Sublime

Makiko, the one visiting me today from Osaka, is my older sister. She’s thirty-nine and has a twelve-year-old daughter named Midoriko. She raised the girl herself. For a few years after I turned eighteen, I lived with them in an apartment back in Osaka, when Midoriko was just a baby. Makiko and her husband had split up while she was pregnant, and a

A large, bulbous plant grew from the wall above Dari’s head. Several of its stems were attached to Dari’s arms and forehead. The plant bloomed blue flowers near the top, and the part of its pod closest to Dari pulsated to the rhythm of his breathing. Air softly blew out of a small flower to a steady rhythm, making a whistling sound each time.