It Ain't the Boogeyman

I went to bed yesterday past one, and was rudely awaken four hours later. That's pretty rare for me - to wake up in the middle of the night. Not even a full bladder can do that. Well, except for the couple of times when the intestines threatened to pull the plug to flush out some foul food I downed in the evening.

I tried to clear the groggy mind and listened intently, half-expecting the boogeyman to emerge from under the bed, going "Boo!",

Outside, the wind was howling. It sounded like waves hitting the shore, in a rhythmic oscillation.


Ah, so that was it. The wind.

I'm no scaredy cat. I watch horror films at night all by myself; with the lights off and taking cover under the blanket. But I swear the wind was more than creepy. In fact, it was as scary as the typhoon that hit Kanto last summer, if not, worse. Well, minus the heavy downpour, though.

From where I was lying, I could see the full moon shining, almost sinisterly as if it was responsible for summoning the terrible wind.

I prayed hard that the apartment will hold on tight enough; I didn't want to end up being blown to the land of Oz. And if I did, I just hoped that the witch's pair of silver shoes are big enough to fit my feet...

But more than anything else, I hoped that my laundry didn't fly away...

Damn! Laundry!

I forced myself to get up from the bed to bring in the laundry. It was then that I realized that the room's temperature was a few degrees distinctively lower than the cozy environment under the futon. It was worse when I opened the balcony door. The wind took the form of a beast that immediately pounced on me. I recoiled from the sheer cold, then once again picked up the courage and brought in the laundry I'd left outside in the morning to dry. Dumping everything on the mat, I made sure to lock the door behind me before retreating to my refuge under the thick blankets once more.

The time was 4.40am. Outside, the wind howled yet stronger.

I've gotta get more rest.

夜ら遅く、恐れ入ります

夜ら遅く、つうか…
朝早く…

時間は４時20分、
風がビュービューと吹いている
それに起こされたのか

眠りに戻ろうとしたが、
なぜか頭がさっぱりして、
もはや完全に起動された状態のよう

「風怖い。眠れない。-_-"」
とりあえず、メールを送ってみた
決して起こすつもりはなかった
こんな時間、
返事してくれなくても、
まったく気にしなかった

が…
一分後、電話がかかってきた
まさか…

「へっ！寝なさい！寝なさい！」
慌てた

「ううん、いいよ。どうせもう眠れないから」
起こされるとは思わなかった
俺、ひどいなぁ

まあ、せっかくだから、
無駄話の相手をしてもらった
学校のことを、
引越しのことを
その外ははっきりした記憶がない…

「あぁ～充電したばかりなのに…
「電源もう切れそうよ」
「うん、そろそろ切ろう」
「もう少し寝ようね」
ようやく電話を切った

再び眠気が来て、
時間は６時

The Day It Snowed in Tokyo

Something really cool happened this morning - it snowed!

Oh, come on. Every poor guy has the right to feel excited at his first sight of snow. To point at him and laugh, "Hah, so it snowed, eh? Big deal!" is no less cruel than explaining to a delighted kid who's unwrapping his Christmas gift, that the present did not come from Santa. People who do that are plain spoilsports.

But I digressed.

Okay, it snowed. Yes, snowed. S-N-O-W-E-D!

There has been more than a few false alarms last week when the weather forecast predicted sleet, and snow on a few occasions. It was disappointing when it turned out to be just rain. So, when yesterday evening's weather forecast predicted sleet, I didn't want to keep my hopes high.

But then...

I received an message from a friend on the cellphone this morning at 7.36am (See? I'm writing down the exact details because this is history in making. Heck, it's my first sight of snow.)

"It's finally snowing," it read.

Still half asleep, I read the message twice.

Okay, so it's snowing in Yokohama, eh? Lucky girl. But shit, I'm in Tokyo.

Anyway, I shot up and sprang to the window. Everything outside was covered in a white sheet of dust, as if some confectioner in the heavens was sprinkling icing on everything. It took longer than a few moments before reality eventually sank in.

It's snow, dude!

No kidding but I really did a little war dance, "Ohmygodthiscantbetrueitreallyissnowing."

Then feeling little suffocated from all the excitement, I took a few deep breaths.

Ohmygoditreallyissnowingwhatshouldido?

Pacing around in the room, I tried to calm down.

Ohmygodihavetogooutnownownow!

Spread some magarine over a piece of bread, gulped (yes, gulped) it down in two munches while changing, packed my backpack, slung the camera bag over the shoulder and left for the university. I was 30 minutes early but hell, I didn't want to miss the snow.

You bet it was cool. The whole wood deck in front of the main building was covered with snow.

And although it only started snowing one or two hours ago, a considerable amount of snow had collected.

Sneaking out from the classroom after leaving my stuff there, I took a walk around the campus. Students were arriving for classes. Mostly sombre, with that damn-why-does-it-have-to-snow-at-this-hour look on their faces. Well, some people can be such wet blankets, can't they?

Putting on the hood, I didn't bother to use the umbrella. I was probably grinning like the Cheshire Cat because a few people stared at me, wondering if I had a loose bolt somewhere in between my ears.

Well, who cares? It's snowing! Whee!

In the end, I skipped almost half of the calculus lesson, wandering in winter wonderland before returning to the class. And when I came out of the class again 40 minutes later, it has turned into rain.

The sleet continued till slight past noon. A mixture of rain and snow - pretty funky! Then, the rain eventually took over completely.

Until now, the excitement isn't totally over yet. This is the end of my second year in Tokyo. It was very disappointing last year because it didn't snow. But now, all the sufferings in this cold winter has finally paid off. The snow made everything worthwhile - the astronomical bill for using the heater unsparingly and the frostbites from cycling in the cold.

Oh god, I can't wait for it to snow again!

At least just one more time, pretty, pretty puh-lease?

誕生日の君へ

「お久しぶり！」

「うん、元気？」

いかに几帳面な挨拶。
そして、あの一瞬の躊躇。

視線をそらし、「うん」と。

変わったね。
染めた髪（「ずいぶん前染めたもん」）
伸びた背中（「あたし成長してるもん」）
それよりも、
あの違う雰囲気、
あの違和感。

確かに、久しぶり。
この前、
何通のメールも送ったが、
ぜんぜん音沙汰もない。
聞いたら、帰国してるそう。

まあ、いい。
どうせ俺はもはや君に願いを持つ立場じゃない。
「後戻りしよう」という願い、
「せめて友達にしてくれ」という願い。

それにしても、
「誕生日おめでとう。」

（平成20年1月5日）