#060 The Day We Go to Meet the Land of Dogs | [Episode 1] The Rebellious Beetle's Unexpected Rampage

It has been over twenty years since I started my activities themed around the Land of Dogs.
With gratitude and nervousness in our hearts, my husband and I drove our Beetle to a gathering where dog families from all over the country would meet.
...I never imagined it would turn into such a thrilling journey.

October 11th.
My husband and I were heading to a certain venue.

It was a place where families who love the world of the 'Land of Dogs'—which we have been depicting for over twenty years—would gather.

The novel I wrote set in the Land of Dogs, 'One Day, a Letter Came from the Land of Dogs,' was once adapted into a manga in the girls' manga magazine 'Ciao,' and I have provided the original story for many years.
However, following my illness, the serialization was put on hold, and that remains the case today.

And today.
From Yamaguchi, Ishikawa, Fukushima... families of dogs living in the Land of Dogs, whom we connected with on Instagram, are gathering from all over the country.

With gratitude and excitement in our hearts, we loaded our paintings and dioramas into the car.

'We can finally meet,' my husband and I said as we got into the car.

We would finally be able to meet in person the people we had only communicated with via email and letters.
I was so happy that I could barely sleep the night before.

Fortunately, the car returned from its vehicle inspection the day before our departure.
Our beloved car, The Beetle, is truly in its 'rebellious phase'.

If the repairs hadn't been finished in time, we would have had to go in a rental car, but that rental car had neither an ETC card reader nor a car navigation system.
Without a navigation system, we would have been in dire straits.

I had nothing but gratitude that the mechanic managed to finish it by the day before.
(↓ Click here for the article on the circumstances leading up to the vehicle inspection)

However, shortly after we departed—.
The moment we entered the expressway, the car started to jerk and shudder.

The gears weren't shifting properly.
It wouldn't pick up speed.

The color drained from both of our faces.

We managed to pull the car over to the emergency parking lane, and when we called the mechanic, he simply said, 'Bring it in.'

No, no, we're on the highway right now, aren't we? (laughs)

Besides, everyone else is heading to the venue too.
We don't have the option to turn back.

"If it's okay, I'd like to keep heading to Tokyo."

When my husband said that,
the voice on the other end of the phone replied,
"I think it's probably fine, but the person in charge is out right now... could you wait a while?"

We don't have the luxury of waiting.

My husband gave them my number,
"Please contact my wife from now on,"
he said, and released the handbrake.

The car started moving again, as if trembling.

Before long, we reached the merging point of the Tomei Expressway.
If we can't pick up speed,
the cars behind us will close in.

And today is the first day of a long weekend.
Carefree drivers in rental cars
are whizzing past us from the right and the left.

Watching my husband's profile as he wiped sweat from his forehead,
the ominous word "death" crossed my mind.

The conversation in the car died out.
The windows began to fog up, and the temperature inside the car rose.

On such a chilly day,
who would have thought we'd end up turning on the air conditioning.

It was my husband who broke the silence.
"I think I've figured out the trick."

Apparently—if you tap the accelerator lightly with just your toes,
it shifts into high gear, even if it does clunk and jerk.

Immediately after that, the car shop called again.
But it wasn't the person in charge; someone else told us this:
"They say it's probably fine."

..."Probably."
That's hardly reassuring.
I protested strongly. In my heart, that is. (laughs)

The time to merge finally arrived.
Using the "toe-tap running method" my husband invented,
we somehow managed to get into the flow.

Even so, anything could happen at any moment.
We kept to the leftmost lane for constant-speed driving,
proceeding cautiously so we could pull over at any time.

Just in case, I checked our car insurance card
and called the organizer.

When I told them we would be late,
they kindly said,
"We are fine here, so please drive safely."

I relayed this to my husband,
but I don't know if it reached his ears.
He looked completely tense,
staring straight ahead.

We thought it would be over once we merged—but we were being naive.

The next trial was the toll gate.
The moment we had to slow down and then accelerate again was terrifying.

"Clunk, clunk..."
The car body shook violently,
and it wouldn't shift into a higher gear.

Had my husband's brilliant accelerator work
finally reached its limit...?
From behind, a relentless honk: Beep-beep!

Looking in the mirror,
the driver behind us had narrowed eyes.
They were clearly angry.

My heart tightened.

—By then, both of us were teary-eyed.

That was when my husband muttered,
"My leg just cramped."

"What!? Are you okay!?" I asked.
"I kept chanting 'my leg isn't cramping, it isn't cramping,' and it went away."

...He might be a genius. Or maybe just a natural airhead.

That exchange
eased the tension in the air just a little bit.

In the end, I arrived at the venue an hour later than promised
--I barely made it there with my life.

Ah, I made it alive.
I still can't forget that sense of relief.

However, the meeting we were supposed to have in the car
didn't happen at all, and I arrived at the venue with no plan.

Oh dear.

Next episode preview.

A sudden surprise performance!
And yet--I was just completely flustered.

I'm sorry, I'm not used to this.
Any feelings of joy or being moved
flew right out the window, and I was just in a state of "Huh? What? Wait?"

......Everyone, I am truly sorry.

This series, "Because I Was Curious," is
updated daily (mostly).

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