Chapter 3

I don’t know why, but I looked forward to meeting the little girl. It wasn’t because she was fun to be with. On the contrary, being with her is very awkward. Perhaps I just wanted to give her my present as soon as possible. But I also don’t know why I would want that. Maybe sometime, I’ll figure it out.

 “Yo!” I called, peeking in from the door of her room, hiding a poorly-wrapped gift behind me as I did.

There she was, sitting on her bed with her blanket covering her up to her hips. She looked at me and opened her mouth a little, only to close it again without saying anything. She then turned away, looking blankly at her blanket-covered legs.

Unlike the previous month, I came after lunch. I arrived there a quarter after two and went directly to her room after giving Nee-san her allowance. She was busy helping Noburu-san eat so I didn’t talk to her much.

The little girl’s room still had its window curtains closed. The lights were also closed, so the only light in the room came from the little sunlight that managed to seep through the curtains. It was dark. With the air conditioner turned on, the room seemed very comfortable to sleep in.

I grabbed a folded chair that was leaning on the wall, by the door, and carried it by the bed. I then unfolded it and took a seat. She didn’t even look at my direction when I carried the chair over. Whether she already expected me to do that or she just didn’t care, I’m not sure.

I waved the gift in front of her, quite excited to see her reaction. But, betraying my expectations of an interesting reaction, she just turned to me and asked, “What’s that?”

“I promised to bring you something good last time, remember? Well, this is it!” I proudly answered, feeling pretty awkward at the same time with the way I said that.

Her hands took a tight grip on the edge of her blanket then released it. She then hesitantly lifted her two hands a little, where I slipped my gift in. She then carefully unwrapped the little item without any sign of excitement in her eyes. I easily lost my confidence in my gift as I watched her. But I just hoped for the best.

Finally getting the gift opened, she stared at the cover of the book I gave her. It was a translated version of a French book, Le Petit Prince. “Happy birthday!” I exclaimed.

 “It’s not my birthday,” she answered in a monotonous voice.

“Really? When is your birthday then?” I asked.

She just stared at the book I gave her for a while, ignoring my question. “Ari…gatou,” I soon heard her whisper.

“What’s that?” I asked, pretending not to hear. But she didn’t say or do anything in response. After waiting for around a minute, I stood up and went towards the window. “I’ll open the curtains so you could read.”

“NO!” she called out with her loudest voice I’ve heard so far. I turned to her, surprised. She looked frightened for a moment, and then turned her attention back to the book in her hands. “Just turn on the lights.”

I didn’t know why she wanted the lights on, when there would be enough light for reading if I just opened the curtains. But I knew better than to ask. I turned on the lights as she opened the book.

When she began reading, I had no idea what I could do. I just sat on the chair beside her bed and silently read it with her, prepared to answer any question she might have. But, as I should have expected, her attention was completely absorbed into the book, as if I wasn’t even there.

I gave my farewell and left the room. She didn’t show any signs of reaction as I did. I wondered how long until she finishes the book; probably just a few days. I went on my way back home, thinking of what else I can do to entertain her. Thinking of how she treated me earlier though, I can’t help but wonder if I wasn’t just wasting my time.




Le Petit Prince = The Little Prince