Then came a deafening horn.
Kazuko and Goro turned to see a large truck coming straight towards them. It looked as if it had just run a red light, and now it was heading directly for the intersection where they stood.
Kazuko whipped around and ran straight into Goro, who was standing right behind her – and they both tumbled to the ground. She looked up, and the truck was closer. Then closer still. Until its massive tyres were just meters from her face and Kazuko could do nothing but close her eyes.
BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY
Kazuko’s mind was racing with different scenes and different thoughts. Too many for her to deal with.
I’m going to die! she thought to herself. Run over by a huge, heavy truck! If only I’d stayed in bed a bit longer. Then I wouldn’t be so tired and slow!
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she prayed for the safety of her warm and cosy bed back home. But she knew there was nothing she could do. Nothing except keeping her eyes closed as tightly as she could. And so she did. About a second passed. But nothing happened. Then another. But still nothing happened. Kazuko began to wonder what on earth was going on. But right at that moment, she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. She felt a sense of warmth begin to engulf her. Like the warmth and cosiness of her bed that she’d been praying for.
When Kazuko opened her eyes, she found herself back in her room. She was wearing her nightgown and the sun was streaming in to paint lacy patterns on the floor. Had it all been just a dream? But it felt so real. And she remembered it all so clearly – the car horn, Goro’s screams, the shrieks of nearby pedestrians. Too clearly for it to be a dream.
Kazuko was struck by a sudden headache. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was now 7:30. So she had plenty of time for a nice, leisurely breakfast before strolling off to school. That meant she wouldn’t be running late and she wouldn’t be tired and sleepy – which caused her to be hit by the truck in her dream. And it was a dream, wasn’t it? If it wasn’t, then time must have turned back, and surely that could never happen.
Kazuko slowly got out of bed. Nothing in the house had changed, and her mother and sisters were all enjoying breakfast together as usual. But despite having plenty of time to eat, Kazuko didn’t have much of an appetite. So instead she got ready and left the house right away.
What if this really was the second time for me to leave the house today? she thought to herself. If just one more strange thing happens today, then surely I’ll go mad! As she reached the crossroads, possibly for the second time, she looked for Goro but couldn’t see him. And there was no out-of-control truck either. So she just carried on and made her way to school safely.
She sat down at her desk as she always did and briefly surveyed the classroom. Again, Goro was nowhere to be seen. If only he’d arrive soon, then she could talk to him and find out if the incident with the truck was just a dream or whether there was a chance it might really have happened.
“Morning!” called Kazuo from behind her.
“Oh, morning!” replied Kazuko, considering whether she should tell him all about the incident. Kazuo was a bright individual after all, and might be able to provide some sort of insight. But she quickly decided that it might be better to wait for Goro to arrive so they could all talk about it together.
“Is everything okay?” said Kazuo. “You look a little pale.”
Kazuo was always rather attentive, so he often noticed little things like that.
“Oh it’s nothing,” said Kazuko, shaking her head. “I couldn’t sleep much. First because of the earthquake. Then because of the fire! So I’m feeling pretty sleepy today.”
“A fire?” said Kazuo. “And an earthquake? I didn’t know anything about either of those.”
“Are you kidding? There was a big earthquake, and Goro’s house nearly caught fire. Don’t you remember? We were all in our pyjamas, and we met up in front of Goro’s house!”
“We met up? And I was there? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
“Dreaming!” retorted Kazuko. “I wasn’t dreaming!”
YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONS
Could it really have been nothing more than a dream – the earthquake and the fire in the bathhouse right behind Goro’s house? But then, how come Kazuko could remember it all in such sharp detail – the different colours of the flames that leapt up against the night sky, and the exact words of her conversation with Kazuo?
“What’s happening to me?” Kazuko said to herself. “My memory is going to pieces!”
“What’s that?” said Kazuo.
“It’s just I’m sure I ran into you last night.”
“No. I’m sure it was a dream,” said Kazuo, standing up. “For a moment I wondered if it might be possible that I was sleepwalking – then you could have met me and chatted to me and I wouldn’t remember. That would have been weird. But it would have been possible. But then you said I was wearing pyjamas, and I don’t actually own any pyjamas.”
“Oh,” said Kazuko, nodding weakly. “Then I guess it really was just a dream.”
But deep down inside, Kazuko couldn’t quite believe that was true.
“Morning!” said Goro, putting his bag down beside them.
“Goro,” said Kazuo. “Is it true that your house nearly caught fire last night?”
“What?” replied Goro, his back arching and his face turning its characteristic shade of red. “That’s not funny. Who would say such a thing?”
“Oh, nobody,” said Kazuo. “I thought I heard something like that, that’s all.”
Kazuko was grateful to Kazuo for saving her from embarrassment. But still her mind was teeming with unanswered questions.
As the first period of math class began, Mr Komatsu – the fat math teacher – wrote down an equation on the board, and Kazuko began to frown. It was the very same problem they’d solved just the day before. But more than that, Mr Komatsu had written the problem on the board at exactly the same time before, and Kazuko had been called to the front of the class, where she’d struggled for some time over the solution.
