It was a lot more crowded on the Utsunomiya Line than the Oda or Saikyou Line. It was
still around the time when everyone was returning home either after a day's work or school. The
train that arrived was a lot older than the other trains I came on and the seats were arranged in
sets of four facing each other which reminded me of the native local trains that ran in Nagano.
I held onto one of the hand rails attached to the seats with one hand, putting my other into my
pocket as I stood in the narrow passageway between the seats. The heating made the carriage
warm and the windows steamed up with little droplets of water sliding down them. Everyone
looked tired and no one said a word. The lamp shining upon them inside the old carriage made
them t in place. I felt I was the only one out of place so I kept my breathing low and gazed out
at the passing scenery outside the window trying to keep those thoughts away.
The buildings had all disappeared from the scenery now and only large elds blanketed in
snow stretched out into the distance. In that distant darkness, the small lights from homes can
be seen sparsely spaced out, swaying in the wind. The tall towering steel lamp posts lit with red
lights seemed to be lined up all the way to the mountain peaks. Their silhouettes appeared as
if they were a giant's army standing to attention amongst the snow elds. It was a world I was
completely unfamiliar with now. As I gazed at the scenery all I thought about was whether I
would get there in time to meet up with Akari. If I was late, there would have been no way for
me to let her know. At the time, mobile phones weren't common amongst junior high students
and I didn't know Akari's new phone number either. The snow outside was growing heavier.
The next interchange was at Koyama Station but the train had been running painfully slow
for the past hour. The stations on the line were almost unbelievably far apart when compared to those in the city and the train stopped unbelievably long at each one. Every time it stopped, it
was always the same message over the speakers. "Attention please. Due to the delayed schedule
of all trains this train must stop at this station for a prolonged period of time. We apologise for
any inconvenience and ask for you to wait patiently. . . "
I looked at my watch time and time again praying hard that it won't be seven o'clock soon
but that didn't change how far I still was from my destination. Yet time was ticking and every
time I looked, my body was in pain almost to the point of making me give up hope. It was as if
the air around me had formed an invisible cage, shrinking with every passing moment.
When it was nally seven o'clock I still hadn't arrived at Koyama Station yet and the train
had stopped at a station called Nogi which was two stops away from my destination. I still
had to switch trains at Koyama Station for another twenty minute journey before I could reach
Iwafune Station where Akari was waiting. During the two hours since leaving Oomiya Station,
impatience and hopelessness continued to stress me. I had never felt pain for such a long time
in my life. I could no longer tell if the carriage was warm or cold any more. All I could feel was
the darkness of the night and my empty stomach because I haven't had anything to eat since
lunch. I soon realised the carriage didn't have as many people as before and that I was the only
one left standing. I went to a seat nearby where no one was sitting and sat down with a thud,
my feet felt sti and numb, and all the tiredness that had gathered somewhere deep within my
body gushed onto my skin. There wasn't anything I could do to get rid of that feeling. I took
out the letter I had for Akari from my pocket and stared at it. It was long pass the time we were
supposed to meet and I'm sure she was starting to worry now. It reminded me of that last call
we had. Why did it always have to turn out this way?
The train stopped for a full fteen minutes at Nogi Station before it started moving again.