Chibi Creative Award Theme: The Choice of That Day

This time it's a bit heavy, so I'll go without any gags.

For me, there is only one song for this.

Ayaka Hirahara's "Jupiter".

When I hear "the choice of that day," I am reminded of the Chuetsu earthquake.

When people think of earthquakes, many probably think of the Great East Japan Earthquake, but it was the Chuetsu earthquake that greatly changed my life.

My home was near the epicenter, and
there were three consecutive tremors of seismic intensity 6 upper.

Thinking back now, I feel like, "I didn't need three times,
once was enough to get the point across..."

As a result, the ground liquefied, and
the house was completely destroyed.

In a manga, this would be a scene that ends with "to be continued," but reality doesn't work that way.

Fortunately, my father, mother, and I were all out, and
we didn't have any major injuries.

However, almost everything inside the house was gone.

All that remained was our car and our savings, and
we ended up living on a very tight budget.

A few days later, I went to the collapsed house and
thought about what to take back.

After looking around at the appliances, furniture, and mementos, the only thing
I took back was my high school graduation album.

"Maybe one day I'll be able to laugh about this."

I think that's the feeling I had.

After that, my parents decided to build a new house
about 3km away.

But I made a different choice.

I bought this land from my father.

I had no reason to leave this place, and
I felt like my connection with my friends would be severed if I left.

I thought I could just rebuild here once things settled down,
or at least that was my mindset.

Of course, I didn't have the money to build a house,
and it was difficult to arrange for a carpenter.

Moreover, I was planning to get married the following year,
so I chose to live separately from my parents here.

…Though, in reality, I didn't get married until five years later.

Life doesn't always go as planned.

Having nowhere to live,
I ended up being taken in by my grandmother.

“I just need you to lend me a place to sleep.”

That was the single sentence that started our life together.

Then, about four months later,
my grandmother passed away in the bathroom of her home.

I often came home after my grandmother had already gone to bed,
so if it hadn't been in the bathroom, her discovery might have been delayed even further.

I was the one who discovered her.

What if I hadn't bought the land back then?

What if I hadn't lived at my grandmother's house?

What if I had made a different choice?

My grandmother might not have been found for days.

Even now, I sometimes think about things like that.

Was the choice I made that day the right one?

I don't think I will ever know the answer to that in my entire life.

But there is one thing I know for sure.

The song that supported the recovery from the Chuetsu earthquake, Ayaka Hirahara's "Jupiter."

And the "Phoenix" fireworks, a prayer for recovery at the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show.

Even now, when I hear that song, the scene from back then comes back to me clearly.

I haven't seen the Nagaoka fireworks for over ten years now.

But this year, I am thinking of going.

To tell the me of that day,

"I've made it this far."

That is why.

Everyday I listen to my heart.

I am not alone.

The choice I made that day brought me to where I am now.

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