Although I had received “the last letter to me” quoted as written from
my mother a few months before in which she wrote she wouldn’t like to
see me or hear from me or receive any gifts from me or stay in contact
with me any more for the rest of her life, I ignored it completely and
made an annual visit to my parents as usual. She had sent me that
offensive letter behind my father’s back and he doesn’t know about a
broken relationship between me and my mother.
My father also used to be bad-tempered and attack me when I returned
home once a year or two. But since he sold our family’s house, he has
welcomed me in a good mood at his small apartment in an unfamiliar town
and hasn’t criticized me. He seems simply happy to see me each time I
visit their apartment. And I know that is exactly what annoys my mother
to the limit.
To her, her new life is degradation. She was always unhappy when she
lived in a big house with her husband to whom she married for his money.
And now she has become even unhappier living in the small apartment
without our family’s fortune. It’s easy to imagine how disgusted she is
by my father’s upbeat attitude toward his new life. She must have sought
revenge to make him equally unhappy and come up with that letter. She
thought I would stop visiting them as she asked to. That would take away
one of his pleasures and get him one step closer to unhappiness. She
loves any kind of plot all her life but none of them is ever clever.
This one is no exception that is too apparent for me to be fallen into.
My decision to carry out a visit despite her letter implicated
harassment to her because it would show her that her wicked plot failed
yet again.
A week before the trip, a big typhoon hit the western part of Japan
where my parents live. Much damage resulted from it including to Kansai
Airport on which my flight was going to arrive. As the airport is a
man-made island in the sea, its runways and facilities were flooded by a
storm surge. On top of that, a tanker crushed into the only bridge that
connects the airport to the shore and broke it. The airport has been
shut down.
I hesitated about the trip. I couldn’t decide whether I should cancel
my reservations for the flight and the hotel. Above all things, I
wondered if this was a sign telling me not to visit my parents.
But I had to go at all cost because it was my mother who had told me
not to come. I’ve discovered and followed the unshaken rule since I was a
teenager -do the opposite of what my mother says and I’ll be happy and
everything will go well. This rule has worked 100 percent and has never
failed in my life.
Meanwhile, the airport partially reopened unexpectedly sooner than
reported. Among most suspended flights, mine was one of the few that
partially started re-operating. The damaged bridge to the shore returned
passable by the limited lanes. I visited my parents as I had planned.
I knew it would be so awkward to see my mother but I had determined
not to get angry at her or blame her on her letter. If I did so, it
would be her achievement. Her purpose is always to make me unhappy with
any blow she could think of. I should behave unbreakable, which would be
my blow against her.
My mother met me at the entrance of their apartment as if nothing had
happened between us. She desperately acted joyfully, uttering shallow
flattery like I looked young or my outfit was pretty. Not only when my
father was around, but also when there were only two of us, we never
mentioned about the letter. She just kept on flattering and wearing fake
smile. She even told me what she had never told before -tons of
complains about her favorite, my younger sister. What surprised me more
than that was the fact my mother had aged so suddenly. Her countenance
had changed too. She had a face like a devil. With her aged shape and
evil countenance, she looked exactly like a witch in “Snow White”.
Looking at her sudden change, I realized that she regretted the letter.
The moment she dropped the letter into the mail box, she became aware
that she was old and helpless. Numerous unusual disasters that hit her
region after the letter, such as crazy heat, a big earthquake and the
typhoon, made her more insecure and anxious. She regretted that she had
cut me off from her life because she threw away a thin rope by herself
that she could have relied on in the future. It’s too late now.
On the train back to the hotel, I felt good as everything went well
on my side. At the same time, I felt an enormous relief and found how
nervous I was during the visit. As it turned out, it was a showdown
rather than a visit...
Saturday, October 13, 2018
A Trip after The Storm hr611
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)