Drowning In Thoughts

Every time I looked out the window, I could see the kids having fun. They all had a smile on their faces that never went away.

At least none of them were as nerdy as me. Everyone was having fun, jumping from place to place, running.

And none of them were wondering or asking, "Why the guy over there looking out the window never comes out?" or, "He's always watching us?"

The school bell had just rung. And everyone started returning to their classes.

At that time, Mr. Eicih was the first person to enter through the door of the classroom. He entered the classroom in a stylish suit as usual and with the scent of his beautiful perfume.

He left his bag on his desk, and then he turned to me and said,

"Ren, so you're early again, as usual."

I said,

"Yes, sir. Same as usual."

After Mr. Eichi, the other students began to enter in rows. They all looked very tired and amused.

When the class was fully assembled, Mr. Eichi said he would give a speech and asked everyone to listen to him.

He then began to speak,

"Well, guys, today is a special day for a friend. And you all know that this is your friend Shigeru's last day at school. So he decided to celebrate his birthday here before he left."

So Shigeru was leaving today. He never told us about it.

Although even though we had more bad memories than good ones, he was a valuable person to me.

For old times sake, could I find the courage to talk to him? I haven't been able to talk to him face-to-face in a long time.

Then another person entered through the door of the classroom.

A woman in a white coat.

Without introducing herself, she immediately ran towards Shigeru and began to hug him madly. I think it could have been his mother or some other relative. I didn't know.

And then two more women came in, and they had a big, big box, and it was a very fancy box.

And there were a lot of plastic cups and plates on top of the box.

It looked like it was going to be a big cake. It was more than obvious.

Mr. Eichi immediately pushed his table to the middle of the class and helped the ladies put the supplies.

They draped a beautiful silky, checkered, Orange drape over the table.

Then they took the cake out of the box and showed it to the class.

The cake was covered with chocolate and patterned with white cream and had red and yellow clove patterns on it.

I was amazed by how good it looked. The cake looked really great.

Then one of the women began to split the cake with the help of a knife. As she split the cake, the chocolate liquid started to come out of it, and it looked really delicious.

Shigeru should be really happy. Today was a very special day for him.

And I realized he was happy too when I started looking at him. I could see that appetite in him.

Everyone was so excited.

There were so many people in this class that I loved, but none could be warmer to me than my two closest friends.

The first one was the perfect Toshiaki.

We had such good times together. He was just like Aki, but different.

I remember a few times when we were playing games, we usually would bump our heads. In general, these bumps would be very severe.

Because of our games, Toshiaki's teeth fell out. It was a very painful thing for me because he cried so badly every time. It usually made me feel bad.

After that day, I became more careful and avoided hurting anyone.

My childhood wasn't very good. And usually, I'd just go out a day or two of the week. Other days I'd sit in class.

There was only one game we enjoyed playing. That was hide-and-seek. Being constantly losing wasn't fun. And Toshiaki would always find us, but we were having a lot of fun. I was always were stubborn not to be the catcher. Because it was more exciting for me to hide and getting find by the catcher.

My second best friend, of course...

Right when I was remembering, Suddenly a voice started calling me,

"Mr. Ota, are you there? Can you hear me? Who is Miss September? Mr. Ota?"

I didn't know the answer yet too. I really wondered who it was. All I wanted to do was remember a person I cared about. But I couldn't even do that neither.

It was still too early. I'd need more time.

Mrs. Mayumi asked me another question this time,

"Okay, no need to push. How about we go a little further, Mr. Ota?"

I was still talking to myself, ignoring her questions,

"Why can't I remember anything. Is this a dream?"

I think I said that out loud.

Because Mrs. Mayumi said,

"No, this is not a dream. You're remembering your memories now, Mr. Ota."

I said in a surprised manner,

"My memories?"

Then I said,

"But, wait a minute. How can you hear my thoughts?"

I asked.

"Because you are speaking out loud, Mr. Ota. Now you'll wake up when I snap my fingers."

And I shook my head and said, "Ok."

When the doctor snapped his fingers, I felt like I had just woken up from a nightmare.

She said,

"Are you all right, Mr. Ota?"

Of course, I was going through something very heavy, but I could come to my senses.

I calmly said,

"I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy."

She then said,

"Mr. Ota, do you have a memory of that person?"

I just said the first thing that came to mind,

"We went on a class picnic with our teacher. If I am not mistaken, I was going to third or fourth grade."

"All right then, Mr. Ota. Get some rest, please. I will visit you again later on."

The doctor closed the door and left.

A deep silence covered the room. I was very tired. I couldn't even handle things anymore.

I closed my eyes slowly and began to fall asleep.

I said to myself,

"I hope I don't have nightmares this time."