The Bus with No Destination

The bus continued to drive in silence
along the winding mountain road.
The scenery outside the window

gradually drifted away from reality.
Before long, I

stepped down into a place that felt like the continuation of a dream.
Under my feet,

flowers with no names were in full bloom.
Red.

Blue.

Gold.

Even colors I had never seen before,

adorned with morning dew,
swayed quietly in the light.
There were no butterflies.

Instead,

translucent fish
were swimming slowly through the sky.
They did not flap their fins.

There was no sound of water.

They simply

drifted through the light,

as if carried by the wind.
I looked up at the sky instinctively.

The fish, which had been swimming freely until then,

stopped all at once.
The sky fell silent.

As if

they had been waiting
for me to arrive.

***

Deep within the flower field,
a high wall made of earth stretched on.

Ancient murals were painted across the entire wall.

Birds.

Deer.

Snakes.

People.

And,

a single jaguar.

Only its eyes

seemed to be alive even now.

The scent of dry earth rose quietly.

A breathtaking presence,
as if the king of the forest were right beside me.

Even though it should have been terrifying,
for some reason, I could not look away.

I am looking at the mural.
……or so I thought.

I am being watched.

That sensation
slowly crept up my spine.

The wind stopped.

From the flower field,
all sound vanished.

That was when

the jaguar
slowly blinked.

That was all.

I
held my breath for a moment.

***

A single fish
swam right up in front of me.

Faintly glowing scales.

Wagging its tail as if it were in water,
it swam toward the depths of the flower field.

Before I knew it,
I was walking after it.
***

The flower field

continued on forever.
How long had I been walking?

Strangely, I did not feel tired.
I could no longer even tell

if time was passing at all.

Eventually, the fish
stopped moving in front of a water surface.

Beyond it,
a water surface as still as a mirror spread out.

No wind.

No waves.

Only the sky
was reflected as if being drawn into it.

The fish
turned around
and dove into the water.

I
gently reached out my hand.

The moment my fingertips touched the water,
I thought it was cold.

The next instant,

that coldness
turned into nostalgia.

***

The water surface rippled.

The shadows of the fish
were drawn into the water.

The scent of flowers
gradually faded away.

Deep in my ears,
I heard the sound of train brakes.

When I realized it,
I was standing on a train platform.

A version of me slightly younger than I am now
was standing a little ahead.

The departure bell rang.

The doors opened.

Slowly,
I boarded the train.

That profile
looked like it was about to cry, and
also like it was about to smile.

I know.

That day,
I boarded that train.

From that day on,

the world
gradually began to change its appearance.

But,
the only thing I couldn't remember,

as if shrouded in fog,
was why I had boarded that train.

***

When I realized it,
I was standing in the flower field again.

The fish
were swimming in the sky as if nothing had happened.

The wind blew.

Petals
flowed slowly past my feet.

In the distance,

the jaguar was watching me quietly.

"Thank you."

Only those words
quietly left my lips.

Deep in my chest,

I felt something that had been frozen for a long time
slowly begin to unravel.

The jaguar

quietly
returned its gaze to beyond the flower field.

I
bowed my head one more time.

***

Beyond that,
a narrow stone path led to the mountains.

Twilight
was quietly dyeing the mountains.

Beyond that,
there is still something else.

For some reason, I
knew that.

I look up at the sky.
The sun
is already beginning to tilt beyond the mountains.

I
stared at that path.

And quietly,
I looked back at the path I had come from.

The return bus
was already waiting.

I
quietly boarded it.

No one else was on board.
From the window of the bus that had started moving,

the flower field gradually drifted away.
The fish
are swimming in the sky.

***

Returning to the city.

Familiar scenery
flowed past the bus window.

A familiar bus stop.
When I was about to get off,

the destination display above the driver's seat
lit up for the first time.

There, just one word.

"Today"

was written.

I quietly got off the bus.

On the soles of my shoes,
the sensation of the familiar city asphalt was transmitted.

The sound of cars.

The electronic sound of the traffic light changing.

Someone's laughter.

The daily life that had felt distant just a little while ago
was strangely dear to me.

I
looked up at the sky just once.

There are no fish swimming in the sky.
The flower field,
and the jaguar,

could no longer be seen anywhere.
Even so, deep in my chest,

the me of that day
was certainly breathing.

I smile a little.

And,
I began to walk through today.

* * *

This work is an entry for "The Choice of That Day," one of the themes of the "Chibi Creative Grand Prize" organized by Mr. Kawamura.