Three Days of Happiness

153
I had not actually realized this in advance.
But right then, everything started to come together in my mind.
“When I was 17, I received a single letter from Himeno. There was
nothing particularly important about what was written in the letter
itself. It was just enough that I was the recipient, and Himeno was
the sender. She was never the sort of person to write letters to
others or call them, no matter how friendly she was with them. So
the moment a letter from her arrived... I should have realized.”
Yes.
I should have realized much, much sooner.
“That letter was Himeno’s form of an SOS. She must have been
asking for my help with that letter. Much like me, when she was
cornered, she clung to her past, dug up the time capsule,
remembered her one and only childhood friend, and sent me a
letter. Not noticing her intent, I was no longer qualified for that
position - and so I lost Himeno. She became hollow, and the
moment I realized it, so did I. Himeno’s going to commit suicide
soon, and I’m going to run out of life soon. ...A bad place to stop,
but that’s the end of this gloomy story. I’m terribly sorry for making
you sit through all that.”
As I stood up to leave, the old woman said “Goodbye,” in a voice
fading as soon as it left her lips.
That parting word was the only thing she said to me.
“Thank you very much. Goodbye,” I replied, leaving the candy store
behind.