“And I might be even more sceptical,” added Goro.
“So you’re saying I need to work out this problem all on my own?”
But before anyone could answer, Mr Fukushima ran off the pavement and shouted, “Run! There’s a steel beam falling!”
Only two or three days ago, at this precise location, a piece of lumber had fallen onto the pavement injuring several people. Kazuo and Goro screamed and followed Mr Fukushima, but Kazuko remained rooted to the spot in terror. I’m going to be crushed to death! she thought. And the moment that thought came to her mind, a strange feeling engulfed her.
ALONE IN THE CITY AT NIGHT
Kazuko felt her body lift lightly in the air, as if picked up by some large invisible being. I need to move! she thought. Got to get away before I’m crushed!
It was almost as if her sheer need to be somewhere else had actually made her body become weightless. What’s more, Kazuko’s vision suddenly darkened, her ears rang, and then finally… there was silence.
When Kazuko regained consciousness, it was already midnight. Stars sparkled in the night sky. But only a little while earlier, she remembered seeing the late afternoon sun as it tinged the buildings a blushing red.
“Mr Fukushima!” called out Kazuko. She was about to call for Kazuo and Goro too, but instead she noticed that she was now all alone. She was standing on the road, right where she’d wanted to be to escape the falling beam. But when she turned back to the pavement, the beam was nowhere to be seen.
Kazuko gasped and covered her face with both hands. She glanced along the road that had been teeming with traffic and pedestrians just moments earlier, but there were no cars and no people any more. So it really was late after all, and she really was all alone — just Kazuko on a dreary street corner at midnight. Then it all started to make sense to her. A-ha! she thought. I must have leapt through time. That would explain everything!
As she stood there clutching her bag in the freezing night air, she wondered if there had even been a falling beam at all. Perhaps Mr Fukushima had just said that to see if it would make her time-leap. If that was his plan, then it must have worked. But how far in time had she leapt? What time was it now? Was it a different day? Or had she gone back more than a day?
Kazuko thought hard for several minutes, then she had an idea. She pulled out the notebook she always used in class and wondered if it might answer her questions. As she flipped through the pages, she noticed that all the notes she’d taken that day were already gone, and so were her notes from yesterday, which meant that she had travelled back two days to either the night of Monday the seventeenth or the early morning on Tuesday the eighteenth. Judging by the biting cold of the air, Kazuko felt pretty sure it was early on Tuesday morning.
In that case, I should be fast asleep in my bed at this very moment, thought Kazuko. But then, she thought, I’m standing here. So if I’m here now, does that mean there’s another me asleep in my bed?
Kazuko shook her head vigorously. So many unbelievable things had happened to her since just the other day that it was difficult to take everything in. And if there was another Kazuko asleep at her house right now, then where should the time-leaping Kazuko go? It was all so very confusing, and Kazuko hadn’t a clue what to do. If she tried to stay out all night, then surely she’d freeze to death. Or what if a patrolling policeman came across her? He’d think she was a runaway, and probably insist on taking her to the station. So what on earth should she do? Without making any clear decision, Kazuko simply started wandering in the direction of her house.
I could at least try going home, she thought to herself. Maybe I could peek through the window first. It would be extremely scary, of course, to see myself asleep in my own bed. But I have to know!
Kazuko plodded along, shivering, until she arrived at her doorstep. Unsurprisingly, the front door was locked, so she opened the gate at the side of the house and made her way to the back instead. Quietly and carefully, she approached her window, worrying all the while that someone might see her and think she was a burglar. But luckily, there were no policemen around and no dogs to bark at her either. So, slowly, she pressed her face against the glass and peered into her room, looking first to her night-light, that lent a comforting glow to the room, and then slowly trailing her eyes to the bed.
A JOURNEY BEYOND YESTERDAY
When she saw that there was nobody in her bed, Ka-zuko let out a big sigh of relief. But on the other hand, the bed did look quite untidy — as if someone had been sleeping in it just moments earlier. As her relief subsided, she realized that she had yet another problem to deal with. Her window was locked from the inside, as was the front door and the door to the kitchen, so there was no way for her to get back inside the house. She’d always felt safe, knowing her mother was so cautious. But now that she was standing on the other side, the feeling was quite different.
But what should I do? she thought to herself. I can’t possibly ring the doorbell at this hour and have my mother come to the door. After all, I was supposed to be in bed hours ago!
By now, Kazuko’s legs were shaking, and her teeth were chattering. Inside the house, her room looked so cosy and warm, with a plume of steam coming from a little kettle placed on top of the heater and the windows fogging with condensation inside. If I don’t get inside soon, she thought, I’m going to freeze to death out here!
At that very moment, Kazuko felt her body lift in the air. It was the same strange feeling she’d felt earlier at the construction site, only this time she’d made it happen herself. With her own will. Her own power of thought. I did it! she thought. I’m about to leap!
As the strange floating sensation grew stronger, Kazuko did her best to keep her mind focused on the inside of her room. Then suddenly, just like before, everything went dark and her ears began to ring.
The very next moment, Kazuko saw a bright light that somehow made her feel dizzy. Then, as the intensity of the light faded, she found herself standing inside her room in the bright afternoon sunlight.
“It’s the afternoon!” Kazuko yelped in surprise. “And I can time-leap! All by myself! Without anyone’s help!”
Having yelled all that out of sheer happiness, Kazuko came to her senses and covered her mouth.
How stupid am I? she thought. It would be a disaster if Mother heard me! Besides, I don’t even know what time of day it is right now! I don’t even know if it’s morning or afternoon… or if I’m still supposed to be at school… Mother will be so mad at me!
Kazuko stopped panicking and listened carefully. There was not a sound in the house, so maybe Kazuko’s mother and younger sisters were all out. Or had she leapt to yet a different day again? Quickly, she reached once more inside her bag for her notebook. But when she opened it, she saw there were no new notes since Friday the fourteenth, and all the pages after that were blank.
So that means it’s now Friday afternoon, thought Kazuko to herself. That means I jumped three days into the past this time. But can I really assume it’s Friday? It could even be Saturday. After all, I’m here at home now, so I might have missed my Saturday morning class.
“Oh my gosh,” said Kazuko to herself. “How can I figure this out?”