July 20th
Today is the first day of my long-awaited summer vacation. How shall I have fun tomorrow? I was so excited I couldn’t fall asleep and missed my radio exercises. By the time I got to the park, nobody was there. But…
“S-sake… P-please… G-give me sake!”
That was where I met Madao.
July 21st
I started an observation journal on Madao today. Madao is master of the park. A creature with a beard and sunglasses. It sits in the park all day without working. I brought him alcohol from my house yesterday and he warmed up and started talking to me.
“Kid, where’s the sake?”
He said that he can’t live without sake, so I have Madao lots of sake. How much longer? When will Madao bloom?
July 22nd
Madao still hasn’t sprouted. I give it lots of sake but it won’t move or work. I ask why it won’t do anything…
“Once a flower’s withered, it can never bloom again.” He answered me with a sad look on his face.
July 23rd
Madao still hasn’t sprouted. I give it lots of sake but it all comes out of it’s eyes. I ask why it spells out after i give it back to him…
“I’m sorry I won’t waste anymore… I’m sorry…” And then more sake came from it’s eyes. Until the sunset.
July 24th
Madao still hasn’t sprouted. Madao looked hurt. I ask what’s wrong… And it says that it screwed up while making a swing.
I ask why it’s using a rope to make a swing when the park already has swings.
When will Madao bloom?
July 25th
Madao still hasn’t sprouted. I was on my way to do radio exercises when I found Madao lying on the rail tracks. I ask what it’s doing, and it says it couldn’t fall asleep so it crawled over here.
When will Madao bloom?
August 1st
We have a new family member. A bed was prepared, but Madao still hasn’t sprouted. Two dry eyes stare into the empty sky, unable to perceive… Much as God was able to understand the will of the fallen angel Lucifer…
I’ve had enough. I spit on the ground and light up a xxxboro.
Humans must change and adapt towards their environment to survive. The man who refused to change and stood still was practically a corpse.
August 3rd
I casually tossed it a bottle of whiskey I sniped from my mother. Madao, I’ve changed your environment. It’s your turn to respond, so why do you just lie there? What damaged you? Madao didn’t answer my question, instead it locked at the whiskey with a sour look ok it’s face.
When will Madao bloom? I look up at the sky to see a condor circling as though laughing at me.
August 10th
10 days have passed since we took in Madao. It still hasn’t sprouted. As always. I casually toss it a bottle of bourbon I swiped from my Mom. Mom’s been getting creeped out by Madao recently. It appears that she realized I’m keeping Madao and not a dog. My mom raised me on her own. I wonder when she stopped trusting in men…?
August 10th three years ago
I remember that it was a blisteringly hot day. My Mom’s husband… In other words, my old man, was also a Madao. My old man was skilled carpenter but after an accident left his arms paralyzed, he stopped working and began drinking and gambling during the day. My Mom always worked hard, but my old man would beat her for not earning enough.
I couldn’t stand the sight of my old man, so I never returned home until the sun set. I would wait for my exhausted Mom before heading home. That’s as my daily routine. But we didn’t abandon Madao because of memories long ago… We beloved he would return to being a kind father, a kind husband. But that’s day…
“We’re home.”
Our faint hopes vanished into the summer sky with the cries of cicadas.
Raindrops trickled down my cheek. Before I knew it, I had told he Madao before me about the other Madao. “Sorry, forget about everything I just said.”
“Why did you help me…? Aren’t you sick of seeing a Madao? Both you and your mother. Aren’t you making your mother suffer?”
“I might be feeling remorse… If only I had provided support for my old man when he hit rock bottom… Then my mom wouldn’t have suffered like this.”
I couldn’t say anything more… At some point, I may have seen my old man in Madao. What was I trying to accomplish while making my Mom suffer? Was i trying to recover what I’d once forgotten…?
On that day, Madao didn’t touch it’s bourbon.
August 11th
I awake to the sound of rain pounding against the window. It seems a typhoon has hit Edo. My legs led me to the dog house. But Madao was nowhere to be found.
“What are you doing?! Where are you going in this rain?!”
