concentration fully on his work.
The house was quiet, as quiet as its occupants. Gr
Growing Pains 3
Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown. If there would be a fourth, that would be now. / Tsumugu was a safe place. In their five years, Chisaki trusted him to be her safe place. And yet, why did it have to change now?
Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown.
The first time...Tsumugu tried to remember the first time. He was but eight years old and he remembered chucking off his slippers and running loose barefoot on the gravelly sand in only his swimming trunks. He liked how his feet left imprints on the sand wherever he treaded. He also liked the feel of the sand slipping in between his toes. Young Tsumugu played a game with the waves chasing him across the crescent of beach while he hopped away from its reach. Then, he would chase back the waves and withdraw again when it was the sea's turn.
His mother, on the other hand, hiding her discomfort, tried to strut with as much grace as possible, but she could be seen lifting her sandal-clad feet toe up in the air in an effort to tap off the sand. As for his father, he was reclining on a beach chair, reading a novel, fully dressed and fully out of place.
Tsumugu rose up from the sand fortress he was building and his eyes roamed the beach in search of somebody when there came a grunt behind him. He turned around to see his grandfather crouched down on the sand, digging up, with both hands, a protrusion glinting in the daylight and sticking up from the sand. When he had finally unburied the object, he lifted it up to the light. It was a pebble, no, it was a sea-green, transluscent stone.
Tsumugu's eyes went as round as the stone before him. Reverently, he reached out his palms to receive it but was taken by surprise when his grandfather missed his outstretched hands and dropped the stone with a clang into the empty pail at his feet. Tsumugu looked back to find the old man wearing an amused half smile.
They spent a good deal of the next hour combing the shore for other treasure. Sometimes, they found sea shells that were mostly empty, but sometimes grew legs and ran off from them. Other times, they uncovered smoothened rocks of varying shapes and colors. But, there were plenty more of flotsam and jetsam washing up onshore.
"Grandpa." Tsumugu deposited the latest discovery, a gold and silver spoon, into his almost brimming pail. "Do you also have these things underwater?"
Isamu gazed at his grandson, expression neutral, and then, he inclined his head seaward. "Yes. Even better."
Tsumugu's heartbeat quickened at the promise those words held. Then, "Ah, Grandpa. Your ena." Tsumugu found the words stumbling out of his mouth when the cracks on his skin caught his attention and alarmed him.
Isamu held up his elbow and indeed, the ena was coming off in flakes. He had stayed too long under the heat of the relentless sun. Yet, Isamu only said calmly, "I'll only be a while."
He went farther along the coast, towards the rockier parts, Tsumugu tailing him. Isamu waded in the blue waters until he was shoulder deep in it and then, his head bobbed under and did not surface again for the next few minutes. Tsumugu balanced on the edge of a big boulder, head bowed, amethyst eyes trying to pierce through the depths of the sea and catching a silvery white flash underneath that could be a trick of light or just his imagination. He clambered down from the boulder and dipped his toes, then his feet into the cold waters. Tsumugu pushed through the deeper parts and soon found that he could not touch the ground with his feet anymore. He flailed his arms and kicked his legs to keep afloat but his feet cramped up and his arms tired quickly. He was not getting any nearer inland and was instead being tugged farther away by the rolling tide. He paddled harder with his limbs, yet it only stirred the waves to tousle him, mocking his futile attempts, until the sea overcame him. Tsumugu finally stopped fighting and seawater entered his lungs as he sank deeper and deeper. His last memory moments before descending into the abyss was of strong arms gathering around him and pulling him up to the surface...
Tsumugu coughed up water and then, awoke gulping for air. Slim arms wrapped around his neck and it was followed by relieved voices.
"Tsumugu! Thank God!"
"Son, are you okay!?"
Tsumugu was disoriented at first, like he was still sinking underwater, but eventually, it all returned to him and he found his bearings. He was on the shore, lying on the gritty sand. He was drowning a while ago, but he was safe now. He wanted to follow his grandfather...
Tsumugu hugged back his mother fiercely, as much an attempt to shake off the sensations he felt. "I'm okay, mom, dad," he reassured. It was unspoken but his words were also meant for his grandpa standing back at a distance.
Still, despite his assurances, his parents insisted on taking him to the nearest hospital to do a check-up, worried he might still have water in his lungs or be mentally traumatized by the experience. After Tsumugu was diagnosed as healthy, the doctor left him in the room for a bit, neglecting to shut the door properly. Hushed, angry voices filtered through the crack.
