Part I - Himari’s Afraid of Trains
Himari winces as the train clatters and screeches on the overpass across the street before roaring away down the tracks. Once it passes, car engines fill in the gap, revving as the light changes. Himari tacks herself onto the back of the crowd marching across the road.
Her fingers grip onto the bottoms of her sleeves, holding them tight and stretching the fabric. The next train is already on its way. Getting closer.
The sidewalk narrows on the other side of the road as it goes below the bridge. About a billion people cram into the narrow space, laughing loudly, crossing paths, squeezing against each other, and shouting in a chorus of overlapping voices. A man with a blue necktie rushes past on a bike a few inches from the crowd, peddling furiously. Sweat pours down his forehead while his shoulder bag smacks loudly at his side.
The group she’s following gets stretched and compressed like gum being pulled from between the teeth. Then the air around her starts to shake. A second later the train blasts down on the tracks overhead.
Himari freezes in front of the dark hole going under the bridge, blinking hard and gulping for air. She peels off the back of the crowd and jumps to the safety of the wall running down a narrow sidestreet, away from the sidewalk. She presses her back against the wall while her chest heaves.
The train finishes its angry screaming and rockets away.
Finally, she can relax her fingers, releasing her sleeves which are now choked with palm sweat.
Under her breath, she curses the cicada with its wiggling butt on the tree outside school. It made her miss the rest of her class on the walk home. She still has no idea how it makes those chirps and hisses, and now she’s stuck on the sidewalk, waiting for a gap between the trains. Stupid cicada.
Himari digs her toe into a crack on the sidewalk.
There’s a group of tall men with really hairy legs speaking in English and waiting at the crosswalk. Himari watches an ant at eye level, climbing up one of the men’s legs. It keeps getting stuck in the hair. She watches it turn around to find a new path up the unsuspecting leg, only to get stuck again.
She peeks around the corner into the shadowy depths under the bridge, but the river of people going back and forth doesn’t seem to let up. She sighs, but at least the trains are a little quieter here.
Then, like getting her sweater snagged on a bush, her ear catches on a giggle coming from across the street. All the way from here she knows the voice of Watanabe Yui, sixth grade. Himari ducks behind a stop sign, then reassesses her hiding spot and runs down the street a little way to hide behind a bush. From between the leaves she watches Yui and her friend, Ito Hina.
Yui is so tall. Ito Hina is tall too, but she’s kind of round. Not like Yui. Yui’s hair is black, like ink spilled from a jar. She has to keep reaching up to hold a strand of it from blowing into her eyes. She looks so beautiful in her uniform. Like the teachers made her try on every outfit, from every school in Tokyo, until they found the perfect one for her. Himari imagines looking up to see Yui’s face on one of the big boards in Shinjuku Square.
As they cross the street, Himari ducks further behind the bush, trying not to be seen. Thankfully they pass without noticing her cowering behind her bush. She watches them in awe as they charge ahead into the crowd going under the bridge.
Ito Hina’s waving her arms like she’s wrestling a big fish. She can just barely make out her words as they pass.
“But his ears! They’re sooooo big! Didn’t you see?”
Yui says something, but it’s too quiet to hear.
Himari realizes her chance. She waits for them to enter the throng, then she dives into the wake, a meter behind.
Immediately she’s pushed off course into the railing as a group of older boys charge through in the other direction, kicking their umbrellas like a herd of elephants. The girls are already too far for comfort, but Himari’s in too deep beneath the murky overpass to turn around. She races to catch up.
She’s just a few arm lengths away when they finally emerge on the other side of the overpass where the sidewalk widens up again.
She stops and lets out a sigh of relief, but chokes halfway through.
As Ito Hina shakes her, Yui’s umbrella slips loose from her backpack behind her arm. She doesn’t notice, too distracted by Hina’s loud voice.
Himari watches the umbrella in slow motion as it falls to the ground. The loosely wrapped umbrella makes barely a sound in the loud bustling of the sidewalk. Nobody seems to notice it fall, hitting the ground as the girls continue on unaware.
Himari stands frozen as they move farther down the sidewalk, waiting for Yui to notice the missing umbrella and turn back. But she never does.
Himari looks down at the umbrella, then back up to the girls disappearing in the crowd. Fear grips her, as if the umbrella was a baby left alone in a park. Someone might come along and take it!
Himari runs to the umbrella, her backpack bouncing on her back, then snatches it up, cradling it tightly against her chest. She looks down, entranced by the black handle where Yui held it.
When she breaks the spell and looks up a moment later, Yui and Ito Hina are nowhere to be found. Himari stands on her tiptoes, but she still can’t see anything. She leans over the curb to get a better view down the sidewalk, but it’s no use. They’ve disappeared.
She takes a few uncertain steps forward.
