“Oh, I hate it! I’ve heard that siren three times today,” Toshiko said,
speaking loudly enough that her voice would be heard in the next room.
“Yeah, there are lots of accidents at the end of the year. People are in a
rush, and cars go too fast—it’s dangerous. I heard somewhere that when
ambulances get sent out it’s almost always for people who’ve been injured.
They hardly ever go out for sick people. I’m sure the cars must be skidding
like crazy in this rain,” Hidaka said.
“That sound—it’s like my chest is stopped up. It makes me feel a little
old. Like a torrent of years is rushing at me.”
“Here we are sitting nice and cozy in the kotatsu—why do you have to
talk like that? Someone’s gotten hurt.”
Toshiko lowered her voice. “It’s not funny, you know. I’m going to have
to quit my job after New Year’s, right? You said so yourself—the company
has its rule, if two people in the company get married one of them has to
quit. And who told everyone at work that we were married? It was Miss
Tokiko, wasn’t it?”
“It was nice being able to keep it secret for half a year.”
“It wasn’t the slightest bit nice. When I think that I’ll have to quit my job
next year, it’s like there’s an ambulance speeding through my chest.”
The siren moved off through the streets.
A few moments passed, and then Shizu spoke again in the next room.
“Toshiko?” she called. “You know—I don’t know why, but for some
reason ambulances go by a lot on this Street. It’s been that way for some
time. Every time I hear that siren I think how nice it would be if my
husband were run over by a car—if he were killed, or even injured.”
“If he were injured he could still look after the store.”
