1
Tokyo; a high powered city is driven by technology and innovation. Bullet trains speed across the tracks around the wards as people chat to each other briefly at the station before boarding their trains. What quick interactions we encounter daily without realizing the effects we hold on the other person.
Yet I prefer the quiet scenes with autumn’s voice echoing behind my sighs. Kyoto, ah, how you bewitch me so.
When the leaves are radiant and breathe in my presence,
Can I sense their origins?
Autumn’s voice is silent
through abundant canopies and branches.
I am visible,
Her morning radiance of a southern fear.
Amongst the busy lanes and side alleys in the autumn infused Kyoto lay a withered shop front, hidden behind refurbished buildings and scaffolding. Upstairs, above the storefront, a window budged half-open. A man forced his head through the hole and shouted down to the street: “Hey, those are mine!”
“Eh, these old boots? They’re full of holes, you can’t wear them. Buy new ones, idiot!”
“I need money to do that!”
“Get a job!”
I used to have a job as a baker until the manager, Rhon closed the store and relocated to somewhere in Europe to become a sea captain and spend his days on the sea. He mentioned after the fact that my help was no longer needed by a letter, exactly one month ago.
University and the lack of a job don’t mix. I need money, and fast. My brain aches from thinking about trivial things.
My scuffed boots sit behind the front door in a one room apartment in Kyoto, Japan, three-and-a-half hours away from Tokyo. A tiny bathroom deviates off from the mini kitchen-one thing which I am thankful for. Without space for a rice cooker and a stove, winter would be worse than it usually is. Ocher and mocha scented leaves paint the scenery outside; another thing I must be thankful for. Shades of warmth feed the idea of winter into my mind and completely reject the idea: I have no heating in my apartment.
There was a tap on the wall. I pressured my ear against the framework, hearing the sound of air wafting through the dry wood underneath the peeling paint waft into my ears unpleasantly. Was it rats? Maybe it was Rhon downstairs, who managed the store below my feet, and in current operation. Nothing echoed back after I knocked on my side of the wall. I frowned, wonder why I think of such absurd things.
“Pin-pon!” My download must’ve finished. My laptop awakened from its avid slumber and a black screen filled the 15 inch space before yawning and returning me to my work. The cursor jeering at me for write my assignment caused me to slam the laptop slid down and shout loudly.
I want food, my voice drumming as my stomach gurgled.
Food equals money.
Ahh, a job…
Everything always breaks down to money. Dammit, you environmentalists and your trees.
The following morning, I jammed myself between a young girl with a purple wig on and blaring headphones screaming heavy metal into the air and an absurdly obese man, all seated on the train. Three kogyaru sat directly across from me giggled loudly, pointing, laughing and showing each other something on their cell phones; I groaned in annoyance, anticipating the next outburst of giggles, matches with the fourth failure of trying to install and configure the wretched Vistas updates. Damn I want a Mac.
Money…
It was too early it seemed, for my journey to university, but in terms of the crowds on the train, I was late. Balancing my laptop on my knees, I powered it on, growling at the failed attempt of a smooth startup-Vista likes to update frequently and constantly bog my system down. I peered around the interior of the train. The large man on my left let some profanities go from his rear end and I lowered my eyes to hide my mildly severe laughter. Gah, these updates! The train screeched and forcefully applied brakes as we neared a station; the large man leant to his left, away from me and in doing so revealed large sweat marks under his arms. Others noticed this and turned their heads away in embarrassment, waiting to burst out in cynical sneers as soon as they departed the train.
Suddenly, my laptop screen seemed so interesting-ahh, these icons need a dusting. Zoom, zoom~ to the recycle bin you go~ Ah, such happiness is gained when doing some technological dusting. Ah, I need to get out more.
It was then that my eyes lifted upward. The eyes of a jaguar pierced onto the face of a doll; I met gazes with her, strolling causally down the aisle of the train car. For a tenth of a second, I was bewildered by the face of the most beautiful creature of this planet. I blinked and it seemed my fortune had long left me. The train dashed into a tunnel and all was dark. My eyes scanned the faces amongst interior of the train; who was she?
Bedazzled by the mysterious woman, I prepared to depart the train at the next stop. Sadly, I would leave the sweaty, large man too, enabling him to spread out on the seat behind me.
My day was a blur; the only thing on my mind was that woman I saw. Long black hair, pale skin-I daydreamed on my way to the library. How could someone so beautiful be so limited?
I stared at the cursor, musing to myself.