The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi

Author:Sanaka Hiiragi [Sanaka Hiiragi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Picador
Published: 2024-07-22T17:00:00+00:00

We going for a walk or something? thought Waniguchi.

But as soon as he stepped through the door, he found himself in Kita-Senju, right in the middle of the morning rush hour. When he turned around, the door they’d just walked through was nowhere to be seen. The sun had barely risen, but there were a huge number of commuters bustling about. Good for them, he thought. Bizarrely enough, people kept passing right through him. He even deliberately tried bumping someone’s shoulder, to no avail. Normally, crowds like these would part fearfully as he strode along – but everyone was just passing right on by. In life, if someone with their eyes glued to their phone had bumped into him, it would be the start of an educational experience for them; alas, he was already dead.

‘What’s the deal, mister? That photo only happens later today. Do we just sit around until then?’

‘My apologies. Returning to a precise time of day is rather difficult, which is why we always start at sunrise. This is your last chance to say goodbye to the world of the living. Might I suggest you relax and try to enjoy the time you have?’

From the elevated walkway they were standing on they could see Kita-Senju station, all decked out for Christmas. Green, red, gold and silver; plastic Santas decorated with cotton snow. No one was looking at any of it, though – they were all too busy hurrying down the street to work. He sat there with Hirasaka and watched the crowds.

‘Hey, how ’bout a drink? Ain’t like there’s much else to do.’

‘Certainly. I’ll just get us something.’

Hirasaka followed one of the commuters into a nearby convenience store. Waniguchi decided to tag along, mainly because he was curious about how they were going to manage to buy anything.

‘I mean, everyone just passes right through us, and we can’t talk to ’em either. How’d you expect this to work?’

‘You know the offerings of food and drink that people leave in front of graves or family altars? Well, none of that goes to waste,’ replied Hirasaka mysteriously.

He reached towards one of the beers in the display refrigerator. It was a special Christmas edition. ‘Right now, we’re formless beings – spirits, if you like. Which means that if I concentrate hard enough on the form of this can, and focus on extracting only the contents . . .’ He carefully grasped the can. As he gently pulled on it, the can seemed to separate into two identical versions of itself – one still on the shelf, and one in his hand. ‘There we go.’

Waniguchi tried it himself, but it was harder than it looked.

‘Well, get me one of these, one of these . . . and these. Oh, this too,’ he said, gesturing to a ‘One Cup’ jar of sake and various snacks. Hirasaka gathered the requested items in his arms, together with a few of his own choices.

‘So we can just help ourselves to all this stuff without getting busted? Neat.

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