“Let me go!, It’s already weak from drinking all that booze! Madao’s going to die in this rain!”
“So that was a Madao…”
“No! It’s not a Madao! It’s… It’s… My friend!
“Daigoro!”
No more of this… I have to save him!
August 12th
I couldn’t find Madao in the end. My head hurts and I can’t write as well as I did before. I seem to have caught a cold. I didn’t drink any sake, but it’s coming out if my eyes for some reason. Just like it did with Madao. Is sake coming out of Madao’s eyes where ever he is? When I thought of that, I couldn’t stop the sake from coming out. And then…
“Ma-madao…”
“Honestly. Next time keep an eye on it so it won’t escape. And also.. if you’re going to keep a Madao keep it inside so we aren’t embarrassed and feed it properly instead of giving it alcohol.”
Mom allowed me to keep Madao. Or maybe Mom felt the same way I did.
“Madao, were you drinking again?”
“No… No more drinking from me.”
August 20th
Madao has changed since then.
He no longer drinks sake and he preforms all kinds of chores while Mom is out. All while reading the classifieds. Mom called him Madao in the beginning but she started to call him Hasegawa-san.
Madao is Madao, so why? I don’t really get it.
August 25th
When Madao went out for errands that evening, Mom asked… “Daigoro. Would you like a father?” That was her question. I didn’t understand what she meant, so I asked her about it and then her face turned red.
“Well it’s nothing…”
I didn’t understand, so I asked Madao that night…
“I wouldn’t know.”
I don’t really get grown-ups.
August 26th
It’s finally the day for Madao to sprout.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done. Thanks to you two, I’ve been able to recover from hitting rock bottom. I don’t how to show my appreciation…”
“My it’s a little early for that. You haven’t gone to your interview you yet. There, your tie.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Only one person will be able to pass, right? Do your best. We’ll be waiting for the good news.”
“Yes!”
As Madao headed off to battle and mom watched him go, they were like father and mother. Madao as my father… I tried to picture that, but it felt weird so I stopped.
“You seem to be nervous.”
“Huh? Oh yes… Since my return to a normal person from being a Madao is riding on this.”
“Oh, is that so? I’m the same.”
“Oh? You were also a Madao? I couldn’t tell…”
“Well, i lost my job after an injury and snapped. My wife and son gave up on me… I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t realize what was important until I’d lost it all… I managed to straighten myself up and asked my wife if we could start over, and she told me to let her think about it. Well it’s okay. I’ll try again if I’m accepted here. There’s only one opening but let’s both do our best so we have no regrets.”
“Um… Can I ask you something?”
“Yes?”
“What’s your son’s name?”
August 27th
Madao never came back.
“He probably didn’t pass the interview. So he’s too ashamed to face us. Madao’s such an idiot. He doesn’t need to be so sensitive.”
Mom didn’t say anything. Was Mom hurt again because of me?
August 29th
We ate with Madao. The other Madao. Madao has become a completely different person. After apologizing to Mom and me over and over, he happily reported he’d found a job. He also cheerfully told us about someone who got drunk at an interview. Mom looked like she was really happy.
“Yo, you two. Could you spare me some sake?”
“Daigoro, let’s go. Daigoro?”
“Why? You promised to never drink again. Why? You promised to do your best at the interview! Why…? Why…? Why…?!”
“Get lost if you have no sake, kid. We’re through.”
“Liar…”
“Daigoro, that’s enough. Lets go. Don’t bother with him any longer.”
“Liar! Madao! I know!”
“Daigoro!”
“You may lie! You may pretend to be drunk! Everybody may badmouth you! But I know… I know that Madao is no Madao! You brought back what I’d once forgotten! You’re the nicest, best samurai! I won’t forget! I’ll never forget! Never!”
“What’s with all the noise? Oh? Hasegawa-san. You’re back? Oh? I’ll have a bit.
“What the hell!? I-isn’t this water?!”
“I don’t need sake of work… I’ve already decided enough… Daigoro, be happy with your Mom and Dad.”
“Yes, I knew. Madao had already bloomed long ago…”