A Tree

                                                                                                                     

 

I am a tree.

I have been watching them all the time.

This town, people, this world.

I watched various figures.

Joy, sorrow, hatred, love…

Somebody was talking to toward me.  

He was trying to tell me something.

People sometimes fought.

 

I am a tree. 

But I can understand war is sad.

Everyone was crying under my branches.

 

But there is the bright future after the sad past.

Some years later, everyone smiled under my branches.

Everyone and I haven’t forgotten the sad past.

We advanced forward. 

While praying for peace.

While praying for the bright future.

People hope for peace. I hope for peace, too.

 

On sunny days, rainy days, or cloudy days,

For everyone and for ourselves

We will pray for peace.

                                               TReaSuRe NoW

                                                                                                                                

I had a cat.  His name was Max.  He and I had always been friends since we were very young.

We went to bed together every day, we got up together every day, we ate meals together every day, we played together every day, and we finished a day together every day.

Then I grew up and I became busy.  Max got old.

“Hey, John.  Let’s go to bed together.”  ”Don’t come here, Max.  It’s too hot to be in a bed with you.”

 “Good morning, John.”  “Good morning, Max.  Don’t stand in my way.” 

“John, let’s eat dinner together.”  “Mom, I’ll eat dinner in my room.”

 “John…”  “Max, go away.  I’m busy.”  “…”  “Hey!  I don’t have time to play with you!”

I became busier and busier as I grew up.

“John, It’s time to say goodbye.”  “I told you!  Don’t come here!”  “…Bye-bye.”

Max died.  “…”

Then the time passed by.  I became fifteen years old.  A new cat came to my house.  I named him Alex.

Sorry, Max.  I got it…  I treasure this moment.  We are in peace today again.

 

Fire of an Oath Craving Peace
       

    A soldier was born and brought up in Hoshino Village, Fukuoka Prefecture.  His name was Mr. Yamamoto.
He took a train to join the main unit in Ujina in the vicinity of Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.  At 8:15, sudden white light filled the train.  It was a single moment when the atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima.  The city turned into Hell.
He was anxious about his uncle, who raised him in place of his father.  But the soldiers undertook difficult work in collecting corpses and burning them the next day.
Half a month after the bomb was dropped, he went to confirm his uncle’s safety and he found the ember of the atomic bomb.  He took the fire home in his hometown and kept it with fury and hatred until the fire that deprived people’s lives became an oath craving peace through years.

 

 

 

The Last Time
       
        This story is about what happened in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.  A boy called Takeru got up in the morning as always and prepared to go to school.  Takeru’s mother helped him.  Takeru went out for school, saying, “See you,” to his mother.  But he stopped suddenly and looked back.  He seemed to want to say something to his mother.
“What’s the matter?” his mother said.
“Nothing.  See you!” he said and left for school.  His mother wondered for a while, but didn’t particularly mind.
At 8:15 a.m., an atomic bomb was dropped from the sky.  The city of Hiroshima was totally burnt and people were killed instantly.
Takeru’s mother was badly-injured.  She looked for Takeru.  When she found him, he was not breathing anymore.
She remembered that moment incidentally.  When Takeru stopped and looked back, he may have wanted to look at the face of his mother for the last time.  Takeru’s mother kept on crying and calling Takeru’s name.  She cried till she used up all of her energy and died close to Takeru.