“It’s the same problem as yesterday,” mumbled Kazuko to herself, to the surprise of Mariko Koyama, who was sitting next to her.
“What do you mean?” asked Mariko. “Did you know this was going to be today’s problem?”
“No, I mean we did this problem yesterday in class. Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t think so. We didn’t do a question like this yesterday. I’m seeing it for the first time.”
“No, I have it here in yesterday’s notes,” added Ka-zuko, feeling a rush of nervousness as she began to flip through the pages of her notebook. But when she got to yesterday’s page, the math problem wasn’t written on it. In fact, it was completely blank! Kazuko nearly yelped in surprise. Where was the problem she so clearly remembered writing yesterday? And where was the answer she’d worked so hard to arrive at? It was all so confusing. It was also worrying for Mariko, who sat there in silence as she saw the colour drain from Kazuko’s face.
“Okay. Let’s see who knows the answer to this one,” said Mr Komatsu, his eyes scanning the classroom just as they had the day before. Kazuko couldn’t believe her ears, and she felt like the world was spinning around her – Mariko staring at her from the side, Mr Komatsu scanning the class with his shiny glasses, the problem on the blackboard. It was all just too much, so Kazuko closed her eyes.
It’s just like yesterday all over again! she thought to herself. Could it be possible that the teacher would call on her again too?
“Kazuko. Can you come up and solve this problem?”
“Ye-yes,” stammered Kazuko as she stumbled to her feet.
Taking a piece of chalk from Mr Komatsu’s outstretched hand, she desperately wrote out the answer she remembered from the day before for all to see. Maybe this is the dream! She thought. Maybe everything else was real – the earthquake, the fire and the truck. Maybe it was just this part now that was the nightmare!
?
??Impressive,” said Mr Komatsu, blinking in surprise. “You seemed to breeze through that one.”
Kazuko bowed to Mr Komatsu, returned to her seat and leant in close to Mariko.
“Mariko.”
“Yes?”
“Today is Wednesday the nineteenth, right?”
“Let me see.” Mariko thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “No, it’s Tuesday the eighteenth.”
A CRAZY TUESDAY
Kazuko couldn’t concentrate on anything for the rest of the day, and the more she tried to understand what was going on, the more confused she became. Had time just slipped back by one day? No, surely that couldn’t be! After all, nobody else seemed to have noticed. So did that mean that only Kazuko had gone back one day in time? It would explain a lot of things. But how and why on earth would such a thing happen? Then suddenly, her mind became clear.
Oh no! she thought to herself. If today really is yesterday, the eighteenth, then doesn’t that mean that the earthquake is going to strike tonight? As well as the fire that threatened to destroy Goro’s house! Kazuko’s mind was racing, and she pushed away her homework half-done. Then again, she’d already done that homework once, hadn’t she? And what did it matter anyway? Surely homework was the least of her problems right now!
Kazuko left the house with no destination in mind, but she was dying to tell someone. At first, she thought about visiting Goro. But then, Goro could be easily scared and was sometimes rash in his behaviour. Perhaps it would be better to visit Kazuo instead? Sure, he came across at times as being a bit spaced out. But underneath it all, Kazuo was really rather smart. So off she went.
It didn’t take long for Kazuko to get to Kazuo’s fashionable western-style house, with its garden on the right-hand side of the door and its greenhouse full of unusual flowers that always seemed to be in bloom. She took a breath and smelled something sweet. It was the unmistakable scent of lavender!
“That’s the scent,” said Kazuko to herself as she filled her lungs with air. The flowers all belonged to Kazuo’s father, and Kazuko remembered how he’d once shown her all the different kinds he was growing. She remembered he’d told her that lavenders belong to the Lamiaceae family, and that they are green all year round. She also remembered that the plant was originally from southern Europe, where its unique scent had made it popular as an ingredient in perfume.
As she stood on the doorstep waiting for someone to answer the door, Kazuo’s window opened, and both Kazuo and Goro poked their heads out.
“Look, it’s Kazuko!” said Goro.
“Hey Kazuko!” said Kazuo, “come on up, there’s nobody home!”
Kazuko nodded, stepped inside and made her way over to Kazuo’s room.
“Is everything alright?” asked Kazuo.
“If there’s something bothering you, I’ll be willing to help!” added Goro, doing his best to affect a masculine nod.
“Well, yes there is something I’d like to tell you,” said Kazuko, taking a seat in front of them.
“Whatever it is, it seems very formal!” said Goro, his back straightening in anticipation.
Kazuko was still not entirely sure she was ready to talk about what was happening. Would they believe her if she did? Probably not. But then, she was getting nowhere trying to think about it all by herself. So she decided to tell them anyway.
“Okay, now, I have something to tell you that is very difficult to believe. So it’s hard for me to tell you. But please try to listen to me until the end of my story. And please try not to laugh!”
Kazuko started with the earthquake the night before and ended with what happened in the classroom earlier on. And although she’d expected her friends to giggle all the way through, they sat there listening attentively with bated breath until the very end.
