The Wobbly Hero Arrives: A Path Overflowing with Smiles - 'My Dog, Everyone, and Me'

Daily life is changing day by day.
The way I walk my dog has also changed tremendously.

It is the same walk as always,
walking the same path as always.

Even so, the world keeps shifting.
My dog, too, was creating a world of his own.

That world was filled with gentle sunshine.



I go for a morning walk.
I picked up my dog and went outside.

Carrying him to our usual spot has become our routine.
The starting point is just past that crosswalk.

Ahead, I saw an elderly woman I often meet.
'Not walking today?'
she asked with concern.

'We're just about to start,' I answered with a smile,
and she smiled back at me.

I gently set my dog down.
Alright, let's walk.
Slowly, along our usual path.

Next, an older man and woman came from the other direction.
They are people who always show my dog affection.
'Good morning. His step is light today, isn't it?'
The man laughed.

In my dog, who had just started walking,
there was no sign of fatigue yet.

Seeing him not just wobbling, the two of them seemed happy.

On our walking path, many different people call out to us.

However, the words we exchange
also change little by little with age.

People stop for my wobbly-walking dog.
When they see him, everyone seems to want to cheer for something.

'How old is he?'
'Do your best!'
'You're doing great!'

There are so many people who care about him.
Not only that, there are even people who get energy from my dog, as if they feel they need to do their best too.

I realized that my wobbly-walking dog is, just by being himself, a source of energy for everyone.

Things are different now than they were before.
He doesn't turn around when I call him, and his tail stays pointed downward.

Sometimes he even flinches when I approach him.

That is why,
'I might disappoint people,'
'My dog might scare them,'
I was very worried about things like that.

But that wasn't the case.

There are people who pet my dog even when he doesn't react.
They are careful not to startle him.

Everyone's words and actions made me realize something.
I had been the one worrying too much about what others thought.

Was it actually me whose steps were heavy?

My dog is walking with all their might, wobbling along.
Everyone could see my dog's pace.

They understood perfectly.

Both my dog,
and me.

I hadn't even realized that.
I hadn't understood anything at all.

A very warm world was waiting on the path where I walk with my dog.
My dog's aging, once again, wrapped around my heart.

A walking path where I pass by many different people.
There are so many different faces there every day.

My dog just walks.
Even without being particularly friendly, they are never disliked.

Just by my dog being there,
they turn everyone's heads and make people smile.
I was made to realize such a small thing.

Hidden within those smiles were the deep thoughts each person carried.

Many people have such straight postures.
I felt as if that posture told a story of its own.

That is what it means to walk every day.

Perhaps that is why my dog's figure sinks so deeply into my heart.
It wasn't just that my dog was cute.

What it means to walk energetically.
It seems simple, but it becomes not so simple.

When you are right beside them, you even stop seeing things like that.

I was only looking at myself, thinking about how hard things were for me.

I love my dog so much I can't help it, but,
'I wish they would walk faster,'
or,
'Taking care of them is such a chore,'
there are times when I think things like that.

At times like that,
when someone says, 'You're doing your best,'
I feel somehow happy.

But it wasn't just that.

There were even people who cared about me.
'It's tough, isn't it?'
'If it were me, I'd be so frustrated.'
When people said things like that, I felt incredibly saved.

It's not just my dog; I'm doing my best too!

Is my dog a hero who brings energy to everyone?

The wobbly hero has arrived!

Even though I finally retired from being an idol, it seems my dog is still busy even in old age.

I couldn't afford to be tired either.
I can't let myself be outdone by a wobbly hero.

I have to do my best.

This moment, where everyone exchanges smiles.
I felt a story even on this casual, ordinary walking path.

Even though I shouldn't forget, it becomes invisible.

Because my dog doesn't say anything.
Because they are just walking the path in front of them with all their might.

But perhaps it is my dog who is truly struggling and working hard.

A gentle world hidden in the voices of everyone.
A new door has opened, hasn't it?

The colors of the world that have deepened are very gentle colors.

My dog is everyone's hero.
But they are my own special hero.

The wobbly hero,
I just watched their back as they walked along the path again today.

Thank you for reading until the end.