Short Stories

WHISPERS – Short Story (Complete)

Miyoko Takeda cries after showing her kimono which she used for her dancing performances, at her home during her temporary return visit to Okuma town inside the 20-km (12 miles) radius around the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture February 12, 2012. The former traditional dancer burst into tears after saying that she could not retrieve the kimono because it was contaminated. She also said she has been suffering insomnia and depression since she was evacuated. All the 11,000 residents of Okuma town have been evacuated since last year’s tsunami and earthquake which hit the nuclear power plant. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (JAPAN – Tags: DISASTER SOCIETY)

“Yui’s calendar hung on the wall in an empty apartment that she would never call home. She kept the window blinds closed to trap in the sweltering heat that seeped in and surround herself with the smell of mold.  She sits in a dark corner of the room, absorbing the silence as her penance for breathing. The kitchen counter was covered with half-empty cartons of food that she forced herself to eat, consuming just enough nourishment to sustain her, to enable her to search for her six-year-old son, Haruto. Her real home was hundreds of miles away where her husband and son were washed away by an unholy thing that transformed their town into a watery grave.”