[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Town Scenery (Episode 47: "The Stopped Clock and the Moving Scenery" / "The Wind and the Sweet Scent of Candy")

Side B: "The Stopped Clock and the Moving Scenery"
—From the perspective of a former salaryman

　A bench in Sasebo Park.
　The wind is swaying the leaves of the trees.

　The usual time, the usual place.
　But, I am doing nothing.

　It has been half a year since I retired and finished my extended employment.

　Every day, I wake up at the same time.
　But, I have nowhere to go.
　The calendar also looks like just a scrap of paper.

　My wife is still working.
　My grandchildren also show their faces occasionally, but that is only on holidays.

　What am I doing?

　—Have I become a person of no use?

　The few years after I stepped down from my role at retirement,
　I worked through extended employment, but
　nothing felt quite right.

　The trees in the park are just swaying.
　Children are playing, and couples are laughing.

　Sitting on the bench, it feels like I am not among them.

　I let out a sigh.

　Actually, last week, I received a call from an acquaintance at a former business partner.
　The vice representative of an agricultural corporation I used to supply products to for work.

　"Won't you do some sales support for us?"

　I was told that, but I haven't given an answer yet.

　Sales support.
　Follow-ups on new business development and negotiations, and organizing documents.

—I'm not that kind of skillful person.

In the first place, can I even do anything new at this point?
I don't know anything about farming.

But, to just do nothing like this is...

While I was thinking about it vaguely, I sighed again.

“...Honestly, what should I do?”

At that moment, I felt a gaze.

When I looked, a white and brown spotted cat was staring right at me.

“...What is it, you?”

The cat slowly approached and sat down next to me on the bench.

It sat there silently.
As if human voices and the sound of the wind had nothing to do with it.

—Are you free, too?

I couldn't help but laugh.

The cat was staring intently at me.
Its eyes were calm, and though it said nothing, it was steady.

“...What do you think?”

I asked half-jokingly.
But the cat just slowly swayed its tail.

I couldn't help but sigh again.

“...I used to have confidence in myself, though.”

When I was young, I even did cold-calling sales.
I repeated product explanations over and over, and ran around to meet deadlines.

But that's a story from the past.

Now, that energy is... no, it's not energy.

—It's scary, isn't it? To fail.

Learning things I don't know, being left behind by the young ones.

Such thoughts swirl in my chest.

The cat is staring intently at my face.

"…You aren't afraid of failing, are you?"

The cat flicked its tail softly and narrowed its eyes.

It feels like I'm being laughed at.

Looking at those eyes, a small laugh escaped me.

—The cat doesn't care about failure, does it?

It just exists there.
It walks where it wants to walk, and sits where it wants to sit.

I looked up at the sky once more.

—Maybe I just need to take a single step forward.

Sales support? So what?
I might not be able to do it well.
Agriculture?
It's not that I'm growing the vegetables myself,
but supporting the work of selling them.

Looking for what I can do might not be so bad.

"…That's right."

The cat flicked its tail softly and stood up quietly.

"…Thanks."

I took a piece of candy from my pocket and popped it into my mouth.

The sweetness spread, and the wind brushed against my cheeks.

The cat began to walk slowly and disappeared into the greenery of the park.

I nodded slightly as I watched his back walk away.

—Shall I give it a try?

I stood up from the bench and looked up at the sky.

The wind was rustling the leaves again.

[End]

Side A: "The Wind and the Sweet Scent of Candy"
—From Bun-chan's perspective

Sasebo Park.
The leaves were rustling softly in the wind.

I walked along the dirt, pattering my paws, feeling the scent of the wind.

The smell of grass. The scent of trees.
But mixed in with them was one slightly heavy "sound".

I looked up suddenly to see a man sitting on a bench.

With gray hair, he sat deep in the seat, staring straight ahead.
His eyes were somewhat unfocused, and a single sigh vanished into the sky.

—He's thinking about something, isn't he?

I approached him quietly.
The man didn't notice.

"...What should I do?"

A voice leaked out, just a murmur.

I sat down next to the bench.
I looked up at the man intently.

His face was etched with some kind of worry.

The man suddenly lowered his gaze, and his eyes met mine.

"...What is it, you?"

I slowly narrowed my eyes.

The man smiled a little, but then sighed again.

"I used to have confidence in myself, you know..."

His voice was so faint it seemed like it would be carried away by the wind.

—Did you lose your confidence?

I swayed my tail softly and took one more step closer.

"...They told me to do sales support, but..."

"Can I even do something like that anymore...?"

The man is looking up at the sky.
His eyebrows are slightly furrowed, and his eyes look somewhat lonely.

