Hiromi and The Night Sky

The Day It All Began

As the sun rose on the second Wednesday of the new school year a bright late summer light climbed into my window and lightly caressed my pale skin, making me squint my tired eyes. I hate Wednesdays, there is much work to be done in very little time. Then all of a sudden, before I had time to prepare, I was caught by Oba with the smell of heavy tobacco forcing its way into my room and overwhelming the space while I layed flat on my back like a sitting duck during hunting season in my ragged old futon.

"I told you about studying so much! You are very smart you don't need all this! You are the top of your class!" she continued to ramble on and on about how she wants me to do better than she did in school and such. This was something I bet my mother would be saying if she were still alive.

She passed away when I was around seven years old (On Christmas Eve of all Days) so I have lived with Oba, a good friend of my mother's ever since due to my not having any other relatives. Luckily for me, disease at early ages runs in my family. But I don't think that too much, i'm a busy body so I do housework and such of my own free will to help repay all the favors that have been done for me and to keep my mind off of sorrowful things.

"And that's why you don't need to study so much"! She finished talking after a solid eight minutes. Now thatś what I call Commitment... "Are you listening Hiromi?"

"Yes!" I responded on a whim, not completely understanding anything of what she said, "I promise I won't do it again but can you please just give me until I finish? Ple~ase?" I begged. I was going to do ok if I didn't study but that was not an option for me... I have to get outstanding grades to be like my mother was...I had been studying for a little over two weeks now.

"Fine, If you must. But you should go out and have fun while you can! You're still young you know-"!

"I understand, I understand..." I cut her off, "Otherwise," I said changing the topic ¨I will be down stairs to make breakfast and stuff in a minute... I'm almost done". I said, brushing of her earlier statements. I don't have time for fun right now.

My early morning routine began that day at 6:53 am. I got out of bed with a spring in my step, knowing I was going to ace the first test of my junior year in high school, and approached my closet, pulling out my uniform from the hanger all the way on the left side. It had a base color of black with yellow accents on areas such as the tie, bottom of my skirt and sleeves, usually coming in a stripe like pattern. It kind of looked like we were trying to dress up as highways (it's a common thing you hear about our school oddly enough). I changed into my under clothes and put on the uniform very carefully trying not to rip it because it was expensive and I definitely didn't have the money to replace it. As I struggled to put on my black knee high socks fast enough so I could clean up, make breakfast and lunch and get out the door I hopped on one foot (while putting a sock on the other) through my room door towards the hallway to the right, moving towards the kitchen to make breakfast. I had to clean the ashes on the table and remove all the beer cans from the counter before I could cook. You could say that Oba isn't the world. I then quickly made my bento packed with tons of my favorites and made some fried eggs and bacon for breakfast. After finishing that up I left a plate wrapped in plastic wrap with breakfast for Oba and ate mine on the table beside it. I then brushed my teeth and hair enough so that I looked acceptable and followed school rules and regulations. Soon after I cleaned up the bathroom, vacuumed, and swept the entryway.

"I'm off now!" I yelled from the entryway, putting on my brown school shoes.

"Alright" she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek "Have a good day, see you later on". She left, dashing towards the bathroom to prepare for work. For those who are curious, she is the manager at a local food store.

I left the house with good mood, a home made bento (cooked by yours truly), and a smile on my face. The funny thing was, although this was the same thing I did every day, it would never be the same ever again.