Cradle the Sky: Episode 4, Epilogue by MORI Hiroshi

Author:MORI Hiroshi [MORI, Hiroshi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2021-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

Epilogue

When I wake up, the same morning as that of yesterday is waiting for me.

But I am not the same person as I was yesterday.

Before I open my eyes, I have such a hunch.

It’s like a squirrel jumping from branch to branch, or a taguan. That is the discontinuity of everyday. The discontinuity of stagnant days.

I found myself in bed.

As I moved my body, the wood of the bedframe creaked painfully. In front of me was a plywood board. I saw graffiti on it, whoever wrote it.

***

Shoot.

Before you think you will shoot.

***

I chuckled a little. I got up, and put on shoes. I tied the shoelaces and then put on a jacket. I looked back at a lad sleeping on the upper bunk of the bunk bed. He was so wrapped up in the blanket that I could only see his head and the toes of his feet. The blanket was not long enough for him. How can he fit his body into a small cockpit?

I stepped out into the corridor and walked to the washroom. The window was dirty. I could see the runway outside. It was glowing white. The weather seemed to be fair. I wondered who would be flying today.

As I was brushing my teeth, one of my colleagues came out from another room.

“Yo,” I greeted him.

“After all, it seems that this team is going to break up.”

“You start off with ‘After all,’ eh?”

“We’re going to get transferred.” He said. He had a small bandage above his eye. I wondered if it was a pimple that was smashed. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Is that really the case?”

“Well, I just heard it, last night.”

“From whom?”

“You were the only one who was sleeping.”

Oh, I see, I thought.

“Well, half of us got shot down. It can’t be helped.” He said and started washing his face with cold water. I was worried that the bandage would come off. After wiping his wet face with a towel, he continued. “There will be an official announcement tomorrow or the day after, so you may want to pack your things.”

“Was the announcement not official because I was asleep?”

“That’s not what happened.”

I did not have enough possessions to have to pack.

I went back to my room, changed my clothes, and went out to the cafeteria. I sat near the window through which the sunlight was entering the room, and drank a cup of bitter, thin, lousy coffee.

“It’s getting lonely, eh?” An old man wearing an apron came out of the kitchen and said. Then he turned on the TV on top of the wall.

I was not feeling lonely. Maybe everyone is just oversleeping, I thought to myself.

Oh, I see ... Some of them didn’t make it back yesterday. Is that what he’s referring to?

No, or maybe he heard the rumor that the base would be closed down, I realized belatedly. Still in a daze, I noticed that my mind was not working too well.

The television was reporting on the fighting that had taken place six months ago in a demilitarized zone.

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