—You're afraid of things you've never done, aren't you?

I sat down quietly at the man's feet.
I stared intently at his face.

"...You're not afraid of failure, are you?"

I swayed my tail softly.

—I get scared sometimes too, but... you won't know until you try, right?

The man chuckled.

I felt like that laugh had become just a little bit lighter.

I walked forward slowly and rolled a leaf under the bench.

The man looked at that leaf and smiled a little.

"…You've got it easy, don't you."

I sat down next to the bench just like that and kept wagging my tail.

The man was looking up at the sky again. But his face looked a little brighter than before.

"…Shall I give it a try?"

That softly muttered voice melted into the wind.

The man took a piece of candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

A sweet scent drifted through the air.

I stood up slowly and, with my tail swaying gently, began to walk.

——It will surely be alright.

The leaves on the trees swayed again, and the man was smiling faintly.

[End]

• Bun-chan (deformed version) LINE stickers are now available🐾 ▼

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Series Title List: (To be posted sequentially)

• Episode 1: "The Cat on the Hill" / "The Delivery Person's Mission"

• Episode 2: "The Letter Shop at the Bottom of the Hill" / "The Word Florist"

• Episode 3: "The Tail's Map" / "The Tail's Arrow"

• Episode 4: "I'll Be Waiting" / "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry"

• Episode 5: "The Tail Guide" / "A Cat in Sasebo"

• Episode 6: "The Sound That Unravels Me" / "The Sound of Trying Too Hard"

• Episode 7: "The Day I Let Go of That Hand" / "Me, Still Not Understanding"

• Episode 8: "The Reason I Cried That Time" / "A Mother's Heart, the Warmth of a Child's Hand"

• Episode 9: "The Night I Couldn't Say 'I'm Home'" / "Will I Be Able to Become a Proper 'Father'?"

• Episode 10: "The Voice of Fish, My Father's Back, a Cat's Footprints" / "Standing in My Father's Shop"

• Episode 11: "The Day I Returned to Land" / "A Heart Returning to Port"

• Episode 12: "Beside a Warm Tail" / "The Presence of Distant Mountains Behind the Scent"

• Episode 13: "Waiting at the Exit of the Night" / "The Few Minutes It Takes to Return to Myself"

• Episode 14: "Before the Sound That Hasn't Yet Rung" / "I'm Sorry. But, Thank You." / "Is Staying Behind the Same as Running Away?"

• Episode 15: "Beside the One Who Prays in Silence" / "The Prayer of the One Who Prays"

• Episode 16: "Before the Silence Turns to Sweat" / "You're Here Again Today, Bun-chan"

• Episode 17: "The Reason for Raising the Noren" / "Bun-chan, It's Not Over Here Yet"

• Episode 18: "I didn’t say it out loud, but you heard me." / "A voiceless voice, I can hear it clearly, you know"

• Episode 19: "The Silent Winner and the Unsmiling Clown" / "The Distance Seen from Above, the Scent Reaching from Below"

• Episode 20: "A Light Ignites Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. I Have No Proof, But Still" / "I didn't come to see you—or so I'd say, but you wouldn't believe me, would you"

• Episode 21: "The One on the Boundary" / "I Can Tell Both Departures and Arrivals by the Scent"

• Episode 22: "Even If You Fall, Your Eyes Are Still Looking Forward" / "I Wanted to Say That I Did It"

• Episode 23: "Even on Days Without Sound, There Are Those Who Can Hear" / "Beyond the Sound, There Is a Heart"

• Episode 24: "The Sound of Unraveling Is Not in the Voice, But Deep in the Eyes" / "Mother, the Cat, and the Stranger" / "Halfway Up the Slope, I Felt Two Winds Overlap"

• Episode 25: "Today, There Was No Sound of a Broom" / "When He Is Silent, I Feel Like the Garden Gets a Little Bigger"

• Episode 26: "Even If You Can't Hear the Bell, the Wind Is Still Blowing" / "Even If the Bell Doesn't Ring, the Scent of Memories Remains Here"

• Episode 27: "Because Someone Was Certainly Here" / "Because They Were Here"

• Episode 28: "Because those hands were kind" / "Since the day I touched that child, I feel like the town has become a little warmer"

• Episode 29: "The scent of dried nets and the silence that is kind" / "Even if you say nothing, there are things that are understood"

• Episode 30: "I'm glad you're a police officer" / "There was a kind presence in the shadow of your hat"

• Episode 31: "What Bun-chan reminded me of" / "Because the scent of memories rose up around the wooden box"

