Short Stories

Story One: After The Rain

Do you watch Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso? I really like that one. If you are anime lovers and you like a slice of life, drama genre anime I will recommend it for you. It is one of the best favorites of mine, not only because the story is good but also because the songs are all beautiful! 

This story was inspired by one of the songs in that anime, Orange-Seven!!. Please do listen to it while you are reading this story! I hope you enjoy it!

Happy reading!

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Do you remember the orange-ish color in the sky above us while we were walking past the bridge that showed a beautiful scenery of a beautiful town dyed in orange? 

do you remember that? 

for me, I do. Even as the times passed by and I am getting older, your sweet voice while talking about nonsense who always made me laugh out loud still vividly craved in my mind. With your lovely hair that was shimmering by the sunlight and your captivating smiles that were dazzled by its light- I wonder when I could forget about you.

" Mother, I will go to minimart," he said. 

" Buy me some salt and sugar," said her, from the kitchen side. 

" I will."

" I need it fast!" 

" Ya, ya... I get it." and he wears his father's sandals while walking along with the neighborhood that gives him a nostalgic feeling. While looking around his humble hometown, he takes a deep breath while looking at the bluest sky. The scenery is so beautiful and the air so refreshing, but every time he closes his eyes. His heart aching so much.

" Where are you going?" asked the old man in front of his house.

" I am going to mini-mart."

and he laughed, " is it the watermelon ice cream again?" 

and he nodded while smiling and looking at his shadow. The strange feeling that he never be able to get used to. 

" You were always standing beside me," he said while walking along the street. " I will see your small shoulder and listen to your babbling."

" I want to eat two watermelon ice."

and he giggles, after buying three watermelon ice, salt, and cigarette." You even do that in the winter, right?" then he opens his cigarette and lit it, and then walks alongside the same street after looking at a mini truck that piled with vegetables. " ... I was once wanted to be a farmer here."

" You did. You were always excitedly talking about farming."

" I was." 

" Are you not?" 

and he exhales the smoke from his stuffy lung, " I am not." as he then looks at his shadows, " I can not." and giggles vainly while leaning toward the bridge guardrail. " You were always said that you want to do the same."

"  I still am."

" We were dreaming about the same dream."

" You are still, right?"

" Your eyes will sparkle while you were speaking, babbling about how many seeds you want to grow each season." and he stopped, while his smile slowly fades. He again exhales the painful breath, " My mother asks me about marriage."

" You are sure now a grown man,"

" I do."

" Do you meet new people? the lovely one, who will brighten your day."

" You are not here."

" You will meet her eventually, creating a new family and bringing them along to pass many seasons."

"... but, you are not here." 

and yes, I know eventually. Even your voice in the midst of this town dyed in orange still vividly ringing in my ears, aching my heart as I am hard to breathe. 

Did you even know how your smile was like a sky after it rained? Brightening gloomy clouds, lighting the heavy feeling. 

I am me when I am with you, I am the happiest when I listen to your voice. Whispering your sweet words into my ears, while holding my hand with your small hands, but I lose my control after the last rain when your smile vanished to a place where I could not go.

" You will laugh when I am telling you, I am lonely without you." and he smiles vainly while gripping his hands tightly. While embracing the anxious feeling after she's gone. 

It is so painful, it is torturing. 

Every day the sun rises and the seasons passed. 

You are not here beside me. 

and his voice trembling, " I can not if I am not with you." as he could not even realize the sun that is setting, mimicking the beauty of the world.

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" Hey, sir. It is melting," she said, the woman who just pass by with her bicycle. Pointing her finger to the plastic bag he gripped so hard that is dripping water. The orange-ish sun shines on him as her eyes look at him. " ... If you don't want it, give me one." as maybe she looked at his miserable lifeless eyes and she chooses to park her bicycle and come to him.

and he frowned painfully, "... they are all melting." while tears slowly streaming down his cheeks, 

" It is okay," she said as she slowly smiling, and stood in front of him. " I will eat it with you."

their shadows collide, the orang-ish sunlight shines on them.

Once more, the season will pass.

Once more...

...It will be alright.

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I remember your smile that's like the sky just after it's rained, that brightens up my heart
As I recall it, it brings a smile to my face
A single love was born among the hundreds of millions of lights
We are rushing through the passing seasons, seeing our own tomorrows
And choosing our own dreams.

( The last five sentences are parts of the lyric of Orange-Seven!!)

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