The Fate Held by the Creator | Short-Short #ShirokumaLiteratureClub

I'll be waiting at the bus stop.

As soon as I sent the message from my smartphone, it was marked as read, and an "OK" emoji was sent back.

I headed to the nearest bus stop, about a minute or two from my house, to pick up my elementary school daughter who was coming home from cram school by bus.

I had a black umbrella in my hand.

It had started to drizzle since nightfall.

I've boarded the bus.

By the time the message arrived from my daughter, I had already reached the bus stop.

There is a family restaurant behind the bus stop, but otherwise, there are only houses. Perhaps because it was approaching 9:00 PM and due to the rain that had started falling at night, there was no one around.

I waited for five minutes, holding my umbrella and fiddling with my smartphone, for the bus to arrive.

I saw the bus turn right at the intersection in the distance.

The bus stopped in front of me, and the doors opened.

However, there was no sign of anyone getting off, yet the bus showed no intention of departing.

Something feels strange...

The surroundings were wrapped in the silence of the night, and the rain continued to fall steadily. The indescribable "pause" after the bus stopped and the doors opened felt eerie.

I get the feeling that it's waiting for me to board.

As soon as I thought that, I boarded the bus, which looked completely ordinary.

Pshhh.

"Good day to you."

The moment the doors closed, I heard a voice from the back seat.
The owner of the voice was a girl with long hair wearing a blazer.

"You are a very lucky person."

"Lucky?"

"Yes, only a handful of people in the world get to meet me."

The bus started moving slowly.

There was no one on board except for me, this girl, and the driver.

"I am the creator of this world."

"Excuse me?"

"Your body, your daughter's body, everything—you are all humans that I created."

I don't quite understand what you're saying.

Hehe, it's only natural that you don't. No one could ever believe such a thing.

The girl, who still had a trace of innocence, chuckled and said,

Please, take a closer look at my face.

I approached the girl's seat and gasped.

That's right, I made my face and body look just like your daughter's when she becomes a high school student. You noticed, didn't you? As expected of a father who shares her blood.

The moment the girl said that, the surroundings were swallowed by darkness, and the scene changed to one where only the girl and I seemed to be floating in the void.

If you are the creator of this world, what on earth did you appear before me for?

The creator is lonelier and more bored than you might think. I have already created more than enough things in this world. That is why, every now and then, I meet people directly like this, or change their fate just a little bit.

Change fate?

Yes. Balancing good fates and bad fates.

What do you mean by bad fate? What kind of thing, for example?

Having you disappear from this world.

"!!"

"It would be strange to just make them disappear suddenly, so let's make it an unexpected accident, incident, or illness."

"Do you find doing things like that fun?"

"Hmm, I wouldn't say it's fun. But I do try to make it as dramatic as possible. Until just now, I was even thinking about changing your fate as well."

Watching the Creator answer calmly with a smile on their face, I gradually began to feel angry.

"Assuming it's true that you are the Creator, I don't mind if you change my fate if you want to."

"..."

"Even if you change my fate and I disappear from this world, for me, that would undoubtedly be my 'fate'."

"I will not resist fate; I will accept it as it is."

"However, you will eventually regret it. Because the things you have created are 'the things you desired.' To erase them would be to deny yourself."

"..."

"You might not understand, but the people in this world are all living their lives to the fullest."

Your actions toward a human trying to carve out their own destiny in that way are far too cruel.

If it were truly a world beyond saving, I wouldn't mind if it all ended, but I want you to believe a little more in the people living in this world.

While I was speaking, the Creator, who had taken the form of a young girl, opened her mouth after a long silence.

As you say, I created what I desired. However, humans alone never cease their conflicts.

That is why I, as the Creator, wanted to hold their fate and bend it to my will. But that was a selfish interpretation on the part of the Creator, wasn't it?

I feel that if there were even a few more humans like you, this world would surely become even more wonderful than it is now.

I will entrust the fate of you and those around you to you, and I will watch over you quietly from beyond the distant sky. May fortune be with you.

...Buzz, buzz, buzz

I was startled back to reality by the vibration of my smartphone.
When I realized it, I was standing in front of the same family restaurant as before.

Could what just happened have been a dream?

I glanced at my phone screen and saw it was from my daughter.

"Dad, where are you right now?"

"Uh, yeah, I came to pick you up at the bus stop, but where are you?"

"What are you talking about? You weren't at the bus stop, so I already came home by myself."

"Huh? I'm at the bus stop in front of the family restaurant right now."

"What? Don't you know the bus route changed recently? There's no bus stop there anymore. Are you drunk?"

(2,073 characters)

■ This short-short is included in the following magazine 😌

■ I am participating in a magazine specializing in novels and short-shorts ✨️

I am participating in #ShirokumaLiteratureClub.

I intended to keep it a bit more compact, but it ended up being a little long💦

Last night, my eldest daughter unusually said she would take the bus home from cram school (she usually goes by car), so I went to pick her up at the nearest bus stop.

Since the theme happened to be "At the bus stop" at that time, the beginning part is exactly what happened last night🙂

Thank you for reading this far🍀