I was facing a window in the building opposite,
on the inside of which hung several paper cut-outs - a bird, a cloud, a
cow, a cat, all in skilful silhouette and joined togetherAs before,
there was no sign of anyone about, and there were no sounds of any
kindI felt as if I were living alone in an extremely well-cared-for
ruinPeople started coming back to Area C a little after five Looking out of
the kitchen window, I saw three women passing belowAll wore hats
that prevented me from telling their ages, but judging from their
voices, they were not very youngShortly after they had disappeared
around a corner, four more women appeared from the same direction
and, like the first group, disappeared around the same cornerAn
evening mood hung over everythingFrom the living room window I
could see trees and a line of hillsAbove the ridge floated a border of
pale
black chanel tote sunlightNaoko and Reiko came back together at 5Naoko and I exchanged
proper greetings as if meeting for the first timeShe seemed truly
embarrassedReiko noticed the book I had been reading and asked
what it wasThomas Mann's The Magic Mountain, I told her"How could you bring a book like that to a place like this?" she
127
demandedShe was right, of courseReiko then made coffee for the three of usI told Naoko about Storm
Trooper's sudden disappearance and about the last day I saw him,
when he gave me the firefly"I'm so sorry he's gone," she said"I wanted to hear more stories about
him Reiko asked who Storm Trooper was, so I told her about his
antics and got a big laugh from herThe world was at peace and filled
with laughter as long as Storm Trooper stories were being toldAt six we went to the dining hall in the main building for supperNaoko and I had fried fish with green
chanel purses and handbags salad, boiled vegetables, rice
and miso soupReiko limited herself to pasta salad and coffee,
followed by another cigarette"You don't need to eat so much as you get older," she said by way of
explanationSome 20 other people were there in the dining hallA few newcomers
arrived as we ate, meanwhile some others leftAside from the variety
in people's ages, the scene looked pretty much like that of the dining
hall in my dormitoryWhere it differed was the uniform volume at
which people conversedThere were no loud voices and no whispers,
no one laughing out loud or crying out in shock, no one yelling with
exaggerated gestures, nothing but quiet conversations, all carrying on
at the same levelPeople were eating in groups of three to five, each
with a single speaker, to whom the others would listen with nods and
grunts of interest, and when that person had finished speaking,
black gucci bags the
next would take up the conversationI could not tell what they were
saying, but the way they said it reminded me of the strange tennis
game I had seen at noonI wondered if Naoko spoke like this when
she was with them and, strangely enough, I felt a twinge of loneliness
mixed with jealousyAt the table behind me, a balding man in white with the authentic air
of a doctor was holding forth to a nervouslooking young man in
glasses and a squirrel-faced woman of middle age on the effects of
128
weightlessness on the secretion of gastric juicesThe two listened with
an occasional "My goodness" or "Really?" but the longer I listened to
the balding man's style of speaking, the less certain I became that,
even in his white coat, he was really a doctorNo one in the dining hall paid me any special attentionNo one stared
or even seemed to notice I was thereMy presence must have
discount tiffany's necklace been an
entirely natural eventJust once, though, the man in white spun around and asked me, "How
long will you be staying?"
"Two nights," I said"I'll be leaving on Wednesday
"It's nice here this time of year, isn't it? But come again in winterIt's
really nice when everything's white
"Naoko may be out of here by the time it snows," said Reiko to the
man"True, but still, the winter's really nice," he repeated with a sombre
expressionI felt increasingly unsure as to whether or not he was a
doctor"What do you people talk about?" I asked Reiko, who seemed to not
quite follow me"What do we talk about? Just ordinary thingsWhat happened that
day, or books we've read, or tomorrow's weather, you knowDon't tell
me you're wondering if people jump to their feet and shout stuff like:
"It'll rain tomorrow if a polar bear eats the stars tonight!"'
"No, no, of course not," I
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