[Creative] In the Misty Mountains [Snapshot]

It has started to rain, hasn't it?

Strange weather.
Even though the blue sky is visible and the light is streaming in,
a thin mist hangs over the forest,
and large raindrops are falling.
It's a fox's wedding, isn't it?

What is that?

It's a legend.
They say that on days when it rains while the sun is shining,
it's the day a fox gets married.

That's a beautiful phrase.

You are not human, are you?

Why would you ask that all of a sudden?

I'm sorry.
Earlier, I hid and
took a picture of you with my smartphone.
But you didn't appear in the photo.
You felt so mysterious,
I had some kind of premonition.

Is that so?
Even so, you don't seem surprised.

Yes.
I've heard that foxes have often appeared in these mountains since long ago,
and that they deceive people.
Long ago, a farmer
met a stunning beauty in the mountains,
and while soaking in a warm hot spring together,
drinking sake,
and having a wonderful time,
he realized it was actually a cold mud swamp,
and he nearly drowned.
I've heard stories like that, too.
You might be a fox yourself.

Wouldn't that be a bit insulting to the foxes?

Perhaps.
Surely you are
some kind of existence beyond this world.
A boy I used to love long ago,
though his face doesn't look like yours,
your gentle atmosphere, your aura,
reminds me of him.
That is
the reason I am walking down the mountain
like this with you.
The reason I am not surprised that you might be a supernatural being.
I was remembering him for the first time in a while.

And yet,
you look somewhat sad.

I don't know if I should be happy.
Long ago, in order to be with him,
I used to take his picture.
To preserve his beautiful form.
No,
I was just happy to be with him.
I used taking pictures as an excuse for that.
Looking back now, I feel like I
was swayed by such pleasures
and wasted my life.
The pleasure of seeing.
Drowning in temporary sensations,
just as nothing remained in the image
when I took a picture of you,
I kept chasing things that
would not remain in my hands,
and finally, I have grown this old.

Isn't that a good thing?
Unlike us, humans
are not immortal beings.
Your pursuit of beautiful things is
a very beautiful thing.
And because that pursuit
will eventually come to an end,
you can say that you have lived.

Yes.
I have been telling myself
that as well.
But sometimes,
those words offer no comfort at all.
It's like the farmer who was in a hot spring with a beautiful woman
realizing it was just a mud swamp.
If he hadn't realized it, he would have died,
but I sometimes think it might have been happier to have died.

Even so, you have already realized it.
That may not be happiness,
but it is certainly not misfortune.
Within glass lenses or electric light,
your happiness will not be reflected.
Because you know
that your happiness
is within yourself.

Your figure is fading into the mist.
Mixing with the light and the rain.
Where are you going?

You surely know that, too.

A fox's wedding.
Is today your wedding day?

What if it were?

I will be left behind all alone again.
Once again,
something precious to me,
something I truly thought was beautiful,
will be lost.
Passing by and moving on,
ungraspable like the mist,
eventually disappearing.
Even if I wave my hands, I cannot reach it.
I can only watch.

It's alright.
Even so, you remember.
No, even if you forget me,
there is meaning in that.
You will continue
to take pictures, won't you?
That is a good thing.
Not to capture time
and remember it,
but there is meaning
in continuing to capture it.
If you continue to live that way,
eventually, that captured time
will show you something more
than a figure reflected in a lifeless machine.

What is that?

Your life.
The you that you wish to be.

(End)

※ In [Snapshot],
I will irregularly post
short dialogues or poems
set in a single situation.

※ Archive of past "Snapshots"

That is all for this time.
Thank you for reading.
Today and tomorrow,
I hope it will be
a good day for all of you who read this.
Let's meet again
in the next essay or work.

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