Short Program 24

Short Program, Volume 2, Chapter 24 (pp. 255~274)


<255>
The Way Home: Part 2


<256>
=Cram school was supposed to start at 4:00 that day.

HO—NK

=—But by the time I realized that, I'd already gotten on the train, and the doors had already closed after I'd left my house at noon.

=I thought about heading back home...

=But I remembered how Mom had given me extra allowance for getting good marks on that last test,
[x2]TH-THUNK
=So I decided to head over to the arcade in the department store.


<257>
[x4]TH-THUNK

GA-THUNK

ZZT..

YA~WN

PWOO—P


<259>
[bubble]ZZZ—

BLAP


<260>
Showa 34th (1959) October 27th

Showa 34th

=I didn't really panic.

=Of course, I'd never been in this situation before.//But it happens all the time in TV and manga.
=I knew words like "time slip" and "time trip."

=—And I also knew, that the protagonist almost always manages to return to his own time.

=So, I didn't really panic.
GONK


<261>
=The one thing that did worry me a little bit, was whether I'd get back before 4:00. So I'd still make it in time for cram school.

BONK

=I've got my textbooks,
=My telephone card, and my wallet...


<262>
=Haven't seen you around.//Where you from?

=A pretty distant place.
=They might look like kids, but they're really all old guys.

=Wanna play baseball with us?

=Baseball?
=That!?

=I've got a uniform and a Mizuno glove and everything.
=Oh,//No thanks.

=Excuse me.

=I knew telephone cards wouldn't do any good.
=But...
[sign]Uemura Bakery


<263>
[package]Uemura Bakery
[bottle]Milk

[coin year]Showa 59th
[coin year]Showa 61st
Showa 61st


<264>
[bubble]GRR~

[bubble]PICK

CRICK

=Hey,//It's that kid—


<265>
=—I just didn't have anything better to do...
=Stop slacking, Shige!

=I wasn't trying to make friends,

=And...
=Alright, Take!//Go get the potatoes.

=I certainly wasn't going for the hot potatoes after we were done raking.
[bubble]GRR~


<266>
=He's going back to get them from his house?
=No, stupid.//He's getting them from the field.

=—Oh,//So Take-chan's place is a farm, huh.
=It's a fish store.

=Ohh—

=I decided not to press the issue...

=Yama-chan—
=I got them—


<267>
=They're not eating the stones too, are they...?
[x2]PFF—T

=Here, Kazuhiro!

=Hot!

=Put 'em in your pocket. They'll get nice and warm soon.

[x2]=Hot


<268>
WHOOSH..

=I just didn't have anything better to do...


<269>
=Whoa!
=W-//Watch out—!

=Here we go—!
SWING

=WHOAA—

TAP


<270>
=Yama-chan—

=Yo—!

=Woo—It's cold—!

=I put my hands in my pocket, and the stones were nice and warm.


<271>
=They're gonna build a huge factory right here.

=My Dad told me,//There's gonna be a department store in that lot over there, with an amusement park on the roof.

[x2]FLAP


<272>
=Isn't the old man with the picture cards gonna show up soon!?

=Not yet.
=Really? I thought he'd be here by now.

=When does he usually show up?
=I dunno when exactly, but sometime soon.


<273>
[x2]SCRAMBLE

CLING CLONG CLANG CLONG—


<274>
=The only thing in my pocket was a cold little rock.

The Way Home: Part 2 (END)