Doppler's Voice [Shirokuma Literary Club: Theme 'Light Blue Is']

Komaki-san, thank you for the theme. I will proceed with the article below.

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Light blue is a place that keeps memories tucked away in its transparent depths. Like a treasure chest harboring the colors of the sky, lakes, and seas, it holds onto the things and thoughts that are washed away and disappear in the flow of daily life.

The keyhole had a smooth shape, and I couldn't tell where it might catch. It wasn't inorganic; it stood quietly like a creature lurking on the seabed, transparent on the other side, appearing like a boneless organism.

“You can't scoop it up here. I just finished maintenance, so would you like to use this?”

I had been staring at it.

The heart that mourns for what is lost certainly exists within me. I didn't think to scoop it up, but I nodded, thinking that wouldn't be bad either, and followed the owner of the voice.

“Come on, here you go. This is the key, and this is the storage room. Go on in. The entrance has a slight step, so be careful. The door is also a bit low, so mind your head.”

Urged on, I entered the slightly dim room. It looked pitch black for a moment, but was faintly illuminated by light streaming in from a window.

I held the key I was given and inserted it into the keyhole of the old wooden door. It opened more easily than I expected, which caught me off guard. “You thought it would be rusted, didn't you? Too bad, I told you, didn't I? The maintenance for the keyhole was just completed this morning,” the guide's voice reached me, as if she had seen through my heart.

There, countless clocks were lined up on shelves. Their shapes were slowly turning into grains, spilling onto the floor like sand. The thinly accumulated particles glittered in the sunlight like glass sand.

Come to think of it, I suddenly let out a bitter laugh at myself for having followed along this far without any questions. What a lack of caution, to follow a stranger whose identity is unknown.

The woman turned around, looked at me, and spun her words.

“I suppose I should say nice to meet you, for form's sake. Though, it's not our first meeting, but since it's the first time in this world, it's a first meeting nonetheless. ...Well then. Yours hasn't turned into grains yet, but would you like to take a look? The one belonging to your acquaintance is that one, third from the top on the left, second from the left.”

It was a transparent clock, like crystal or selenite. The face, the hour hand, the minute hand, the second hand, the gears inside, and even the springs were transparent, spilling prismatic light onto the dim shelf.

“Ah... I see. So you were here.”

It was the time of my beloved who had departed five years ago.

After that, I spent time in that place in silence. I simply gazed at the time returning. Then, I returned the borrowed key to the woman and took my leave.

"The way home is a straight line. Do not look back, absolutely not. Let us meet next in [that place]."

The voice of the |admin of past time|, Admin Pasttime, reached my ears lower than the path I had come, and eventually faded into a lingering echo.

As if dancing in the wind, as if melting into the light,light bluelike that.

----Fin

Thank you for staying with me until the end.

#ShirokumaLiteratureClub
#LightBlueIs
#WroteBasedOnTheme
#ShortStory
#ASlightlyStrange
#TriedWithAI
#MicrosoftDesigner
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#TriedBecauseItsAutumn

©2023-2025 Harunaga Mutsuki

Below are some bonus images.

All are Midjourney. The (details of the) background are left to your imagination.