Set in contemporary Japan during the Showa Era.
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Ol' Tokei enters the old diner situated in the corner of the street.
Ol' Tokei-Pickles, grilled sardines and nori.
Grandma- As always you codger?
Ol' Tokei- My favourites you old hag.
They both smile, as grandma quietly prepares the meal.
Grandma- I have to manage the store all by myself again today. He isn't feeling very well for some time now.
Ol' Tokei looks away, saddened, unable to tell her again as her memories become weary.
Ol' Tokei- Do-does my son-in-law come around sometimes?
Grandma- Yes, since he's a police officer, he's been patrolling around the area and stops by sometimes.
Grandma smiles softy and continues to prepare his order.
Ol' Tokei- Oh, I see...
You know, I had a dream of her last night..
Grandma- Who? Sakura?
Ol' Tokei- Yes. I heard her making miso soup somewhere far, far away.
Then I heard her shout for me to get out of bed. "Wake up Dad" she said.
The next thing I knew, I was wide awake, she wasn't there of course.
Grandma-....
Ol' Tokei- I can't believe I still can't get over the fact that she left home to move in with her husband long time ago.
I guess everyone gets a little sentimental when they get older.
Grandma- Ahh. She was beautiful in her wedding dress I remember.
It was about this time of the year that happened is it?
Ol' Tokei- Yes it was, right before Tanabata.
Grandma- Time sure flies...
How many years have passed since then?
Ol' Tokei- Five years since it happened.
Grandma places the food quietly on the counter next to Ol' Tokei, sensing the thick emotional atmosphere.
Grandma- You look like a bundle of bones. Eat up before it gets cold.
Ol' Tokei raises the spoon and takes a sip.
Ol' Tokei- Maybe it's just about my time to go too..
It's almost Tanabata, isn't it? That's when long separated spirits get to meet again.
Maybe the love of my life will come to see me again. And take me back with her over the old Sanzu river.
He quietly eats his food.
Grandma- Now! Don't say that even if you mean it as a joke. Look at me, I'm fit as a horse!
I eat three meals a day!
He smiles fondly and cries out,
Ol' Tokei- I really made a lot of trouble for my Sakura didn't I?
He covers his face as he sobs softly, still unable to frown at the thought of her, but smile no matter how much it hurt him.
She ended up looking after me, once her mother died. It should have been the other way around.
But I also couldn't manage the store all by myself..
Oh how I regret arguing with her before her accident.
Without the women I love in my life, there is nothing for me to look forward to, nothing to keep me going.
I terribly miss my Sakura and my love.
He wipes his wet face with his frail hands.
Grandma smiles softly and pushes his food closer as she takes a deep breath and look around the dusty room, covered with cob-webs.
Strangely reminding her of how long it has been this way, how long she considered herself as old, now that the touch of time slowly revealed on the walls of her old diner.
Grandma- Now, now, god knows we both had our share of struggles..
She whispered.
29/11/20
Credits: Hungry hearts.
