I bought a cute light!

A work participating in the Amano Writing Club project

Preface

At the convenience store at night,
there are sometimes unexpected encounters.

I intended to buy only what I needed, but
for some reason, it caught my attention,
and I just couldn't get it out of my head.

Today's story
begins with such a small 'curiosity'.

I bought a cute light!

Saki, who lives alone, went out to the convenience store to buy dinner.
Character goods were lined up near the register,
and she stopped in her tracks for no particular reason.

Among them was a flashlight.

—Wow, this is cute.

She checked the price.
2,000 yen.

Ugh, that's expensive.
I guess I'll pass.

Even though she thought that and left the store,
as she walked, she couldn't get that flashlight out of her mind.

Before she knew it, her feet were heading back toward the convenience store.

Having bought the flashlight, Saki
tried turning it on in the night street.

She expected the bright white light common these days, but
it was a bit dim.

…Oh well.
I spent 2,000 yen on this, what a waste.

Muttering that, she returned to her apartment.

She entered her room and heated up some pasta in the microwave.
As she happened to look at the flashlight,
a small line of text caught her eye.

“Please use this as a room light”

A room light?

I try placing the flashlight down and turning it on.

The light that seemed dim before,
now illuminates the room with just the right amount of brightness.

—Wow, this is cute.

The light changes into rainbow colors,
and it has a mechanism where the character shape moves slowly.

Saki sent a LINE message to her friend.

I bought a cute light!

A reply comes back immediately.

I want one too! Which convenience store?

After telling her the location,
a while later, another message arrived from her friend.

I went there, but
they didn't have any such product?

Saki stared at the flashlight.

…This light,
where on earth did it come from?

Afterword

Cute things,
might not always be there
to be useful.

A little mysterious,
a little comforting,
sometimes they appear quietly,
to gently illuminate someone's night.

If there is a light in your room too,
that you can't explain why,
but for some reason you can't let go of—

I believe that,
is the light you need for today.

Thank you for reading until the end.
※This story is fiction.

I wrote this for the Amano Writing Club prompt.
Thank you for the prompt.