The Fading Chalk Message,

Episode 1: Optimized Private Spaces, the Sweet Potato Candy of the Ruins

The smartphone screen vibrated briefly, displaying a message from Shun.

“My grandma tripped at home and got admitted with a minor injury. I’m stuck in a university seminar and can't leave right away. Mio, could you go to the hospital first and check on her?”

“Oh, Shun. He’s such a grandma's boy, yet so unreliable when it actually matters.”

Though Mio sighed, she immediately headed to Aomori City Hospital.

Gently opening the door of the hospital room, Mio was greeted by the sight of Toki sitting up straight in bed near the window, knitting white wool.

Ten fingers, slightly knotted yet moving with surprising dexterity.

Each time a single strand of white yarn was scooped up by the tip of the needle, it transformed into a beautiful grid pattern.

It was as if she were knitting, stitch by stitch, the very scene of Aomori's post-war development—where the muddy, chaotic streets in front of Aomori Station were neatly paved with pitch-black asphalt, and a pristine white line of reflective light stretched out as straight as a ruler, modernizing the town.

Nodding softly to the jazz melodies flowing from Mio's smartphone, she knitted stitch by stitch, as if cherishing the very time she had lived.

“Grandma, you’re doing handicrafts even in your hospital room? It’s so beautiful...”

As Mio leaned in gently from the side of the bed, Toki looked up from the warm, half-finished wool and squinted with affection.

“Oh, Mio. Thank you for coming all this way. Is Shun still at the university?”

“Yes, it looks like Shun can't make it right away, so I came ahead of him. Grandma, are you alright?”

“Oh, yes. It’s nothing serious—just a minor bruise. More than that, I’ve been so bored out of my mind. When I move my fingertips, the rough texture of this wool brings back the smell of Aomori Station’s backyard from those days.”

“Behind Aomori Station...?”

“Yes. In 1952, the snowy, empty, and soot-stained railway sidings. My beginning with my husband, Shigeru, was in that freezing place.”

“Young people today have it nice, having cars. You have your dates in them, don’t you? Shun told me all about it.”

Mio smiled a little sheepishly, clutching the frictionless screen of her smartphone.

“Yes. The temperature inside Shun's car is always perfect, we play our favorite playlist, and go straight to the romantic sunset spots trending on social media. There are no complications, and it's super comfortable. That's just our 'normal,' but...”

“Hehe, how luxurious. But in our days, it was much colder and full of mud, yet we had that 'sweet potato candy' that was undeniably warm.”

“Sweet potato candy...?”

“Yes. That golden candy that Genji-san frantically kneaded while smoke rose from the makeshift tin-can fire. That was what first taught us the physical 'touch' of life.”

“We still have some time before Shun arrives. Mio, would you like to hear about our clumsy, smoke-filled beginning?”

Nextchapter：https://note.com/ttukumoo/n/n902c5ac7b429
Original：https://note.com/juicy_laelia8513/n/nea7b5481e2df

"Thank you so much for reading to the very end!"💗