When the Five O'Clock Chime Rings, We All Become Children Again for a Moment
At five o'clock in the evening, a chime rings out across the town.
The melody varies depending on where you live. Sometimes it's 'Yuyake Koyake,' other times it's 'Ieji.' In the town where I live, 'Nanatsu no Ko' plays. Because the speaker is old, the sound is a bit distorted, and depending on the wind direction, you can only hear about half of it.
The other day, while walking home from the station, I happened to encounter that chime.
I was walking down a perfectly ordinary alleyway, just an ordinary adult carrying a shopping bag. And the moment the sound rang out, something strange happened. My feet, for just a split second, started to hurry.
I thought, I have to get home.
When you think about it, it's a strange story.
I graduated from a life with a curfew decades ago. Now, I am the one who decides when to go home, and the time for dinner and the time for bed are all left to my own discretion. That is what it means to be an adult. And yet, those few bars of melody precisely summoned something within me.
As if I had a spare key to a room I thought I had lost the key to.
I think there must be an old circuit remaining somewhere in my body.
A circuit that recorded the five o'clock chime, the smell of curry, and the walk home while clutching a ball, all as a set.
It's not usually used. The power isn't even on. But it hasn't been completely removed, and when that sound rings out, it gets energized for just a moment.
And for a few seconds, we remember the weight of a school backpack on our backs.
What's interesting is that the 'I have to get home' of those days meant there was a place to actually return to.
The kitchen light was on, someone was already home, and my return was being awaited. At the time, that was so taken for granted that I never even thought to be grateful for it.
You only truly understand what the evening chime meant after you become the one who turns on the lights yourself.
Important things in life usually have that kind of structure. You can't see them while you're in the middle of them, but when you look back after leaving, they appear remarkably clear.
The chime finished ringing, and my feet returned to their usual pace.
The sky was a pale orange, and two crows were perched on the power lines. Seven children. I see, it's well-crafted.
I arrived home and turned on the lights myself.
No one was waiting, but strangely, I didn't feel lonely. On days when I can confirm that that circuit is still alive, I actually feel a little bit richer.
We all have a small door that only opens at five o'clock in the evening.
And on the other side of that door, someone is still preparing dinner even now.
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