Shadow Child by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto

Author:Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2018-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

It was a hot night. Once the station had emptied, and the remaining passengers waiting for the morning train had settled onto benches and along walls, Lillie lay down where she could see the stars. She had no concern for herself, what she must look like. It didn’t matter. She was entirely alone. The stars were so close, and she looked for a new one, twinkling brightly just as her father had once showed her: that would be a new soul saying good-bye. She knew the stars well, even in that sky, and when none of them called to her, she took comfort in the knowledge that Toshi was surely alive and on earth somewhere, perhaps in Tokyo where the Embassy people had first urged them to go.

She would find him.

Aunt Suzy and Uncle Joe love little children, Hanako had said. Forget those inu. I’ll do your shift for you—I’ll hold them off. Go get your baby. And when this war is over, we’ll all go home. Lillie held on to her friend’s words as an anchor.

It was impossible to sleep.

It was early morning when she heard the first train. It was heading south, back to Hiroshima. The sun had pinked the already hot sky, and more travelers filled the waiting area. She thought about staying, continuing to search—you never knew who might have seen Donald—but what could she do now, even if she got a lead? She was already dangerously late—her morning shift was starting; the soldiers would know she wasn’t there. Even if she was willing to defy the military, she couldn’t leave Hanako and Tateishi-sama waiting. She had too many responsibilities.

She would return. Meanwhile, she reminded herself that Toshi was with his father. He wasn’t alone; he wasn’t an infant. And he wasn’t in Hiroshima, either. She had done what she needed to do to keep him safe. When Donald stopped running, she would find them. So she boarded the train, comforting herself with stealing glances out the windows long after it left the station, until the jolting and the swaying threatened to pull her into sleep. Her eyes were closed and the train was still a few miles away from their destination when she heard an explosion. She thought it was a factory nearby. An accident.

The train slowed. Then it stopped in its tracks.

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