Short Program 32

Short Program, Volume 3, Chapter 32, (pp. 195~210)


<195>
The Square Ocean

=No TV,
=No telephones.

=No deadlines.

=No Shogakukan Manga Award celebration party.

=High up in the mountains...


<196>
[bubble]PLIT

=It's nice weather, Kenta—!//Why don't you come on out!
[x2]BARK

=Easy for you to say,//I can't walk without my crutch!

=Remember what mister Matsuno said?//Your leg's already healed.
=Once you feel like walking again, you'll—


<197>
=You can't trust a crummy old doctor like that.//Nobody's even sure whether he has a medical license!
GARUCK

=It hurts when I stand up.//And besides, where do you expect me to go!?
=There's nothing but snow around here!

=I hate the mountains!

=I guess you want to force me to walk and help you out with your work, but—//You're not fooling me!

=I didn't ask to get injured, you know!
WHAP

=Kenta's father forced Kenta to climb up a tree, and Kenta injured his leg when he slipped and fell off.
SHUCK..


<198>
=But one day—

SPLAT

GARUCK

SHINE

=Go get it!//Rokubei!
BARK


<199>
AHCHOO!

=Brr—//Cold.
=Man, this is a nippy planet.

=BA-BUMBA BUM BUM//AHH-VIVA AHN AHN

=Phew—//You're a lifesaver!
[x2]BOIL
=Thanks a lot, dude.

=Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Colonel Doremi from Planet Pampers.//Suddenly lost control of my ship, you see...
=Quite a scare, really!

=Why,//Thank you.


<200>
=Gonna borrow one of these.
GREAK...

[x2]THACK THOCK

=Hup!
WHOMP
QUACK

=There! All better.
[x2]QUACK

=—Now then,//In return for saving me, I shall grant you one wish.
[bubble]Standard practice

=But it's against the rules to wish for more wishes.
TWEE—T
=Anything I want?

=Alien no lie!
HAO

=Okay! Then I wanna see the ocean!


<201>
=Piece o' cake.
[x2]SHUFF

=Make a boat out of that branch and float it down the river out back.//That screen will display the view from the boat.

=All rivers lead to the ocean.//You'll be able to see the sprawling ocean even from these mountains!

=Thanks, Doraemon.
=Easy there.

=This is our little secret, okay?//That device will stop working if you tell anyone else.
RRR...

=Farewell!

[bubble]BARK?


<202>
SPLISHH—

=It's working!


<203>
=Whoa!
=Awesome!

GONK

RAHHH

=Hey early bird!//It's not spring yet, stupid—!

=You're still awake, Kenta—?//Hurry up and go to bed!


<204>
[x2]SHUFF

[bubble]SNORE~


<205>
=Dad!
[bubble]MMM

=What's wrong, Kenta?

=That device will stop working if you tell anyone else.

=...Nothing,//Good night.
=Right,//Good night.

WHOO—SH


<206>
[x2]RATTLE

[bubble]Hmm..?

=Kenta!?
BWHUP

[x2]BARK


<207>
[x2]BARK

[x3]=HUFF

[x2]BARK

=Kenta—!


<208>
BARK
[x3]=HUFF


<209>
[bubble]CH-CHIRP..

[bubble]HUFF


<210>
=This is a story I wrote before my debut.
Kenta—!

=I wrote this version purely out of nostalgia, trying to remember as much as I could from that manuscript I lost.

BLOP

=Happy 30th anniversary, Shounen Sunday.//—I've taken this opportunity to reflect upon my own past, but...

=Dad—!
ZUP

QUACK
=—Well, go easy on me.

The End

The Square Ocean (END)