The moment she actually decides to run down the street to chase them, three ladies with big grocery bags step onto the sidewalk in front of her, blocking her way.
Himari follows impatiently behind the old ladies as they slowly make their way up the street.
After another block they continue on, but Himari stops at the corner. This is her road.
She looks down at Yui’s umbrella as if it was a priceless artifact stolen from a museum. It’s practically brand new. She suddenly realizes how tightly she’s clutching it and relaxes her grip a little. Not too much though.
Slowly, she turns off the main road, taking a step or two down her street. She watches as the sidewalk disappears behind her. Yui’s nowhere to be found.
It’s the strangest thing. As she takes another step away from the road towards home, the umbrella seems to get heavier in her arms. She takes another step and the umbrella gets heavier still. Pretty soon it’s dragging all the way down to her waist.
Himari looks down at the beautiful umbrella in her hands and imagines Yui standing in front of her home, turning around and realizing it’s gone. Maybe she’ll go back and look for it, but it won’t be there.
She’ll think someone stole it.
Someone did steal it.
Himari’s face gets hot and red, and tears well in the corners of her eyes. She’s not sure how, but she makes a promise then and there to return the umbrella after school the next day.
-
After a few minutes Himari stands in front of her own front door, shifting from one foot to the other, confronted with a brand new obstacle. She takes off her backpack and tries to put the umbrella in, but it doesn’t fit. She looks around for somewhere to stash it, but gives up. She can’t ensure the safety of the umbrella if she leaves it outside, and there’s nothing more important than keeping it safe.
“Mama’s probably making dinner. If I’m quick, maybe I can get it past her without her noticing,” she thinks to herself, chewing on the end of her finger.
She stuffs the umbrella between her back and her backpack low enough so that it doesn’t poke over her head. She adjusts uncomfortably as the umbrella knocks stiffly against the back of her legs, but it’ll have to work.
She takes a deep breath, preparing her mind for anything. Then she opens the door.
Quickly, she kicks off her shoes, drops her backpack, and shouts “BATHROOM” as she sprints up the stairs. She can hear her mother in the kitchen.
She gets to her room successfully, without being seen. Fast as lightning, she stuffs the umbrella under her bed, then she turns around and sits, breathing a deep sigh of relief.
Part II - Fairies
Himari lies in bed like a board. Stiff and awake.
Sharp white light from the street comes in from between her curtains, drawing lines on the ceiling.
She can almost feel the umbrella on the floor beneath her mattress.
Even though her window is on the second floor, she imagines Yui knocking on it from outside. Floating in midair, holding onto the window frame to keep from floating away.
“Tap tap tap.”
She taps the glass with the end of her finger until Himari gets on her knees and opens the curtain.
Yui makes a “shush” motion, putting her finger across her lips. Then she points down at the window.
Himari touches the glass, then carefully slides it open.
Yui reaches in and takes Himari’s hands. She lifts her up through the window and over the street.
They float high above the ground, so high that even the big purple tower in Shinjuku looks like a colored pencil, stuck point-up in the ground.
Himari climbs down from her bed in her pink pajamas and lies flat on the floor with her hands balled up into fists against her cheeks. The umbrella sits silently underneath, turned a little at an angle.
Himari stares at it in the dim light. Then slowly, as if it were a cat ready to pounce away, she reaches out to it with the end of her finger. The plastic is soft and slippery.
She huffs through her nose, then reluctantly gets back into bed.
Behind her eyelids, the umbrella starts to pulse, slowly with a soft white light. It opens and closes like a giant jellyfish, living at the bottom of the deep, dark ocean.
Part III - The Mean Streets West of Ōkubo
Himari sneaks the umbrella out in the morning the same way she brought it in, only this time she shouts “GOODBYE” instead of “bathroom” on her mad dash out the door.
At school she stashes the umbrella in her cubby with her shoes, even though it feels wrong to leave it all alone. She makes up for it by taking every opportunity to check on it throughout the day.
-
At last, the classroom’s straightened out and it’s time to go home. But not for her. Himari waits in the courtyard, pretending to search for another cicada until everyone else clears out. Then she makes her way through the streets towards the overpass.
She tongues nervously at the canine that just started coming loose in the left corner of her mouth. She can hear the trains whooshing down the tracks in the distance every few minutes. If Yui doesn’t follow the same schedule that she did yesterday, she might have to brave the underpass alone again.
-
Himari runs across the street once the light changes, then veers towards her bush along the wall, already wiggling with anticipation.
But after the crosswalks fill up, empty out, and fill up again, time begins to move like a slug in the sun. She paces back and forth and looks longingly down at the ground. It would be nice to sit, but she doesn’t dare do it with her uniform on.
