[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Townscape (Episode 11: "The Day I Returned to Land" / "A Heart Returning to Port")

Side B: "The Day I Returned to Land"
—A record of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force member

　The wind in Sasebo was thick with the scent of the tide, and somehow nostalgic.
　But my feet, having just stepped off the ship, weren't used to the feel of the ground, and I stumbled a little.

　"Ah, I really am back..."

　Even saying it out loud, it didn't quite feel real.
　An overseas deployment lasting several months. The mission was completed safely.
　But inside, my heart still felt like it had been left behind somewhere "out at sea."

　—It didn't make the news, but
　I wonder if those tense moments during the deployment are still lingering.

　"Good work!"
　My comrades call out to me with smiles.
　"Take it easy on your time off."
　"Your girlfriend was waiting for you, right?"

　I didn't have the energy to return their jokes yet.
　It felt like there was a hollow hole deep in my heart,
　and for some reason,I even felt scared that I had "returned."

　The first day of leave.
　I wandered aimlessly to the old street past the harbor shopping mall.
　The area around the morning market I used to visit with my old man when I was a kid.
　Even the roads I should have known well looked like the scenery had changed a little.

　I sat on a park bench marked by a whale monument,
　and warmed my palms with a canned coffee from a vending machine.
　This feeling of the scent of the sea mixing with the scent of the town.

　I stared at the smiling face on my smartphone's wallpaper.
　A photo of the two of us taken at the summit of Mt. Eboshi, which we climbed in the summer.

　—She said she was working the night shift today, didn't she.

　I wanted to say "I'm home," but
　the words wouldn't form properly in the back of my throat.

　That was when it happened.

　A cat appeared quietly at my feet.

White and brown patches.
It looked dignified, yet its eyes were somehow gentle.

"...Are you owned by someone?"

When I asked that, the cat didn't answer, but sat down beside me.

We stayed silent for a while.
I wonder why.
I felt like the emotions that had been churning inside me were slowly settling down.

"...Yeah. It feels like I've been at sea for so long that I'd forgotten how time flows on land."

The cat just watched me quietly.
I felt like those eyes were reading something deeper than human words, and I almost started to cry.

"...But, I'm home. ...Honestly, I'm happy."

The words spilled out, just like that.

The cat stood up, held its tail straight up, and walked away.
It was as if its back was telling me, "That's good enough."

The wind blew.
The canned coffee had gone lukewarm.
Even so, the warmth remaining in my hands helped me remember the weight of the land, just a little.

—It was only a few minutes, but
after meeting that cat, I finally felt like I had "come home."

[End]

Side A: "A Heart Returning to Port"
—Bun-chan and the Returnee from the Sea

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
I am good at sniffing out the "tide of the heart" mixed into the town's breeze.

In this port town of Sasebo, there are many people who stand between the land and the sea.
Today, there is one more.

It seems he returned sometime this morning.
A white hat, a neck tanned before it could fade.
The muscles that form his smile are still in "sea" time.

He was standing all alone on a road near the harbor.
After parting ways with his companions and exchanging words,
he shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking aimlessly.

I sensed the waves of an
"unsettled feeling" drifting along with the scent of the tide.
So, I went ahead and sat down in his path.

With a canned coffee from a vending machine in one hand,
he sat down on a bench.
But his hands seemed restless somehow.

In his eyes, staring at a phone they call a "smartphone",
for some reason, a look of confusion is reflected.

So, I sat down quietly beside him.
I didn't meow. I just stared.
His eyes noticed me.

"...Are you someone's pet?"

That's not it.
I am not owned by anyone.
However, I do sometimes become a harbor for someone's heart.

His eyes softened just a little.
Fatigue was seeping into his face.
I gently stretched out my front paws and rested my body on the ground.

“...Yeah. Somehow, being at sea so much, I feel like I forgot how time flows on land.”

—That’s fine.
It’s proof that you worked hard enough to forget.

