Because I was trying to save some money, last night’s dinner was composed of rice with a boiled bag of Mabodofu (100 calorie version), powdered spinach soup, and canned mackerel, which were all taken from our box of emergency food supplies that Yuki’s parents had sent us. As I was beginning to force it down my throat, Yuki came home, and then Ian came downstairs to greet her. Immediately he looked annoyed with me because he’d already told me earlier that we were all going out for dinner, which I actually did remember, but was trying to avoid because I was broke. Yuki asked him where we were going, and then he replied that he was taking her out for her birthday since it was 11:30 PM - 30 minutes till her actual birthday. Once I realized his intentions, I put down my spoon, grateful that I didn’t have to eat anymore, threw what was left of that shit in the sink, and happily left with them for dinner, the whole time knowing that Ian would probably treat us.
This morning after checking my email and having my usual tea and two slices (the term I have been using since I recently reread George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London), I got ready to do the dishes, which had been sitting there since the previous night. I considered rolling up my sleeves, but since I was wearing a cardigan over my button-up shirt, I would first have to take off the cardigan and then unbutton my cuffs, which, because I was too lazy, seemed like too much work for me to handle. “It’ll be fine,” I thought.
After the first minute or two, the cuffs of my sleeve began to get wet. It was a bit annoying, but since they were already wet, it didn’t matter anymore. As time went on, they got wetter and wetter- the water reaching higher and higher up my sleeves, but like I said before I was too lazy to stop what I was doing, knowing that I could live with wet sleeves, at least for a while, since I am not one of those fancy kinds of dudes.
While I kept washing the dishes and feeling the water slowly creep up my clothes, a notion flashed in my head:
What if this is just like what’s happening to everyone in Tokyo right now?
Because…We all know that radiation is present and probably increasing day by day, but we all keep going on with our lives, pretending like it’s no big deal. Of course, we acknowledge its presence – we even joke about it to our friends – but since it would be too much of a hassle to stop what we are doing, we continue to think that we’ll be fine and that we can live with it.
Like I said before, it was just a notion, and I shook it off. When I finished washing the dishes, I went upstairs. Ian heard me coming and called me over. “You have to look at this!” he whispered. I knew it had to be about Willy doing something cute, so I got my camera and went over. Ian pointed to Willy who was lying asleep on his bed looking like a dead squirrel. And of course, as I was about to take the photo, Willy broke her pose...
Immediately she woke up and started begging for food like she always does. I bent down and picked her up. Immediately that bastard struggled free, and then ran away because of my wet sleeves.
Well my sleeves eventually dried after I went outside to buy Yuki’s present, and when I finally got home later, I was greeted, not by Ian or by our cat, but by the news on Yahoo.com:
"JAPAN NUKE PLANT LEAKS RADIATION INTO GROUNDWATER"
Well, coincidence or not...
Happy Birthday, Yuki.
No comments:
Post a Comment