[Short Story] Listening to an Unsolicited Tale

"I wonder what will be built here?"

It was a voice like rolling bells. Almost like a young girl's.
When I looked up at the voice I heard, a lady was standing there.

"Six newly built detached houses."

I, who had come to lay out the site lines before the foundation work, answered her question. All six are ready-built houses. In this day and age, ready-built houses are probably easier to sell.

"I see. I'm sure many lovely homes will be built here."

The person next to me gazed at the sprawling vacant lot, narrowing her eyes. Curious about what lay beyond, I looked in the same direction as her.
It's strange.
Even though there is nothing in front of us yet, this lady seems to be able to see something.

It has been 11 years since I joined a general construction company. I think to myself that I have become quite a mid-level employee. Today, I came here with my senior, myself, and a site supervisor from my same year.
The two of them continue their work silently, even though they noticed that I was being spoken to by the lady.

"...Hey."

The lady opens her mouth again.
When I turn my gaze toward her, a breeze blows from somewhere. Her beautiful gray hair flutters softly.

"Do you know what this place looked like in the past?"
"Eh..."

Well now, I wonder what it was in the past.

Before construction, it is just a vacant lot now.
I have never even thought about what it was before that.

"Ah~, um..."

Her clear eyes capture mine. Perhaps because they were light-colored, her irises were more yellowish than the usual brown. The pupils blooming in the center look like sunflowers to me.

"This place, you know, it used to be a children's plaza."
"A children's plaza?"
"Yes."

There were only swings and a horizontal bar.
The only other thing there was a bench.
And that too was a rotting, paint-peeled one, the lady laughed.

"Wow! Is that so? Then, didn't many children play here?"
"Yes. And dogs, too, used to run around."

Indeed! For dogs, too, a plaza is the best playground.

"That's all... for the people around here, it was an everyday sight."

The reason I felt the temperature drop slightly was because the lady's tone of voice had changed.

"That sight has disappeared..."

Ah, I see.
Her eyes were reflecting the way it used to be.
It was only at this moment that I finally understood what was floating in the lady's eyes.

"...It's lonely."

She murmured, letting the words slip out.
Lonely.
The stronger the attachment, the more that emotion stabs like pain.

The past appearance of this plaza that I don't know. I don't know the number of people who played on the swings and horizontal bar, nor the number of people who sat on the rotting bench.

I don't know how long this place has existed, nor do I have any idea how many children used to play here.

I couldn't find the right words to say. At times like this, I feel pathetic for my lack of vocabulary.

“Ah, well, you see. If there’s even one person who remembers it from time to time... then the plaza that used to be here would be rewarded...”
“Ah!”

That was when it happened.
I was so lost in thought about how to respond that I was slow to notice a figure appearing behind the lady.

“Geez, Grandma, I’ve been looking for you!”

It was a young voice.
Was he still a student? The man with the wolf-cut hairstyle took the lady’s arm.
The lady was surprised at first, but when she saw his face, she smiled softly and gently.

“Oh, Mitsuaki-san.”
“No, that’s wrong! Mitsuaki is Grandpa’s name, right? I’m Tomoaki.”

It seemed he was her grandson.

“Geez, don’t just wander off on your own. I’m sorry! It looks like Grandma caused you some trouble.”
“No, not at all!”
“Come on, Grandma. Let’s go home.”
“That’s right. It’s almost lunchtime.”
“What are you talking about? You just ate a little while ago!”
“No, I haven’t eaten, Mitsuaki-san.”
“Like I said, I’m Tomoaki.”

As I watched the two of them interacting, he gave me a polite bow.

“Um, thank you for keeping my grandma company.”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing!”
“You really helped me out. Grandma has dementia. It seems this is the only place she still remembers, though.”
“Oh...”
“It seems it was a walking route she used to take with my late grandfather.”

Saying he had to go, the two of them slowly walked away.

“...What was that all about?”

I couldn't answer my senior’s question.
The plaza, now just an empty lot.
This is a place filled with memories for someone.
However, as time passes, it changes into something else, and what used to be there is forgotten.

“Grandma has dementia.”

Will this place, so precious to that lady, eventually fade from her memory and be forgotten as well?
If it disappears from someone’s memory like that, will nothing remain?

“It seems it was a walking route she used to take with my late grandfather.”

I’m sure that time was very happy and very precious. For that lady, it must have been a dear, dear memory that nothing could ever replace.

The two of them laughing together, holding hands, and sitting on a rotting bench talking to each other.

I had never seen them before. Let alone imagining the past of a lady I had just met, I kept her fading memories in my heart alone.

(Body text word count: within 2,000 characters)

#SubeteUshinawareruMonotachi Literary Award

I am participating in this project by Kaoru Hanazawa!
Thank you for reading this far♡