📕Short Short|The Way Home

Good evening, this is Miki❤️

Today I wrote a short short story.

After you finish reading it,
I would be happy if you could
look at the title once more.

So, here is "The Way Home".

In the morning,

every time she passes by Zojoji Temple,
she looks up at me just once.

For just a brief moment.

With that, she starts walking quickly again.

At night, she walks back along the same path.

Her stride is a little smaller than in the morning,
and her shoulders look a little heavier.

Even so, before she heads home, she always stops
and looks up at me.

She isn't taking a picture,

nor is she meeting anyone.

She just looks up quietly.

That is how I know she was safe again today.

The seasons have turned many times.

Cherry blossoms bloom,

cicadas buzz,

and the wind turns cold.

On rainy days,

and on windy days,

she passed by here every day.
In the morning, she headed to work,
and at night, she returned home.

At some point,

at night,
the time she spent looking up at me grew a little longer.

Her walking pace also became a little slower.

I don't know the reason.

All I know is

that she came here again today.

Eventually, the streets became less crowded.

In the morning,

and at night,

the familiar footsteps faded away.

I remained standing in the same place as always.

A long time passed.

One evening,

a familiar gait
approached me.

Before I saw her face, I knew.

It was her.

She stopped in the same place as in the old days
and looked up at me.

I
did not stand here alone.

Countless hands
brought me little by little closer to the sky.

After the war,
people who wished to make this country stand up again,
people who wished to look forward,

people who sweated,

people who contributed their wisdom,

people who supported it.

If even one of them were missing, I would not be here.

That is why I know.

People,
even if they look like they are standing alone,
are actually not.

They just don't realize it,
but they are supported by someone's hands.

I cannot call out, "Are you okay?"

I cannot push them on the back.

I can only continue to shine
in the same place today as well.

That is fine.

Today, too, I see off someone on their way home.

Because that is what I can do.

──I am Tokyo Tower.

Afterword

How was it?

I have loved Tokyo Tower🗼 for a long time.

The Skytree is wonderful too, but
for some reason, the one that always captures my heart
has been Tokyo Tower🗼.

When I was little,
I visited it once with my family.

But strangely,
I don't remember the scenery of that day very well.

Is what I remember
the family photos I saw many times afterward,
or is it truly my own memory?

Now, the boundary between them
has become unclear.

Even so, after I became an adult,
I ended up working near Tokyo Tower.
Every morning, I would walk past Zojoji Temple to get to work,

and on my way home, I would look up at the orange lights.
On days when things didn't go well at work,

I would sometimes just spend time aimlessly
in a place where I could see Tokyo Tower.
Later on,

I learned that Tokyo Tower was built as a symbol of post-war reconstruction
through the wishes of many people.
Perhaps that is why I am drawn to it.
The vague memories of my childhood

and the memories I accumulated after becoming an adult,

those two overlapped,
and this story was born.

Thank you for reading until the end.
😃

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