“There,” said Kazuko. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. I don’t care if you believe me or not. I probably wouldn’t, if someone else was telling me. But I really did experience everything I just told you. It wasn’t a dream. I’m sure of it!”
Kazuo and Goro appeared to be lost in their own thoughts, and Kazuo in particular seemed to be taking this far too seriously to just brush it off as nonsense.
“I really want to believe it,” said Goro, breaking the silence. “I want to believe it because it’s coming from you, Kazuko. But I can’t help but feel there must be some sort of misunderstanding.”
“I expected as much,” said Kazuko to herself.
“Kazuko!” pleaded Goro, his face turning redder by the minute. “You know what I mean, don’t you? I mean, for a whole day to just rewind on itself...”
“Wait a second, Goro,” interrupted Kazuo. “Maybe you have some sort of special power!”
“What do you mean, special power?”
“Well, I don’t know much about it, but I remember reading somewhere that there are some special people who have the power to transport themselves to other places in the world, just by thinking about it. It’s called teleportation. So when the truck was about to hit you, you might have used some power like that to move through time and space – even without knowing it!”
“What? No way! That’s ridiculous!” Goro shook his head violently. “That’s impossible! So unscientific! It goes against all common sense!”
“But things happen all the time that can’t be explained by common sense.”
“But there’s no evidence, Kazuo!” shouted Goro, annoyed. “Can you prove any of it?”
“I can!” shouted Kazuko in response. “We’ll just wait and see if there’s an earthquake tonight, and if your house ends up being threatened by fire.”
WAITING FOR THE NIGHT
“How can you say such a thing!” shouted Goro, now scarlet with anger.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” said Kazuko. “But this is the only way to find out if there’s any truth to this.”
“Of course it isn’t true!” said Goro, storming out of the room.
“Now I’ve made him angry,” said Kazuko to Kazuo.
“What should I do?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” said Kazuo, frowning. “He’s not a bad guy, but he needs to learn to control his temper. Besides, you’re right. It’s the only chance we have for finding out what’s happening.”
After several minutes had passed, Goro still hadn’t returned. So Kazuo stepped out of the room, only to find him leafing through the phone book in the hallway.
“What are you doing?” Kazuo asked.
“Looking for a mental hospital,” Goro replied.
“Don’t be so nasty to Kazuko!” shouted Kazuo. “Would you really consider having one of your best friends locked up in a lunatic asylum?”
“But...” said Goro angrily, “she’s already starting to go mad. If we don’t get her to a doctor soon, she might go completely nuts!”
“And you can prove that she’s mentally sick, can you?”
“I don’t have to. Her absurd story is proof enough!”
“But what if it is true? If there really is an earthquake and a fire tonight?”
“No way!”
“It’s easy to say that. But we won’t know for sure until tonight. So why don’t we just wait until tonight and see what happens? If nothing happens, then you can do as you wish. You can call the mental institution first thing in the morning if you like.”
“I guess...” agreed Goro, reluctantly.
When she got home from Kazuo’s place, Kazuko couldn’t think of anything else, and she certainly had no appetite for dinner. After all, the food was exactly the same as the night before, as was the conversation between her mother and younger sisters.
It’s just like we’re all acting in a play! she thought to herself.
Kazuko couldn’t bring herself to do her homework either. She’d already done it the night before, but once again those pages of her notebook were blank. If she really tried, she was sure she could remember her work and write it out again. But she just couldn’t bring herself
to do that. Instead she decided to get into bed and get some much-needed sleep. But sleep isn’t so easy to come by when you’re expecting an earthquake later on. So instead she stretched across the bed and grabbed a study guide for her high-school entrance exams. At least her time-travelling might help her prepare for that, since she’d already gained an extra day.
Before she knew it, Kazuko had dozed off with the book on her face. Then came a low, thundering sound followed by a violent shaking. It was the earthquake!
“I knew it!” shrieked Kazuko, jumping out of bed and into the hallway, where her sisters and mother were already scurrying around in fear.
“There’s no need to be scared!” called Kazuko. “It’s not a big earthquake!”
Once Kazuko had managed to calm her sisters and her mother down, she put on her shoes and headed off for Goro’s house. The fire from the bathhouse would be starting about now, and if she hurried she might be able to let people know before any serious damage was done. She even thought about shouting Fire! Fire! But there was a chance that people might think she was just exaggerating.
Unlike the way she’d remembered it, there was nobody to be seen when she reached the bathhouse. But she could clearly see smoke rising from the edges of the back door as well as the occasional red spark. She thought about shouting out Fire! But instead she held her breath. After all, if Goro hadn’t believed her story, then it might not look good in his eyes if she were to be the first on the scene. He might think she’d started it herself to make her story seem true. Then she’d be branded an arsonist, and the police would come to take her away. It was a thought that made her body shiver. But what could she do instead? Surely she couldn’t just stand there idly and watch the flames spread.
PANIC IN PYJAMAS
At that moment Shin, a young employee from the local rice shop, stepped out of the bathhouse with his bath bag in hand. He’d noticed the smoke and sparks, gathered his things quickly together and come outside to spread the news with his famously loud voice.