• Episode 32: "The last flight of spring, and Bun-chan." / "The scent of the bus and the rules of spring"

• Episode 33: "A drink, the night breeze, and Bun-chan." / "When your tempo is off, listen to the sound of the wind"

• Episode 34: "A mountain of lucky bags and the scent of that day" / "Beyond the scent of the mountain of lucky bags"

• Episode 35: "A waltz mixed in the wind, and Bun-chan" / "Under the cherry blossoms, while scooping up the wind"

• Episode 36: "The scent of water and Bun-chan" / "The scent of the water and the sound of footsteps"

• Episode 37: "The scent of the river, a prayer, and the silence of spring" / "The scent of the river, a vow, and Bun-chan"

• Episode 38: "The scent of the tide, the words I conveyed, and Bun-chan" / "The wind scooping up the tide and the sound of a prayer"

• Episode 39: "Thoughts swaying on the water's surface, and Bun-chan again" / "The scent along the river and the shadow of a prayer"

• Episode 40: "The Sound of Unraveling, and with Bun-chan" / "The Sound of Passing Through the Wind, and the Scent of the Sea"

• Episode 41: "Damp Cobblestones and a Gentle Voice" / "The Thank You I Couldn't Say"

• Episode 42: "First Fish, First Enemy" / "Black Shadow, Young Tail"

• Episode 43: "First Scent, Warm Hands" / "Beyond the Swept Clean Path"

• Episode 44: "The Usual Alley, an Unknown Scent" / "Eyes Through the Window, and the Shadow in the Alley"

• Episode 45: "Wood Shavings and Sighs" / "A Playmate Made of Wood Shavings"

• Episode 46: "Tears and the Swaying of a Tail" / "A Place That Cannot Be Found"

• Episode 47: "The Stopped Clock and the Moving Scenery" / "The Sweet Scent of Wind and Candy"

Afterword

Thank you for picking up this book.
And I offer my heartfelt gratitude for walking with Bun-chan and the town of Sasebo this far.

I was born and raised in Sasebo.
However, I left the town for university and started working outside the prefecture.
But after several turning points in my life, I am now living in this town again.
This short story collection began with my desire to depict the scenery of Sasebo—which is somewhat nostalgic yet has certainly changed—and the lives of the people who live there, as seen through my eyes now that I have "returned to live in this town," using a quiet lens called a 'cat's perspective'.
The protagonist, Bun-chan, is a white and brown calico cat.
He does not speak human language, but by simply being there, he gently accepts the small fluctuations in people's hearts and the expressions they show to no one else.
A cat in a corner of town.
While that is all he is, he is a presence that is surely remembered as having "been here."
The title of this short story collection was chosen as a symbol of Bun-chan's way of being, and of Sasebo as a "place where memories remain" for the people who have spent time in this town.
Furthermore, in the creation of this book, I have utilized OpenAI's ChatGPT as a creative partner.
At first, I consulted on the plot with a light heart, wondering "what kind of stories might be born with a cat and a town as the stage," but before I knew it, it became days of carefully exploring the breath of the story and the lingering resonance of words through dialogue with AI.
"A cat that doesn't speak," "people who don't want to talk," "memories of the town that disappear without being told"—
I feel that being able to give shape to such themes through collaboration with ChatGPT, sometimes like poetry and sometimes as stories, was an essential process for this work.
Sasebo is a town of slopes and harbors.
The scenery that has changed, and the atmosphere that remains unchanged, all continue to nurture the memories of the people and the town.
I would be happy if Bun-chan's story could gently nestle into your heart as one of those memories.
Spring 2025
From the town of Sasebo
Author

Profile | Kazuomi Matsunaga

🧭Thinking Navigator

Biography: Graduated from Kyushu University, Faculty of Engineering (Materials Engineering) => Engineer at a metal materials manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) => Advertising sales for a local free paper in Nagasaki Prefecture => Staff at an educational institution (<- Currently here). A person in their 50s living in Nagasaki Prefecture. Both children have graduated from university and left the nest, and I am living with my wife.
I am a writer who plays with thoughts daily at the intersection of "questions" and "curiosity." Recently, I have been writing about my own unique perspectives on themes such as education, stories, psychology, AI, and design, centered on the serial column series "The Science of Thought (Shiko no Kagaku)." I am exploring "free knowledge design" that goes beyond existing frameworks. My motto is "Imagination opens up the world."
In my main profession, while being involved in university and education-related work, I value carefully observing "the moments when people come to 'like' something" and "scenes where questions sprout."
🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that leave you with one "new perspective" after reading them.
Feedback is always welcome!