The Crane Wife

Chapter 3

     Like a quick dream, spring too had brushed by quietly. On a sunny summer day, with bright blue skies, the married couple worked relentlessly on their small garden. Fresh leaves of green growing from the ground and vines intertwining each other all around them. Rin had an old handkerchief wrapped around her head to keep the harsh sunlight away and provide some shade.

     With a hoe in hand, she diligently digs up soil and mixes the top dirt with bottom dirt for the best moisture. And as she plows along, her husband with a straw hat on is following behind with a bowl in hand. He plants seeds into the soil as his wife moves along. Cough! Cough! Cough!

     Rin looks towards her husband who hasn't been feeling too well these past weeks. Not only coughing, but as the days pass his energy seems to be diminishing bit by bit. "Ren I can do this alone. Why don't you go rest? I'm worried about you." He looks up to his wife with his pale face and with a ghastly smile he answers her, "If I rest who is going to help you? Hm?" He gets up from the crouching position he was in, puts down his bowl, and stumbles towards Rin.

     He wraps his arms around her tiny waist and kisses her forehead. His gaze moves down to her stomach, "Who will help you if not me when you're like this? You're pregnant right now and you're in a much more fragile condition than I am. I'm telling you that it's just a cold. I will get better soon. Helping you like this is helping me gather my energy quicker because I get to see you every minute of the day."

     As he speaks to assure her, his speech is slightly slower and is breathing much heavier than before. Rin can tell because this because he is her beloved husband. He's only putting on an act to make her feel better, but she knows him too well. Her frown and worry only deepens. "But you've helped since this morning. Go rest I'll be fine. Look at you, you're sweating so much. Even though you're just planting seeds." As she finishes her sentence, she unties the knot under chin and uses her handkerchief to wipe away Ren's sweat.

     "Why are you still using such an old handkerchief?" Her curious husband asks her. She takes the old hankie and looks nostalgically at it. "Because a special someone gave it to me. So I'm never throwing it away." A jealous frown makes it way on Ren's handsome pale face, "Special? More special than me?"

     She playfully looks at him and says, "Hm, I don't know. Maybe more special than you. Maybe less special than you. Who knows?" She quickly folds the handkerchief away and resumes her plowing. "Now my dear husband, please go rest." She purposely whined at him to pull his heartstrings so he would listen to her. But much to Rin's dismay, he tells her, "We both will go rest after we finish this row."

     Defeated Rin replies, "Fine, but you must rest a lot then. After this row you will only be watching me." Hearing her complain Ren chuckles loudly. However, he couldn't even let out a full chuckle before coughing excessively. Having heard his harsh coughs Rin throws her hoe to the ground and rushes over to her husband who is kneeling on ground. "Ren! Ren!"

     She grabs onto his shoulders trying to stop the violent shakes from his coughs. "Ren! What's wrong?! Ren!" His coughs become rougher and blood is seeping through his left hand that is covering his mouth. Panicking, Rin puts his right arm around her shoulders, while her left one snakes around his torso. Noticing her help, Ren feebly tries to hold his weight as best as he could so they can get up. They get to the deck and with Ren's violent coughs, Rin couldn't help but dump him on it.

     With tears in her eyes, Rin starts running towards the opposite direction of their house. "Mrs. Takami! Mrs. Tamaki! Mr. Tamaki! Help me!" Hearing the loud screams, the couple's neighbor the Takamis run outside from their home. Mr. Takami, who is a tall, big man with dark skin rushes outside first. While, his wife, not too big nor too small, with light tan skin runs after him.