The first voice spoke with strong resentment. "I knew it was the wrong idea to take him to these yearly visits to Oshiooshi. He almost suffered the same fate as my older brother."
The second voice released an anguished cry. "Oh, God. We almost lost him to the sea!"
From that conversation, Tsumugu derived two things. One, that he was banned from going near the sea. Two, that this would be their last visit to Oshiooshi. Isamu knew as well, for Tsumugu noted the melancholy in his sea-blue eyes.
On the day they left to go back to the city, Grandpa Isamu had gifted him with a conch shell that fit just right in his childish palms. Tsumugu's parents turned a blind eye, yet Tsumugu did not miss the frown on his father's features nor the anxious lines carved on his mother's forehead. Tsumugu quickly stowed away the shell in his backpack, afraid his parents might discard the precious item as soon as they drive out of Oshiooshi.
His parents were, by nature, city people. Tsumugu could see how his mother seemed more at ease, more confident walking in pointed high heels than crunching sand beneath her sandals or how his father lost his stormy mood and looked more relaxed in the comfort of his concrete city house.
Yet, Tsumugu was different. He was more restrained in the city. He felt misplaced. He ached for that vast expanse of blue. Against his parents' knowledge, Tsumugu stashed a portion of his daily allowance so he could make frequent trips to the aquarium. Tsumugu's favorite part was sitting in the room with the biggest tank and passing long minutes watching contentedly as the fish, big and small, darted back and forth. When he arrived home, Tsumugu did not let on about his after school activities. He would eat his meals obediently; he would take a bath, do his homework quietly in his room, and every night, Tsumugu would lie down in bed, pressing the seashell to his ear and falling asleep to the sshh sshh of the waves.
However, his routine was broken when his parents discovered about his trips to the aquarium. His mother was not so harsh in reprimanding him, yet his father was more imposing. If there were no after school activities, Tsumugu was to go home immediately.
Days passed. Tsumugu continued to eat his meals obediently and go straight to his room to do his homework. His only solace was his grandpa's seashell. Night after night, he was lulled to sleep listening to the resounding tides trapped in the seashell much like how his longing was trapped in his heart.
One day, Tsumugu formulated a plan. He took out his tin box of savings hidden in one of his drawers. There were more coins than paper bills, it seemed, judging from the sharp jangling it made when he tried to shake the box. But he was not disheartened and began to count everything he had. By the time he finished counting, he estimated he had enough to purchase a child's train ticket to Oshiooshi.
The phone rang loudly at the Kihara residence. The older Kihara picked it up.
"Kihara," he said tersely into the receiver.
A young voice crackled over the telephone. "Grandpa."
"Tsumugu?" Isamu called out, the slightest disbelief in his voice.
"Grandpa," repeated Tsumugu and then, "I'm at the train station."
Tsumugu held his breath, anticipating his grandfather's reply. He almost thought that the call might have been disconnected when he heard shuffling and Isamu finally replied, "I'll come for you."
Tsumugu did not pack much except for a few days' worth of clothing, the remainder of his savings from his tin box, and his seashell. Isamu did not ask if his son was aware of Tsumugu's actions and only gave a silent nod towards his cargo bicycle. Tsumugu sat just as silently at the back of the cargo bike. His heart pounded tremendously in his ribcage, fearful of what his father might do to him, but the swish of waves nearby echoing like a sweet refrain in his ears eased his body and mind and then, his heart. He no longer felt trapped.
It took no less than a couple of hours for the phone to ring again. This time, it was Isamu's son calling.
"Father, is he there?"
"Yes."
"We're coming over to pick him up."
"Understood."
They exchanged words that were clipped, impersonal, like a business transaction between two strangers. Isamu turned to Tsumugu. "You heard that?"
"Mmm," Tsumugu hummed in his throat, nodding. He did not really hear the voice on the other line, but he could imagine what it might have said.
They waited in the living room. Isamu sat at the porch mending his fishing net, while Tsumugu observed, pulling his knees up to his chest.
"Grandpa, thank you," Tsumugu spoke. "For saving me before."
"Hrgh," briefly acknowledged Isamu, his concentration fully on his work.
The house was quiet, as quiet as its occupants. Gr
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
