Eyes | Kazemakase Literature Club

The eyes of my newborn daughter. She was staring right at me.

“I wonder if she can see,”
my husband said.

“She can see just fine,”
I said, holding our daughter’s hand.

Her gaze was so precious that I named her “Hitomi” (Eyes).

At three years old, my daughter’s eyes were always shining.
“Mommy, look!”
She held out a stone she had picked up.

“Isn’t it pretty?”
It was just a stone.
But to her, it must have looked like a jewel.

“Yes, it’s beautiful,”
I smiled as I looked at my own treasure.

In elementary school.
Hitomi began to grow up a little.

“I fought with a friend today,” she said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But I want to make up.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Then let’s apologize tomorrow,”
I hugged my daughter.

My daughter became a middle schooler.
I saw those eyes less and less.

“Mom, you’re annoying.”
Shaking me off when I tried to talk to her, Hitomi went into her room.

I stood frozen in front of the door.
But for now, I’ll leave her be.

That was yesterday.

“I’m home!”
A bright voice echoed from the entryway.

As soon as she got home from school, she started talking.
“Mom, listen.”

Her eyes, sparkling for the first time in a while.
“Yes, I’m listening.”

Something must have made her very happy.
She was talking without even stopping to catch her breath.

What will Hitomi see and learn from here on out?

Eyes that don’t change. Eyes that do change.
But I hope her eyes stay sparkling forever.

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