Kokuhaku: Part 1 of A Tanabata Story

Foreward

A few weeks before my son lost his life, I was struck by a sort of waking dream. A series of visions of a beautiful joshi kōsei which struck with such force that I was compelled to stop whatever I was doing to sit and watch those events play out. After a few of these, I thought that--since I was a novelist--I should write this story down even though it was nothing like the types of stories I normally write.

Writing furiously, I was around a third of the way into the story I first called "Always and Forever: A Tanabata Story" when my son took his car to an isolated spot just off of his college campus and in true Japanese fashion, turned it into a gas chamber. He was listening to this song https://youtu.be/eko0XkUtI94 when he died from the hydrogen sulfide, most likely before he heard the end of it.

This story probably saved my life. It certainly saved my sanity. In the following nightmare of trying to come to grips with his loss and making decisions on things like caskets and burial plots and planning services for burying the greater part of my soul, I was able to escape into Jack and Miko's problems.

Needless to say, this story remains very special to me. I have never been obsessed with and possessed by a story like this.

Despite it remaining largely undiscovered, the response I have received has been positive. Though I don't know Japanese and have never been to Japan, I have been flattered by the support of those who do know Japanese life and culture and feel it is surprisingly accurate.

The main criticism by those who have read it to the end is--as one reader said--that "the story is both too long and too short." I have to agree. It covers more events that a single story of this type can comfortably contain and yet they are so momentous that some of the character's actions can't be fully understood without them.

So I've decided to follow the example of the "light novels" (as well as the manga and anime they've inspired) and break the story arcs into separate short novels. When completed, Kokuhaku and Kabedon will replace the first 5 chapters of AFF:ATS, which will be removed as they are complete.

If you were one of the faithful few who read the original version, I'd love to get your comments. If this is your first time, and you are impatient, you may find the original version at https://www.wattpad.com/101460778-always-and-forever-a-tanabata-story-chapter-1