What if someone came and picked Yui up from school? Or what if she had to leave early for some reason, like for an appointment? She distracts herself by inspecting the bright green tufts of moss coming out of the wall between the big cracks in the concrete. There’re more little bugs crawling around in there than she expected.
On the twelve thousandth glance back at the corner, Yui finally appears. She’s all alone today. For a moment all she can see are Yui’s eyes, like two shiny black marbles on the bottom of a stream.
Himari’s heart kicks into high gear. Time to put the plan into action!
She runs low against the wall until she reaches the opening of the underpass. Then she leans the umbrella up against the concrete wall going underneath. She’s extra careful to keep the handle from scratching on the rough surface.
Just as quick, she returns back to the shelter of her bush.
Not a moment too soon. The light already changed and Yui’s two feet into the street.
She walks across, straight and tall, looking down at the street in front of her toes.
Himari peeks from between the leaves with her knees bent and her hands gripping the front of her skirt, wrinkling it badly. She can’t wait to see the look on Yui’s face when she sees her umbrella, safe after all this time. She’ll probably wonder where her guardian angel’s hiding.
But Yui doesn’t stop.
Himari’s jaw drops. Yui disappears beneath the overpass, head bent, hands on her backpack straps.
Himari fights back amazement and devastating disappointment, wringing her hands and pacing back and forth behind the bush.
But every second that goes by Yui gets further away. She’s probably already on the other side!
Himari sprints down the sidewalk to retrieve the umbrella, snatching it from the wall.
There’s no way she’ll be able to get in front of Yui in order to try again. Her mind races.
There’s still an overpass between them. One problem at a time. Like plunging into cold water, she takes a deep breath and dives under the bridge, surfacing on the other side despite the roar of a train.
Thankfully Yui’s still visible by the time she makes it through. Himari falls in line with her a few meters back. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s something. She glues her eyes to Yui’s backpack, committing herself to the pursuit.
But after only a moment they’re already at Himari’s street.
She pauses at the corner, twisting the umbrella in her grasp. Yui keeps on going, step by step, further and further.
Himari looks down her street then back at Yui.
She’s already sweating, but now her cheeks are growing hot. She should turn off, give up, and try again tomorrow.
She glances back and forth again. Hopelessness creeps up beneath her, opening its big mouth, ready to swallow her up.
But what if it rains?
Another glance.
The street before her turns into a frightening labyrinth where dangers lurk behind every corner. Tears form in the corners of her eyes.
No.
She snaps, jumping away from the jaws closing in around her. With an exasperated “Gah!”, she chases after Yui.
Her tears and snotty nose dry as she gets farther from her street, her attention consumed by the dangers around her. One block, then two. She presses on into the chaotic unknown, with no end in sight.
-
Korean sign.
Shop with white baskets.
Green door.
She tries to remember everything they pass as they turn onto the quieter side streets. Stringing along memories like breadcrumbs.
As the street gets quieter, Himari sinks further behind to avoid detection. Out ahead, Yui starts to look smudged as she gets further away.
With nothing to distract her but the smack of her shoes, her thoughts catch up to her. Yui could live anywhere. She might be walking to catch a train or something.
What if she lives in Hokkaido?
Yui turns onto another narrow street up ahead, disappearing behind a dark brown fence on the corner.
Himari jogs a little to catch up. The worst possible outcome would be to end up in Hokkaido and lose Yui’s trail.
She wants to pause for a moment alongside the dark fence to rest, but what if Yui goes inside and she misses it? Himari leans over and peeks around the corner.
She almost jumps out of her skin, only barely managing to hold onto the umbrella. Yui’s grey knit sweater is just a finger-length in front of her nose.
Himari looks up, her eyes as wide as a lemur’s, cornered in its nest.
But Yui isn’t angry. She’s as still and impassive as dry grass on a windless tundra, or a frozen lake in the dip of a mountain.
She looks down at Himari.
“Is that my umbrella?”
Himari doesn’t make a sound. She just makes one sharp nod, down and up.
A moment of silence passes between them.
Himari breaks it by shakily offering up the umbrella to her.
Yui looks at it, surprise in her eyes.
She takes it from Himari’s open hands, makes a short bow and says, “thank you”. Then she turns, and continues down her street.
Himari watches her walk away, her hands still open and raised up at her chest.
A few lots down, Yui turns and opens the door of a house. Without a moment of hesitation, she and her umbrella disappear inside.
Himari’s chest heaves as she takes a massive breath. She never realized Yui’s house was so close!
She commits every detail of the grey facade to memory. That’s where Yui lives.
-
A few minutes pass before Himari finally turns.
She dances the whole way home, replaying the memory of Watanabe Yui, and her umbrella, stepping through the door.
The End
Contributors
Thomas Tavi - Author
Brooklyn Bell - Illustrator
Ryan Bell - Photographer
