“Slipping High School” #WeeklyShortShortNote

*Class Reunion

More than a decade had passed since my alma mater, an agricultural high school, was closed down.
Since its demolition was decided for this year, it was decided to hold a class reunion at the school building,
with volunteers gathering together.

On the day of the event, a decent number of people gathered, but
as expected... the faces that showed up were limited.
Most of the graduates had left their hometowns and were living in their own respective places.
It probably wasn't an event worth leaving their daily lives for.
Even so, the reunion was a success due to the nostalgia of seeing faces I hadn't seen in a long time.

Many of them were still involved in agriculture.
There were classmates who had started their own businesses and expanded globally.
There were people working hard in other industries, women who had become housewives, and...
there was also food brought by those who were still continuing to farm locally.

Conversations flourished about things we didn't know about the time that had passed for each of us...
Time passed in the blink of an eye... and the gathering came to an end.

The place where we parted ways, between those going to the after-party
and those heading straight home, was the school gate,
but one person noticed the letters written on the back of the gatepost... ?!

The first character was gone, and it read【Slipping High School】.

“Ah, this was written as【Gooseberry...】!!”
The person who wrote it came forward.

The 《Gooseberry》, which was treated like a wild fruit tree back then, has now become famous enough to be sold as a product
called 《Gooseberry》.

I remember cultivating them in a corner of the school field, eating them as they were, or
【making gooseberry jam】...!!

The thoughts of everyone present at the parting place
were instantly transported back in time.

【End】

(594 characters)

*This story is fiction and has no relation whatsoever to any real people, facilities, events, etc.

*I am participating here.
The theme this time was “Slipping High School”
and the hidden theme was... “A few shallots on the wall”.

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