[Hinata Short Story Literary Award - Grand Prize] Please Treat Me Well / Nika Tahara
In June 2023, we held the first "Hinata Short Story Literary Award" with the theme of "Rebirth." (Organizer: Flex Japan Co., Ltd. Co-organizer: Japan Men's Fashion Association)
We received 817 entries from all over the country, and we would like to introduce the 17 winning works. Please enjoy these various takes on "rebirth."
[Grand Prize] Please Treat Me Well / Nika Tahara
Please Treat Me Well
I approached the cardboard box placed at the entrance of the park. Inside, there was a towel and a plastic bottle. When I reached my hand into the box, the plastic bottle purred and rubbed against the back of my right hand as if to plead with me. The plastic bottle was.
Is the plastic bottle alive?
I really hate people who irresponsibly abandon their pets. Even if it is a plastic bottle.
When I returned to my room and sat on the sofa, the plastic bottle climbed onto my lap and rolled around playfully. The cool sensation of the plastic bottle was transmitted to my thighs.
I named it Pepo. Pepo loved my botanical print flared skirt, and it was its daily routine to pinch the hem of the skirt with its cap and pull on it. As a result of spending my days off playing with Pepo, I realized that my opportunities to hang out with friends had decreased drastically. On my thirtieth birthday, I received a call from my mother.
"You still don't have a boyfriend, right? I'm coming over to your place tomorrow."
My mother came over the next day. While I was grateful, I hated being treated like a child forever. I decided to leave the room for a while because I felt like I might end up venting my frustrations.
"I'll be back in about an hour."
I secretly told Pepo, who was hiding under the bed and staying perfectly still.
That was the last time I saw Pepo.
When I returned home after buying the dorayaki my mother likes, the room had been cleaned up. The magazines and trash that were under the bed, as well as Pepo, were all gone. I panicked and questioned my mother.
"It was recycling day, so I threw away the cans and plastic bottles."
I ended up throwing the dorayaki I had bought at my mother.
I ran to the trash collection area. However, nothing was left. I searched all over town for the garbage truck, but I couldn't find it.
When I returned home, my mother had already left. There was a note that said, "Sorry. The dorayaki was delicious," and a birthday present for me.
Since then, I have spent my days sighing every time I pick up a plastic bottle discarded on the road.
How much time has passed since Pepo disappeared? One day, I was choosing clothes at a clothing store. I suddenly felt like my skirt had been pulled. When I hurriedly held it down to keep it from slipping off, a skirt on the shelf was tangled in the hem of my skirt. As if it were pulling on my skirt. The shelf where that skirt was placed had a sign that read [Uses Recycled Polyester].
Today's skirt is a botanical print.
