🌅 The Day My 'Hardships' Vanished—A Mysterious Experience Where My Heart Suddenly Felt Lighter
Recently,
things have been piling up and it's been tough, so
I went out to a certain place for a change of pace.
I'd like to write about
a tiny, mystical event
that I experienced there♬
The place I visited is famous for its beautiful sunsets.
However, it was pouring rain that day,
so honestly, I didn't have high expectations... but
I'm neither a 'rain woman' nor a 'sun woman,'
but rather quite a 'cloudy woman.' lol
It's rarely perfectly clear, but
strangely enough, the rain often stops
at the times I feel like 'I want to walk here.'
On this day too, the rain stopped completely in the evening when I planned to take a walk!
As I walked along the coast shortly before sunset, a torii gate floating in the sea caught my eye.
Beyond the torii gate was
a beautiful island that looked like an overturned bowl.
That island separates the outer sea from the inner sea,
like a guardian deity quietly watching over the bay.
As I approached it as if drawn in,
there was a high embankment a little further ahead.
The embankment looked like it connected to the island.
I sometimes go fishing, so
I'm used to walking on embankments.
I climbed onto the embankment without hesitation—
I saw it!!
The beautiful sea spreading out beyond the tetrapods.
And that embankment looked just like
a single path leading to the island.
'Can I really go all the way to the island...?'
Walking cautiously so as not to fall into the sea,
when I reached a point where the island looked much closer,
it was already getting dark around me.
'If I go a little further, I'll land on the island...
But since there was a torii gate,
it must be a sacred place.'
Thinking that, I turned back there.
When I checked my watch, it was exactly sunset time.
'I guess a beautiful sunset was too much to ask for after all...'
Thinking that, just before I went down the stairs,
I looked toward the island one more time—
'Huh!? The sky is starting to turn pink...!?'
From there, in the blink of an eye, the sky
went from pink to orange.
And then, it dyed into an even deeper,
beautiful orange color.
'The sunset reflecting on the sea is
this beautiful...'
While I was captivated,
I felt like something had changed inside my heart.
It's hard to put into words, but
if I were to dare to express it,
'The things that were painful
are no longer painful.'
That's the feeling.
I had a sensation of my heart clearing up,
something I hadn't felt in a while.
When I looked it up later,
I found that Benten-sama is enshrined on that island.
Benten-sama has connections to snakes and the performing arts,
and I was born in the Year of the Snake and I draw manga.
Of course, I think it's a coincidence.
Even so,
'Why don't you come?'
I felt like I had been called,
like I had been gently encouraged,
and I felt a sacred emotion.
And since I genuinely love the Kojiki,
I feel very close to the gods.
(Hey, that's rude. lol)
I don't know if the gods really
encouraged me that day.
But I'm sure I'll never forget that beautiful sunset
and the feeling of my heart suddenly becoming lighter.
It was a moment where I felt,
just a little bit,
like Benten-sama had given me a push on the back♬
Himana Maru
⬇️I received this in my previous article❣️Thank you❣️
⬇️I also draw a slightly surreal picture book manga❣️