[#ShirokumaLiteratureClubNovember④] Final Episode
I am creating a single story using all the prompts from the Shirokuma Literature Club for the month. As a regular member, I get to know all the prompts at the beginning of the month, which is how I came up with this idea. I am challenging myself every month with a style where the first entry is a 20-character short story, and subsequent entries are stories with no character limit.
In addition to the above, the part starting with the grandmother's prompt is a reading, followed by a conversation with her grandchild that develops the story. I hope you will join me to see if I can successfully complete all 12 stories in 2025.
Click here for the first entry of November👇
Click here for the second entry of November👇
Click here for the third entry of November👇
“December...”
“December?”
The fortune teller, holding her hands over the crystal ball with half-closed eyes, looked different from when she was joking around with the ingredients in the pot. The light emitted from the crystal ball made her autumn-leaf-colored blush shimmer, creating a fantastical atmosphere. Perhaps it was the right decision to gather my courage and ask her to predict my future since it is my birthday...
What if I spoke up now and offended her...? Suppressing my racing heart, I waited silently for her next words.
“A number of small difficulties will beset you.”
“What! No way.”
The reason I wanted to get my fortune told was because this year had been incredibly unlucky. The school I enjoyed became boring after the class reshuffle. My close friends quickly adjusted to their new classes and stopped spending time with me. I barely exchanged words with my new classmates, and before I knew it, I was isolated in class.
Even on my birthday, there were no friends to celebrate with me... This fact deeply wounded my pride. If only I could have been told of a bright future through fortune-telling... But the fortune teller, as soon as I entered the room, said,
“Oh my, a young lady who refuses to open her heart has arrived.”
She actually said that. I got angry and accidentally shouted. Thanks to that, I realized the fortune teller could read minds, but that was exactly why the prediction that there would be “a number of difficulties” was too painful for me.
“I can't... no... I don't want this anymore.”
To me, sobbing, the fortune teller said,
“Open your heart. You must take the initiative yourself.”
It was different from her teasing voice until now, so I looked up instinctively, and the fortune teller was gazing at me with warm eyes.
“Just waiting forever won't work. You must carve out your own path.”
“But I... until now...”
That's right. I had never reached out to friends myself until now. I realized that I had just had friends before... or rather, I had only been waiting for someone to reach out to me.
I... don't know how to reach out to others...
“I... I don't know what to do... *hic*...”
“You had the courage to come here on your birthday, so you can do it.”
“Huh? Why do you know it's my birthday?”
I was surprised that the fortune teller even knew my birthday, and as I stared, she laughed, 'Hahaha.'
'You wrote down your name and date of birth before the reading, didn't you?'
She said, and I blushed, but... wait? Did I write it down? I was so surprised that she had said something so rude the moment she saw my face that I had shouted... Huh? The fortune teller gently placed her hand over my mouth as I stood there in shock.
'Hush! From now on, you must actively talk to your friends. It's already December, so I know it will be difficult to start speaking to them for the first time now. But you must try your hardest. Think about the other person when you speak to them. It is an important step for them to get to know you.'
Perhaps it was because the crystal ball was flickering and illuminating the fortune teller as she spoke at length. To my eyes, she appeared to be swaying, stretching and shrinking, and glowing in various colors. As I watched her fantastical form, a desire to believe the fortune teller's words and take action began to grow within me.
'...I will try.'
'Happiness awaits you beyond the difficulties you overcome.'
I bowed my head to the smiling fortune teller and left the room.
From the next day on, I began to make an effort to talk to others.
'So you can actually speak?'
I was told, or,
'Don't interrupt when you don't know what's going on.'
'I don't get what you mean.'
I was told things like that, too. Hearing the harsh tone of my classmates made me want to give up, but every time, I remembered the fortune teller's voice. Although the cold stares were painful, I believed in the hope the fortune teller spoke of and did my best to make them understand me.
'Ah!'
It happened when I was trying to collect the class homework to take to the staff room. I scattered the neatly stacked notebooks all over the hallway.
'I told you it was impossible for you to do it alone!'
I was showered with harsh words and felt completely dejected. I had failed again... My body wouldn't move because of that thought.
The classmate in charge of homework was grumbling as they gathered the scattered notebooks.
'But, it helped that you offered to help.'
'Huh?'
'The other kids went home quickly, and I didn't want to take them by myself.'
The moment I saw the face of my classmate, who had turned around to ask if I would help, smiling, my heart slowly began to unburden. Since they had started picking up the notebooks in silence, I hurriedly said,
'I... I'm sorry.'
When I apologized, she said,
"I'm sorry for raising my voice, too."
and gave me a big smile.
On the day of the closing ceremony, I was invited to a Christmas party for the girls in my class.
"Let's meet at the park entrance at 2:00 PM!"
"Okay!"
Since it was my first time going to a friend's house, we decided to meet at the park near her home. My mother and I went to buy the gift for the exchange last week. At that time, we passed near the fortune-telling room I had gathered the courage to enter, but the building where the fortune-telling room was supposed to be was nowhere to be found.
When I asked my mother, "There was a fortune-telling room there, right?", she looked puzzled and said she had never seen such a thing.
I wanted to tell the fortune-teller that I had made a friend and thank her for the courage, but I couldn't.
"Over here!"
My friend, who had arrived at the park entrance first, was calling out loudly.
"Coming!"
I shouted back and started running.
📚📚📚
"That's good,"
my younger brother said, looking relieved.
"Sometimes it's nerve-wracking to talk to a friend,"
my older sister said, which surprised our grandmother, who asked,
"Is that so?"
Nodding, my sister replied,
"But you know, if you gather the courage to speak up, you can become friends!"
She jumped onto her grandmother with a big smile. It seemed she was embarrassed by what she had just said.
"I was embarrassed too when I gathered my courage!"
The younger brother imitated his sister and jumped onto their grandmother.
"That's a lie, you're always being shy." "I am not!"
Saying that, the younger brother buried his face in his grandmother. It seemed he just wanted to hug her. Their grandmother was touched by her grandson's cute lie and hugged both of her grandchildren. Laughter leaked out, and from outside the room, their mother's voice could be heard.
"Are you still awake?"
The sister and brother hurriedly got into their futons and replied in loud voices,
"We're asleep!"
Their mother laughed for a while after hearing that, but then seemed to head back to the living room. The grandchildren felt relieved that they hadn't been scolded.
"I wonder what happened to the fortune teller." "I really wonder."
The grandchildren and their grandmother talked for a while about the fortune teller who had disappeared, but soon, cute, sleepy breathing could be heard. Their grandmother turned off the light and quietly left the room.
(The End)
I was able to finish the November story safely. Thank you again for this week, Department Head Kosuke Komaki.
Next month will be the 12th and final story in the 2025 reading series.