第 二 章

11 March 2011 07:15

I could tell that it was time to get up and start getting ready for school as the sun had begun shining through a small gap in the curtains where I had not closed them fully the night before. It was cold outside and cold in the house but really warm in my bed.

 ‘Kimiko, it’s already past seven o’clock,’ Okāsan called up to me. ‘Wake up please!’

Just five more minutes, I thought to myself, head and body buried under a thick down quilt and two blankets.

If I wasn’t so hungry, and if the wonderful smell from her cooking hadn’t begun drifting up the stairs and under the bedroom door, I might have tried to sneak five minutes more but with a deep breath I threw back the covers and swung my legs out of bed and onto the floor. Wriggling out of my thick winter pyjamas, I shivered as the cold hit me but this made me move quickly and heave a thick grey sweater over my head and then pull on and fasten my jeans. The wool socks I had slept in last night weren’t coming off until later. I can’t stand having cold feet.

I opened the door and walked down the steep flight of wooden stairs into the open plan living room and kitchen.

‘Ohayō gozaimasu,’ Okāsan greeted me with a big smile and her usual cheerful voice. ‘Did you sleep well?’ 

‘Morning,’ I replied, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. ‘Yes, I slept well, thanks.’

Breakfast was my favourite: grilled salmon, tamago-yaki sweet rolled omelette, nattō fermented soya beans, rice and miso soup. Many of my friends favoured a more Western-style breakfast of cereal or even toast with sausages and eggs, laughing at my preference for something very Japanese but then they hadn’t tasted Okāsan’s tamago-yaki which was to die for. I began devouring the food just put in front of me. In just ten minutes, I had eaten the lot and washed it all down with a cup of green tea from my favourite red and white Hello Kitty mug.

‘Don’t forget Kimiko that I have to work late tonight so you’ll have to let yourself into the house after school,’ she said. ‘I’ll set the rice cooker before I leave and there’s some leftover beef and vegetable stir-fry in the fridge for you to heat up in the microwave. Do you think that you’ll be OK?’

‘Mum, I’m ten years old now and this is not the first time that you’ve had to work late, is it?’

‘I know, but I’ll always think of you as my little baby,’ she said as she walked across the room and kissed me on the head.

Gochisōsama deshita ‘Thanks for cooking,’ I said as I got down from the table and went to the bathroom to have a quick wash, straighten out my hair, which was sticking out badly from where I had slept on it, and to clean my teeth.

It was approaching eight o’clock and I would have to leave shortly so I ran upstairs to change out of my sleeping socks and put on fresh ones for school. I grabbed my rucksack, hurried back down the stairs and, having given Okāsan a quick hug, put on my shoes in the genkan and opened the front door.

Ittekimasu! ‘I’m off now, see you later!’Itterasshai! ‘Have a good day!’

***

…I’ve got a blinding headache…

…can’t believe that it’s been over fifteen years since I last got out…

…I need a chance to stretch again…