[Creative Grand Prize Entry] When My Wife Disappeared, the House Became a Battlefield
The man who laughed, saying, 'You can't go on a solo trip,' collapsed in front of the refrigerator on the second day. The kitchen, now that his wife was gone, was quietly turning into a battlefield. Four days of lessons learned by a man.
'You? Go on a solo trip? Get real.'
That was me... no, that was this guy. With a curry spoon in one hand, he thought he was being realistic with a smirk. His wife said nothing, packed 40,000 yen of her secret savings and three days' worth of clothes into a backpack, said only 'I'm off,' and clicked the front door shut.
The first day was easy. 'Well, she'll be back by evening,' he thought, lounging on the sofa and scrolling through his phone.
The second day. He opened the refrigerator, and there was nothing. Only tofu and an energy drink shone with a stark, white light. Dishes piled up in the sink, and laundry began to sprout from the chairs. Even when he went to the supermarket, he had no idea what to buy or how. His basket contained only cup noodles and energy drinks. He typed 'What should I do about food?' into LINE, then deleted it. It seemed his pride was still working as his last line of defense.
The third day. The kitchen was now the aftermath of a battlefield. The pot was scorched, he had wrung out his clothes by hand, and there was a mountain of plastic bottles and trash bags rolling on the tatami mats. '...She's amazing,' he muttered, surprised by his own words.
Meanwhile, his wife was soaking in a hot spring, beer in hand, letting out a long, 'Phew...' It seemed the words, 'You can't go anywhere anyway,' had slowly and quietly hardened. I won't write, 'Serves you right.'
The fourth day, just past noon. When his wife returned, the man was still trying to make something amidst the smell of burning. His 'Welcome back' was a little lower than usual. His wife set down her backpack and just smiled, saying, 'I'm home.'
Honestly, the man who told her to get real was the one who knew the least about reality.
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