Tide Between Two Worlds

Hello, Old Friend (Choose Your Own Ending)

       "I have to say...it's been one interesting ride. I'm glad for my time, grateful for it. Now, I want to live the rest of my days in peace."

       "Ms. Ikeda, thank you so much for this opportunity and your time," said a news reporter on a visitor appointment with her cameraman nearby.

       "You're very welcome. Eh, when could we expect this to air?"

       "Within a week for sure. Thank you once again. Take care."

       "No, thank you. I look forward to watching it."

Those were the words said by Kiyoni who is now a resident at a local assisted living home in Mushiyori City. She had been living there over the last decade due to lingering ailments and a dislocated hip injury from slipping on the stairs of her former home. It seems her father's words had finally landed, spending the majority of life in her home country, specifically in Tokyo and Okinawa only to come back home to Mushiyori City. Now sitting comfortably in her old age, Kiyoni has the rest of her golden years to coast through.

She's had her fair share of small wins. One, she's outliving her parents. Two, her place of residence has everything she could ever need including a bed she was allowed to customize. Adjustable, plush enough to support her hips, covered in bed dressing from home including the Kuromi pillow that had seen better days. Her nightstand played host to a framed digital photo album displaying images of her family including her parents, her wedding day, her husband who passed away a few years ago, and the day she made history. The space was no larger than her living room or a typical studio apartment with a flat screen TV that was off for most of the day sitting on a TV stand/dresser, a rocking chair with a mini bookshelf of manga and light novels including a couple discussing the days of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and the American Civil Rights movement to Black Lives Matter and the successes of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris that were given to her during her college days. Kiyoni enjoyed reading those from time to time. A larger dresser served two purposes. One, it was where her foldable clothing was stored. Two, it was where she built two altars. On the furniture surface was an altar devoted to her family, their ashes made into diamond-graded, chandelier earrings representative of their ancestral status and the gift Kiyoni loved so much. Behind them was a white, jasmine-scented candle that would only be lit whenever Kiyoni wanted to say a prayer to them as well as incense and an incense holder. Sitting on a shelf above them was the altar dedicated to the goddess, Yemoja. The statue that came from her childhood home was still around sitting on a shelf sandwiched between a blue candle and a glass of water. Speaking of the deity, the best part of Kiyoni's living arrangement was the window where it provided views of the shore line accompanied by a few neighboring homes. The same views from her junior high days. That was where Kiyoni was left behind, sitting in her wheelchair, waiting to move at a moment's notice or whenever she wanted to travel a great distance. Those views sold her on occupying the room for watching the way the waves moved on a daily basis made her think of one person, one whom she hasn't seen in quite a long time. As Kiyoni played with her friendship ring that now hung around her neck, she wondered just what that one person was up to.

       "Miss Ikeda?" Hideko, Kiyoni's assistant. A calm, forty-something who had gotten close to her client over the short time she's been employed. She loved hearing Kiyoni's stories about her life and was actually the one responsible for setting up the very interview Kiyoni just finished for a local news program highlighting moments in Japanese history etched by Kiyoni's generation. Hideko walked in soon after adjusting her maroon-colored scrubs readying herself for anything Kiyoni may want or do.

       "Oh, Hideko. I was wondering where you ran off to."

       "I stood outside like I said I would. How was the interview?"