Before Writing the Final Chapter

"The Cat Who Knows the Scent of the Sea"
To everyone who has read this far,
thank you so much.

A story about a girl who disliked the scent of the sea and a white cat who knew it.
"The Cat Who Knows the Scent of the Sea" has reached its ninth chapter before I knew it.

The Shizuku at the beginning
couldn't even think the sea was beautiful when she looked at it.

She was just
lonely,

in pain,
and had a face that looked like she wanted to disappear.
The one who was by her side
was Haku, the white cat.

A cat who said nothing.
But,

he stayed by her side on the days she cried,

walked beside her on the days she was in pain,
and was a cat who quietly kept telling her,
"You are not alone."
The lights of the summer festival.
The twilight on the breakwater.

A home with no one to say "welcome back."
The "thank you" that couldn't be said.
While carrying so much sadness,
Shizuku gradually

became able to look forward.
And then came
the "morning of goodbye."

I thought many times while writing this.
People don't forget their sadness,

but rather live on while carrying it.

But along the way,
the memory of someone being by your side
truly becomes a salvation.

Next time, it is finally the final chapter.
If there is anyone who has read this far,
please tell me

which scene you liked the most.

I feel sure that
those thoughts
will help create the continuation of this story.