Page 176 - Musings 2020

23

The Epicenter

Hridyanshu Singhal 2017A1PS0810P and Raunaq Jiandani 2017A1PS0716P

It was the best time of the day as Akio completed his daily routine of jogging along the
outskirts of the Yakushima forest belt which ended with the lovely joyful face of Yoko at the
entrance of their house to receive him. Her face lit with the first ray of the golden morning
Sun. This was the beautiful start of the day for them for the last 3 years, ever since they had
sent their daughter to the capital city of Tokyo for her college education. Their little Yuriko
was raised as a flower. They always had a cup of tea together while reading the ‘Yakushima
Daily’ that Yoko used to bring in while receiving Akio, every morning.

One such fine morning all hell broke loose upon them, as they read through the headlines of
the Daily. Tokyo had witnessed the most horrific Earthquake in the history of Japan, last night
between 3-4 A.M. All the major buildings were severely damaged, and the city covered in a
blanket of dust and grief. The Daily was flooded with pictures of the disfigured city from the
top, of the people crying and of air ambulances lined up to transport people to the hospitals of
the nearby cities of Osaka and Nagoya. A chill ran down their spine as the whole world began
spinning around them. This could not be! They read and re-read the same few lines, but
couldn’t believe their eyes. Nothing mattered now. Akio’s cup fell from his hands as he
dropped on his knees in horror as if he had seen death right in the face. A tear slid down the
left cheek of Yuriko turning into torrents of them, dropping into the cup below half-full with
the brewing tea...tup... tup… tup, the only sound that broke the silence; her jaw still hanging
in shock. She could barely move an inch further. Both looked at each other and whispered in
unison – Yuri.

Akio pulled out his phone and dialed her immediately. His hands trembled with fear. “This
no. is out of coverage area” replied a computerized voice from the other side. Tried Mireiki’s,
which turned out to be futile either. Yuriko’s childhood friend Mireiki had been with her
since they were little girls at the same school and now even at the same College. To everyone
else in the neighborhood they were just like two adorable sisters who grew up together and
were almost inseparable. Pack up!” he exclaimed, “We’ll leave for Nagoya immediately, once
I get back from office.” Yoko got up, wiped her face, and began packing a bag to board the
next train to Nagoya. Sobbing continuously as she frequently burst into tears, trying to
control herself.

Upon reaching back, Akio found Yoko at the entrance, waiting with the bags along with her.
As they drove to the City station, Yoko produced her phone from her Kimono. “I saw this
message today after you left. It’s from Yuri.” The tires screeched hard as Akio pressed against
them to park the car by the road. He snatched the phone from her hands and began reading
the message loudly: “Mom and Dad, please forgive me for all the times I have troubled you
and caused pain to you. I think this is the end of it all. I always tried hard to be the best girl to
the best parents in the world but I still believe that I could have been better. As the ground
below me shivers and shakes, I’ll try my best to pour my heart out before this ends. I love
you so much, Mom! You have always been my best friend. No skeletons in my closet have
ever been hidden from you. You let me do whatever, whenever and however I wanted to. I
still remember how we used to …”

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