Lost

Chapter 3 Isamu

"Cokecoco!" (Rooster call in Japanese)

It's morning again.

I'm awake, again.

Everytime I wake up I wish the night was longer so I could stay asleep. I'm not a morning person but I'm not lazy. As soon as I pull myself together mentally, that's when I can get moving.

I let out a long sigh as I sat up. Time to get up and get ready for the day. I folded up my bed and sheets, placed them away and then got washed up.

"Isamu come to eat, the food is ready", my neighbor called out.

I never have anyone call me by my last name, I hate it. No one here knows my last name and they stopped asking a long time ago after I refused to give it out. It's not important to me so no need for anyone to know.

"Hai", I responded back.

I need to hurry up and help here. She's almost 85 and still doing housework and cooking. Honestly, that's the secret to longevity everyone shells thousands on. Just keep moving, keep working. It's not only the physical work that keeps people living so long, when you still feel like you have a purpose in life, you keep the fight to live. That's why when you put seniors in these nursing homes, they start to die because they rob them of their purpose. None of the elders here will step foot in one of those places. They even told me they rather die than go there.

I don't blame them.

I'm the only young person here, well young compared to the people that live here in this tiny village. Most residents here are elders so being 37 is considered a baby. I don't mind, I was taught to respect my elders and help out, and that's what I do. I do most of the farm work and picking crops but most of the women help out because that's all they did for most of their lives.

Only one other guy lives here, the rest of their husbands have since passed away.

"Hurry up Isamu or all the food will be gone", she said.

The food will be gone? Who else is here?

I headed over, curious as to what she was walking about. Maybe a person from a nearby village was joining her for breakfast. That happens. Not much goes on and when it comes to finding out the news, you literally have to find out yourself or whoever has a TV.

I took my shoes off before heading inside. As I round the corner I saw a girl, a foreigner helping herself to breakfast. We both looked at each other for a moment. Her mouth was full of food but she somehow forced a smile. I turned around not caring about formalities as I didn't know who she was.

"Who is that", I asked.

"I don't know but she sure is a beauty. She doesn't speak much Japanese but I could make out something about a bus. You go ask her. Go on, go ahead", she said as she pushed me towards her.

The girl finally finished whatever was in her mouth. She quickly stood up to greet me, at first she offered me a hand but quickly snatched it back in exchange for a bow.

"H-Hi....I mean...konichiwa...uh...onamae wa...Jackie desu...hajimameshite..."

"You can stop your broken Japanese."

She looked at me with surprise.

"O-Oh...you speak English..."

"Clearly", I said.

"You don't have an accent."

"No, no I don't."

"Are you...American too?"

"No."

"O-Oh..."

"Did you ask her yet", granny pushed me on to say.

I let out a sigh.

"Don't ask me anything until I'm done eating", I said to the girl.

She nodded.

It's going to be a pain having her around. I definitely have to find out how long she's planning to stay. For sure she didn't come here for a vacation, she's here by mistake. She's going to come to me for every little thing I bet, especially to translate. Why her of all people had to end up all the way out here? She's so used to her city life too, she won't be of any help on the farm. I bet she'll be afraid to get her nails dirty or something and her hair. I bet she spent lots of money doing it or spent lots of time getting it done. I should tell her about all the bugs that will get tangled in it. That will send her running. 

I just don't need any problems here. I came from problems, I don't need it following me around. I have more important things to do, to prepare for and I can't let anyone get in the way of that. 

The reality of her staying here for long seems more likely despite my ideas to scare her out of this village. If I pretend like she doesn't exist, hopefully, she'll just keep to herself until she can leave. 

I'll just have to deal with this new annoyance for now, it's only temporary. 

I'll make sure of it.