Summer Trap (Matsumoto Series 2)

Chapter 5

Dedicated to: GrafSpee Ship

Chapter 5
Summer and Rain

Kamono Hotel
August 20, 2022

Summer is not always all about sunshine, sweats, dropping coins on the vending machine in the middle of the rice fields, beautiful colored windmills in the garden, petals of the flowers flowing in the wind, and a series of bicycles along the street with children with colored helmets.

Sometimes during summer, it rains.

When I was young, I always hate the rain. I could still remember how I shed tears in front of my mother just to allow me to go out and still play with my friends, but my poor health did not allow me. At my young age couldn't have understood those apologetic eyes of my mother every time I beg on her to extend my playtime.

I always hate the rain, but now that I am an adult, I just found myself loving the rain, its sounds, the peacefulness that it brings, and the beauty it shows every time it falls.

If the sunlight of summer brings magic to my eyes, when it rains it's like a beautiful whisper— music.

I didn't wake up from the sunlight kissing my cheeks, but the lashing of my thin white curtain as the rainfall danced with it. I couldn't see clearly from my glass window, but the sunflower windmill still moved continuously.

Bumangon na ako sa kama at tuluyan nang isinarado ang bahagyang nakabukas na bintana. Napatingin na rin ako sa sahig ng kuwarto ko dahil napasukan na rin ito ng tubig.

I went to the kitchen to find the rugs and started wiping the floor. After drying the floor, all I did was stare outside of the window. It's just the rain that covers the whole Kamono Hotel, but the fog makes this place mystically mysterious.

When sunlight hits this place, all I could see is magic, now that the rain continues to pour with a mixture of fog around our hotel, I suddenly felt like I was trapped in a fantasy world— like an old and small inn with mystical creatures as guests, elves as the staffs and could be a flying dragon somewhere, an old carriage, or a horse as a means of transportation.

Hindi ako magsisisi na ito ang pinili kong hotel na tigilan habang nasa loob ako ng bansang ito. This is the perfect place to rest, lalo na sa katulad ko na sa bawat lugar na pinupuntahan ay may iba't ibang higit na naiisip. It could be scenes, lines, and characters. After all, I am a writer.

I am here in Japan not just to find the answers about my father, but also to create a wonderful story that I could share with everyone. But now that it's raining, I don't think it is possible for me to fulfill my today's checklist.

I didn't bring a laptop, but I do have a cute notebook with me. Tuwing gabi, bago ako matulog ay inilalagay ko doon ang lahat ng nangyari sa akin sa araw. Not basically a diary where I write every word and thoughts, but just the highlights, dates, and place of the day.

Before I sat at my little table near the glass window, I brewed my favorite coffee and waited for a few minutes before I poured it into my cup as I savored the aroma of the thin smoke tickling my nose.

Nang ipatong ko na iyon sa lamesa at naupo ako sa maliit na upuang katabi noon ay binuksan ko na iyong notebook ko na bigay pa ni Mama.

I started the entries a year ago, bago pa ako dumating sa Japan. But I flipped the page to the day I came here to Japan, and the thing that I just noticed was in every entry Kousuke Matsumoto has it.

I didn't realize that I was already smiling as my little fingers traced those simple names on the notebook. As a writer, I could easily fall in love with different things, simple generosity, a smile, and a little kindness. I could easily get inspired and use every side of it with my stories and make it extra special.