Theme: 'On a Sunny Day' #ShirokumaLiteratureClub
"Take Free"
On a sunny day, I picked up a sigh.
Just as I reached the top of the massive pedestrian bridge spanning the main road, it was swaying unreliably like a speck of dust. Since I had already found it, there was no helping it. I quickly picked it up, wrapped it in my handkerchief, and tucked it into the outer pocket of my bag.
I don't remember when I started doing things like this. Of course, I don't think everyone in the world can visualize sighs. I know I'm the strange one, and I know what I'm doing is eccentric. It's not that I have any special feelings about it, nor am I being forced to do it; I'm just acting on a whim.
I always make it a point to release the sighs I've collected into the river once I'm about halfway through my walking route. I do so with a small prayer: that they don't return to their owners, and that they can be washed away by the water.
But today, it was sunny. Without a single cloud, the blue sky stretched out bright and expansive. Surely, this clear weather pays no mind to the trivial melancholy of someone who finally finished climbing the stairs and let out a breath. The sunlight pouring down everywhere felt cruel, so I ducked into a dim alley between buildings.
The damp smell of concrete softened the bustle of the main street, and I felt somewhat relieved. I took the sigh out of my pocket, placed it on my palm, and examined it carefully and closely. But even after observing it closely, I couldn't tell what it was about. In truth, I was at a loss with it as it trembled, having nowhere to go.
An energy-saving vending machine was lit with minimal light deep in the entrance of a multi-tenant building. In front of it was a simple long desk, where flyers for an English conversation school on the fifth floor and an Indian restaurant on the second floor were lined up. The paper that said "Please take one" was light brown, making me imagine how many years had passed since it was placed there. I suddenly wondered what would happen if I left a sigh here.
Would it be blown away helplessly by the building wind that blew strongly from time to time? Or would someone as peculiar as me whimsically take it home? Feeling guilty for not being affiliated with this building, I made an excuse to no one in particular that I would come back to check on it often, and I gently placed the sigh I had picked up on the edge of the desk.
Relieved by having decided its fate, a long, thin sigh escaped my own lips. I placed that one next to it as well, and returned to my walk. Unaware of the situation that my tiny bit of mischief would cause.
(End)
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