"In times when you are not in this world, my partner and I are living in a life where peace, comfort, and the warmth of love surrounds us. I was captivated by his bravery when he tried to save me from some other children that scolded me because I was shorter than most of them. During our childhood, we often play together in the grasslands just south of here, dancing around dandelions, laying in the soft grass on which we often thought it was just another massive, earthly bed - but has better quality than most grass we took steps with. The chirps of the birds, the sound of the wind that whizzing by us in every thirty minutes soothes our souls, leaving the imaginations to run wild beyond our consciousness. Several years later, the military is in dire need of draftees and recruits to win the war. As he left by the train, we waved at each other as the train leaves the station - onwards to the frontline, in which he will take many bullets and killing those who oppose him and our army's cause," she said while showing me her childhood photograph with her partner.
"Two weeks had been passed and he sent his first letter to me, I was grateful and relieved when I received it on my hands. I want to meet him after the war ends, I want to hug him for his bravery. After that first letter, he was never heard of again. My letters were not replied, and the army did not give me any details of his whereabouts..." she took a pause as she put the photograph back to her small book. "Tears running from my cheeks when a friend of his platoon that survived the onslaught told me that he did well in battle, which such expression that I cannot even describe. I was crushed to pieces, minced into small pieces. My hearts was so numb that I can only feel sadness pouring like a waterfall. Mother told me to let that go, but I simply cannot..."
"How on Earth can you forget someone who has made your life better and the next time you wake up you lost them forever?" She asked and left me speechless as she tends her garden and picking a small batch of produce.
Yuzu and I have been in this relationship for years, and yet, a simple question from Granny hits me like a truck.
"Granny's Story"
Mei Aihara
Written on 8th of October