[Shirokuma Literature Club] Thunder is [2000-character short story]

"Are you okay with the thunder?!"
I suddenly remembered being asked that with such intensity that it felt like the person was rushing inside the moment I opened the front door.
What I remembered was an episode with an ex-boyfriend I had long since broken up with. No, that's just me thinking of him as an ex-boyfriend; perhaps he wasn't even my boyfriend to begin with.


I told this story to Monroe.

"Are you bad with thunder?"
Monroe asked, turning around.
She was sitting on my sofa in my house, clutching my cushion with a frown on her face, looking a bit grumpy.
I shook my head, saying, "No, not at all." I felt a tiny bit of regret for telling Monroe this story, but I didn't let it show on my face as I brewed coffee in the kitchen.

Outside, there is the sound of thunder.
I listen to that sound while hand-dripping coffee for two.
I remembered it because the situation was similar, and it just slipped out. Saying what I think before I think about it is probably a bad habit of mine.


Monroe is a nickname.
Her real name is Marika Nomaguchi.
We were in the same class in our first year of high school. We ended up talking a lot because our seats were close, and we sort of naturally formed a group.
At first, I called her Marika, then it became Maririn, and someone in our circle said that Maririn meant Marilyn Monroe.
"Marilyn Monroe?"
"Who's that?"
"She's a famous actress."
I remember having that conversation.
We were obviously not from the generation that knew Marilyn Monroe. I only knew the name too. Because of that, it became a bit of a joke, and Marika's nickname became Monroe.
Come to think of it, it could have stayed Marilyn, but I'm not sure why it went further to become Monroe.
Monroe didn't seem to have any particular complaints about becoming Monroe instead of Marilyn.
Either way, it's the name of a beauty who left her mark on history, so maybe Marilyn or Monroe was fine.

That's why, for over ten years now, she has been Monroe to me.

"So, you're not bad with thunder, but it ended up being treated as if you were."
"Oh, are we continuing that story?"
"No, you're the one who started it."
The frown on Monroe's forehead deepened.

"Well, it's a story from about two years ago."
"Is that the one? The guy who was well-dressed but stingy with money."
"You remember that?"
"Of course I remember. I thought his taste couldn't be any worse."

I feel sorry for making her use her memory for such things.

"You actually like bad weather, don't you?"
Monroe said in a sentimental voice.

That sentimental voice sounds unnecessarily kind somehow. It's a kind of familial kindness. The kind of voice from someone who knew me when I was a child.
I was strangely moved by that simple voice, and
"Oh, you knew?"
I replied playfully.
"I knew."
Monroe answered in a casual tone.

Yes, as Monroe said, I actually like bad weather. I get excited on typhoon days.
Thunder is the best. That loud sound, the lightning. The absolute power of nature is just too cool. So, I'm not the kind of character who would be worried about when it's thundering.

"So, what did you answer?"

"Are you confusing me with another girl?"

"That's what I said."

Monroe opened her mouth in surprise for a moment, then buried her face in the cushion and started shaking her shoulders. Whether I liked it or not, this was,
"Hahahaha"
She was laughing, just as I thought.
"What is that, that's the best."
Monroe said in a loud voice. The frown on her forehead was gone, but instead, there were tears in Monroe's eyes from laughing too much.

Watching that, I think that while the situation is the same, the absolute difference is that the person in the living room is Monroe, not the ex-boyfriend who was cheating on me.



When I said, "Are you confusing me with another girl?", I thought, "Oh no." It's things like this. This thoughtlessness is really not good.
And yet, I was also excited. I thought something wild might start from here. I felt the same excitement I get from bad weather.

However, the other person's reaction was a total letdown.

He started fumbling and making excuses.
The thunder roared even louder, and I was listening to the sound of the thunder, not the man's excuses. There was an especially loud clap of thunder. I grinned at the sound, thinking it must have struck nearby. At that moment, the man screamed and bolted outside.
All that was left behind was me and two cups of warm coffee.

I hand the freshly brewed coffee to Monroe.
"You were probably excited back then, thinking it would turn into a dramatic scene."
"Did you know?"
"I knew."

--------------------------------

I am visiting the Shirokuma Literature Club again this week.

The theme this week was "Thunder is".

I think this is my fifth time participating in the Shirokuma Literature Club.
Setting aside the time I participated with a tanka poem, for some reason, all my short stories so far have been female-led, so I decided on my own to make this one female-led as well, and this time I created it with a sisterhood vibe in mind.
What do you think?

These are my submissions to the Shirokuma Literature Club so far.

By the way, the image below is an image of this work created by my Cha-chan(ChatGPT), lol.
I thought it was cute, so I posted it.
The thunder in the header image was also created by Cha-chan.