Terminal Boredom: Stories by Izumi Suzuki
Author:Izumi Suzuki
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Verso
SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
I was just killing time. After I had cleaned my room, cooked, and finished the dishes, I had nothing left to do. So I was hanging around at this arcade, you know? I was there by myself.
I became aware of someone approaching me from behind. It wasnât like a shadow fell over my game, but Iâm sensitive to these things. It seemed like the person was standing and watching me. I looked over my shoulder, wanting to know who it was.
I saw an older woman, probably a little over sixty. She was filthy, her hair in disarray. She was wearing a jacket that looked like a potato sack. Did she work here?
âAre you winning?â The old woman smiled and immediately her face turned into a topographical map of a mountain range. What? What does she want?
âIâll give you these.â The old lady brought out a handful of tokens from her pocket.
âOh! Thatâs so kind of you.â As usual, I went along with it. Iâm very good at going along with people. When I was a kid, Gran would call me a sycophant.
âBut, are you sure?â I asked drawlingly.
She didnât say anything and smiled slightly. A very deep dimple appeared next to her lips. It was disturbingly erotic. I got goosebumps. I couldnât tell if it was a pleasant or unpleasant feeling. What was going on here? This old womanâs dimple was far more affecting than a young girlâs. Was I actually a pervert? I knew this nineteen-year-old guy who said he was only interested in women younger than six or older than sixty â a sentiment I couldnât understand. Was this how he felt? Anyway, I thought Iâd seen her before.
âWeâve met before, right?â I asked carelessly.
âSure.â
The old lady was no longer smiling. Was she from my neigh-bourhood? The people who lived on my floor were mainly all single guys, and she probably wasnât a friend of the old landlady. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldnât recall knowing any babies or old women. My mum was still in her forties, my gran is already dead and none of my other relatives is that age either.
I continued playing the game for a couple more minutes, trying to get these ideas out of my head and hoping sheâd disappear. But the old lady didnât make to leave, and I had to stop playing because I have a hard time ignoring people. I get too self-conscious.
Her face looked serious. If I wasnât mistaken, her eyes had a determined look.
Uh, perhaps sheâs taken a liking to me. Thatâs not good.
âUm, what â¦?â I began asking timidly.
âYou forget so easily,â she said in a low, soft voice. And suddenly I remembered â Reiko! I dated her for a bit, when I was twenty and she was thirty-one. Whatever became of her? There was a while back then when I was really worried.
But this old woman couldnât be Reiko. She looked a lot like her, though, so maybe she was her mother.
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