I was just there.
Listening to the rustling of leaves instead of the sound of waves,
I was waiting for his “heart to slowly dock.”

“...I’m home. Honestly, I’m happy.”

—Well said.

I stood up smoothly,
and held my tail straight up.
That was a “welcome home,” a “it’s okay,”
and also a signal that “everything is alright now.”

I felt like the town breeze had become a little warmer.
Perhaps that was the sound of his heart returning to land.

—I will walk on for the sake of the next person.
But today, there is one more person in this town
who has truly “returned home.”

That is all I need.

[End]

Previous episode▼

Series Title List: (To be posted sequentially)

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

• Episode 2: "The Letter Shop Below the Hill" / "The Flower Shop of Words"

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

• Episode 4: "I'm Waiting for You" / "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry"

• Episode 5: "The Tail's 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 Properly Become a 'Father'?"

• Episode 10: "Fish Voices, Father's Back, Cat Footprints" / "Standing in 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: "I Was Waiting at the Exit of the Night" / "The Few Minutes to Return to Myself"

• Episode 14: "Before the Sound That Hasn't Finished Ringing" / "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 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'

• Episode 19: 'The Winner Who Doesn't Cry and the Clown Who Doesn't Laugh' / 'The distance seen from above, the scent reaching from below'

• Episode 20: 'A Light Ignites Between the Two' / 'I thought you would come. Not that I had any reason to think so' / 'I wouldn't believe you even if you said, I didn't come to see you specifically—'

• Episode 21: 'The One at the Boundary' / 'I can tell by the scent whether it's a departure or an arrival'

• Episode 22: 'Even if I fall, my eyes are looking forward' / 'I wanted to say that I did it'

• Episode 23: 'Even on days when there is no sound, there is someone who can hear it' / 'Beyond the sound, there is a heart'

• Episode 24: 'The sound of unraveling is not in the voice, but deep in the eyes' / 'Mom, the cat, and the stranger'

• Episode 25: 'Today, there was no sound of a broom' / 'When he was silent, I felt the garden grew a little wider'

• 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 feelings remains here'

• Episode 27: 'Because someone was definitely here' / 'Because you were here'

• Episode 28: 'Because those hands were kind'

• Episode 29: 'The scent of dried nets and silent kindness' / 'Even if nothing is said, there are things that are understood'

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

Afterword

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

I was born and raised in Sasebo.
However, I left the town for university and found employment outside the prefecture.
But after several turning points in my life, I am now living in this town again.
This collection of short stories began with the 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 again,'through the quiet lens of a 'cat's perspective'.
The protagonist, Bun-chan, is a white and brown calico cat.
He doesn't 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 named as a symbol of Bun-chan's way of being, and Sasebo as a 'place where feelings remain' for the people who have spent time in this town.
Furthermore, in the creation of this book, I have utilizedOpenAI's ChatGPTas a creative partner.
At first, I started consulting on the plot with a light heart, wondering 'what kind of stories could be born with a cat and a town as the stage,' but before I knew it, it became days ofcarefully exploring the breath of the story and the lingering resonance of words through dialogue with AI.
'A cat that doesn't speak,' 'a person who doesn't want to speak,' 'the memories of a 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 a truly indispensable process for this work.
Sasebo is a town of slopes and ports.
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 in your heart as one of those memories.
Spring 2025
From the town of Sasebo
Author

Profile | Kazuomi Matsunaga

Biography:Graduated from a national university in Kyushu (Materials Engineering) => Engineer at a metal materials manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) => Advertising sales for a local free paper in Nagasaki Prefecture => School corporation staff (<- Now here). A person in their 50s living in Nagasaki Prefecture.
I am a writer who lets my thoughts play 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 'Science of Thought.' I am exploring 'free knowledge design' that goes beyond existing frameworks. My motto is 'Imagination opens up the world.'
In my main profession, while 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, after reading, sprout one 'new perspective' within you.
📮 Impressions and messages of support are always welcome!