About

"I have lived a life of much shame." — Osamu Dazai, 'No Longer Human' ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ Before I knew it, I had been swayed by the train for a long time. The last train should have passed long ago. Yet, the train shows no sign of stopping. Outside the window, a darkness deeper than night spreads out. There are no streetlights, no lights from houses, and even when looking up, not a single star can be seen. Only a landscape of pure black flows away behind us without a sound. Where this train is heading, I have no idea at all. In the first place, did I even want to go somewhere? Even that, I no longer know. Still, deep in my chest, only a nameless anxiety wells up incessantly. — What will become of me after this? Though I think so, no answer returns. The more I think, the deeper the darkness before my eyes becomes, as if even the inside of my heart is being painted black. Surely, there must be a way to get off this train. If I look, there might be a door somewhere. There might even be an emergency stop mechanism. But I do nothing. I just sit, I just look out the window, I am just being swayed. I think to myself, what a fool I am. However, the reason to stand up, the courage to get off this train, and the answer to what lies beyond getting off, I have yet to find them. Therefore, today too, the train runs. Without even knowing the destination. Rumble, rumble. As if carrying only my anxiety, the train continues through the endless darkness today as well. To get off or not to get off is hell... if it is such a hell, then rather Rather "...Would you not wait a moment?" The one who spoke there was a stranger, a young man. "...Before you ascend to the heavens, would you not grant me a request? Author... your story—I would like to hear one."