A Message from Mochi

lazy summer days

it's days like these when the sun's too hot and burns my face

when my eyes are still prickled with sleep

and my limbs ache from lying down all day

i want a drink

something cold, something sweet

i don't have money

no drink for me

(even though it is MY holiday and therefore i ought to be paid out for my services or simply for existing) 

days like these i want fruit, and then i think about food and want bamboo 

"go on a diet" they tell me, to wane me off my addiction 

i scoff, for what is life without bamboo? that would be a dreary life indeed

i stretch and take a nap in the flower fields, not caring whether the flowers get crushed under my weight. the long grass tickles my face. i ignore the insects that whisper gossip in my ears

a lone cloud drifts by. its fluffy, and i wish i could eat it. mmm clouds. 

maybe i closed my eyes a bit too long. maybe i hum a song i don't remember the words or name of.days like these, i don't remember anything at all. my name, why I'm here. the sun is too hot and my body feels floaty. i melt into the ground. i am the ground. i slip away, and there are no thoughts 

i feel something rustle against my nose, something soft. 

i sneeze

i open my eyes, and i see a friend holding a flower out to me. he laughs as i blink blearily up at him. i snatch the flower and throw it. how dare he disturb me. he laughs again

i lie back down, and he lies next to me. he points out the lone cloud, though he does not note its resemblance of cotton candy. i ignore him. eventually, he stops his incessant talking, even he is not immune to the sun.

 the next time my eyes flutter close, i have fallen asleep. we lie there for a long time.