Kofun Syndrome #WeeklyShortShortNote

Lately, something has been off.
Whenever I have a day off, for some reason, I feel the urge to pile up dirt in a high place.

At first, it was just the flowerpots in the garden.
I mounded the soil up and eventually shaped it into something resembling a keyhole-shaped burial mound.
I thought, 'Maybe I'm just tired,' but the following week, I was doing the same thing in the park's sandbox.

What's more, I feel strangely satisfied once it's finished.
It scares me that I find myself nodding to no one, saying things like, 'Yes, this is the style of the late fifth century.'

When I went to the hospital, the doctor looked at my chart and said with a straight face,
'It's a classic case of Kofun syndrome.'

'Is there really such a disease?'

'Yes. In severe cases, patients start lining up haniwa clay figures.'

When I returned home, there was clay sitting on my desk.
I found myself kneading it unconsciously.

Before I knew it, there was a round body with simple, dot-like eyes.
No matter how I look at it, that's what it is.

The next day, I went to the hospital again.
When I showed the doctor the clay figure, he said quietly,

'...It's already too late.'

I sighed.

And on the way home, I happened to find a vacant lot.

—The size is just right.

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I participated in Taharakani-san's project, '#WeeklyShortShortNote'!