The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil

Author:Chesil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2022-03-03T14:28:37+00:00

Taepodong

Summer vacation, the first since I’d enrolled at Korean school, came to an end. I went to school all during break, though, because I had practice. I was on the volleyball team, but I still had yet to play volleyball. The seventh graders went to practice but were only allowed to collect the balls the older girls hit.

Tokyo was terribly hot that summer. The news reported about the heat wave for days. The soccer team had a game on the last day of summer break, and although the whole school was called in to cheer them on, I didn’t bother to go. Why should I have to cheer on a team that I didn’t belong to?

On the first day of school, the news aired wall-to-wall coverage about North Korea launching a Taepodong missile the day before. The missile had reportedly flown over Japan before falling into the ocean. The words north korea, in bold print, practically jumped off the front pages of the newspapers on display at the train station kiosks, along with the words general association of korean residents of japan—more commonly known as Chongryon.

North Korea was under the regime of Kim Jong Il, whose downy tuft of hair, resembling that of a baby, danced playfully on top of his head. The smiling face of Kim Jong Il with his unprecedented hairstyle and the grim face of the Chongryon chairman were plastered all over the TV screens and front pages. I felt some relief in not seeing the words korean school written anywhere, at least that I could see.

That morning, all I wished was to reach Jujo Station—where my school was—without incident. If I could get to the station, I would be safe. On the platform and in the train car, the stares being directed at me in my chima jeogori were frigid, the air tense as though someone might shout or throw themselves at me at any moment.

I held my bag in my left arm and clutched the front of my jeogori with my right hand, my body damp with cold sweat. I held my gaze down so as not to make eye contact with anyone and put in the earphones plugged into my Walkman. The music stayed off, though. I kept my ears perked for any movements nearby and onboard announcements. Someone let out a cough, almost jolting my heart out of my chest.

Two more stops to school. As the train lurched to a halt, several passengers inside the packed train lost their balance and nearly fell over. Someone apologized under their breath. The doors opened. A violent wave surged between the passengers who wanted off and those who didn’t. Swept up in the wave, the passengers wanting to stay on were pushed out of the train along with the rest and forced to stand outside the doors and wait to board the train again. Behind them was a whole other line of people waiting to get on.

The train left the station more packed than when it had arrived.

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