bothered him.
In the men’s toilet the light bulb was uncovered. The ceiling was white where the radius of light spread across it and beige where it didn’t. A midge was crawling, hopping, flying about the light, a tiny black dot in the wilderness of the beige ceiling, and as it approached the radius it darted back, twitched, edged nervously, crawled again towards the light. He reached up and crushed it with his finger.
•
When he approached Hidemi from behind it occurred to him that she might be dead. He usually approached the bench in this fashion, but this time her extreme stillness, coupled with the serenity of the pond, made her seem even more remote than usual. She watched the pond with such determination that he felt that at any moment a dragon might rise out of its depths and disappear into the sky.
— Is that your phone? he asked her, pointing to the small red mobile on the bench.
— No.
— Do you know whose it is?
— No.
— Well, let’s find out.
He turned the phone on and scrolled through the menu. He called one of the numbers in the memory at random.
— Hello, he said. This isn’t my phone, I found it on a park bench. I was wondering...
Ten minutes later, a man approached the bench.
— Are you...?
— Yeah.
He handed off the phone. The man took out his wallet and reached for a note.
— For your trouble...
— No, I can’t accept that.
— It’s for your time. It would have cost me that much anyway.
— I can’t accept it.
— Are you sure?
— Yes.
The man thanked him, bowed. He nodded.
— I’m glad I did that, he said to her. I bet most everyone I know would have just left that phone there. You didn’t even pick it up yourself. That’s something else I hate. No one wants to get involved in anything... completely selfish.
Hidemi said nothing.
— You know what else... just walking down the street... I’m sick of everyone dressing the same.
As he talked, the sun went down and the last of its light flickered across the pond.
Hidemi bit off one of her nails. Most of her nails were chewed-on. They stood out chipped and uneven on the tips of her stubby fingers. She rubbed her eyes. It was the weather. There was dust in the air.
He got up. There was a strange ringing in his ears. He walked towards the edge of the pond and looked out across its surface to the other side of the park.
A vision came to him. The horizon cleared and he could see the skyline at night, and then a plume of flame erupted before his eyes. The windows of every building lit up with a sudden blaze and from the heat he could tell that the branches behind him were burning. Maple leaves danced in the air, swept by the wind into ashes. A dull roar sounded from below, and for a moment he thought he could hear the fires burning in the heart of the earth.
•
— Let’s get out of here, he said.
It was his seventeenth birthday.
— You mean leave the city.
— Yeah. I can’t live here anymore. I’ve tried understanding people, but after a while I just end up hating everyone.
— Why do you hate them?
— Everyone’s an idiot. I can’t take them anymore.
— What exactly did they do to you?
— It’s hard to describe. I can’t decide whether I want to leave forever or stick around just to get back at everyone.
— Get back at them for what?
— Not giving a fuck about me. Nobody cares about anything I do.
— Who exactly are you talking about?
— Society... for one. My family, everyone in it’s an idiot.
— Oh...
— Look at your family, he said. They probably don’t really care about you... that’s why you’re out here so much, right? Hey what kind of stuff do you masturbate to, anyway?
— Pictures of myself, mostly.
He pulled away.
— I haven’t been feeling that well lately, he said. I’m too important and I can’t deal with it.
— What do you mean?
— When I went home yesterday I was walking up the steps and when I got to my room I realized there was no one else in
In the men’s toilet the light bulb was uncovered. The ceiling was white where the radius of light spread across it and beige where it didn’t. A midge was crawling, hopping, flying about the light, a tiny black dot in the wilderness of the beige ceiling, and as it approached the radius it darted back, twitched, edged nervously, crawled again towards the light. He reached up and crushed it with his finger.
•
When he approached Hidemi from behind it occurred to him that she might be dead. He usually approached the bench in this fashion, but this time her extreme stillness, coupled with the serenity of the pond, made her seem even more remote than usual. She watched the pond with such determination that he felt that at any moment a dragon might rise out of its depths and disappear into the sky.
— Is that your phone? he asked her, pointing to the small red mobile on the bench.
— No.
— Do you know whose it is?
— No.
— Well, let’s find out.
He turned the phone on and scrolled through the menu. He called one of the numbers in the memory at random.
— Hello, he said. This isn’t my phone, I found it on a park bench. I was wondering...
Ten minutes later, a man approached the bench.
— Are you...?
— Yeah.
He handed off the phone. The man took out his wallet and reached for a note.
— For your trouble...
— No, I can’t accept that.
— It’s for your time. It would have cost me that much anyway.
— I can’t accept it.
— Are you sure?
— Yes.
The man thanked him, bowed. He nodded.
— I’m glad I did that, he said to her. I bet most everyone I know would have just left that phone there. You didn’t even pick it up yourself. That’s something else I hate. No one wants to get involved in anything... completely selfish.
Hidemi said nothing.
— You know what else... just walking down the street... I’m sick of everyone dressing the same.
As he talked, the sun went down and the last of its light flickered across the pond.
Hidemi bit off one of her nails. Most of her nails were chewed-on. They stood out chipped and uneven on the tips of her stubby fingers. She rubbed her eyes. It was the weather. There was dust in the air.
He got up. There was a strange ringing in his ears. He walked towards the edge of the pond and looked out across its surface to the other side of the park.
A vision came to him. The horizon cleared and he could see the skyline at night, and then a plume of flame erupted before his eyes. The windows of every building lit up with a sudden blaze and from the heat he could tell that the branches behind him were burning. Maple leaves danced in the air, swept by the wind into ashes. A dull roar sounded from below, and for a moment he thought he could hear the fires burning in the heart of the earth.
•
— Let’s get out of here, he said.
It was his seventeenth birthday.
— You mean leave the city.
— Yeah. I can’t live here anymore. I’ve tried understanding people, but after a while I just end up hating everyone.
— Why do you hate them?
— Everyone’s an idiot. I can’t take them anymore.
— What exactly did they do to you?
— It’s hard to describe. I can’t decide whether I want to leave forever or stick around just to get back at everyone.
— Get back at them for what?
— Not giving a fuck about me. Nobody cares about anything I do.
— Who exactly are you talking about?
— Society... for one. My family, everyone in it’s an idiot.
— Oh...
— Look at your family, he said. They probably don’t really care about you... that’s why you’re out here so much, right? Hey what kind of stuff do you masturbate to, anyway?
— Pictures of myself, mostly.
He pulled away.
— I haven’t been feeling that well lately, he said. I’m too important and I can’t deal with it.
— What do you mean?
— When I went home yesterday I was walking up the steps and when I got to my room I realized there was no one else in
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