Isho ni asobi!

The world is big and hot and you are out in it. Even though it’s the late afternoon it’s still really hot. You see a few women walk by with umbrellas but it isn’t raining. Adults are really silly sometimes. You fluff your skirt a little and one or two of them say kawaii*. You do it again in encore and keep walking on, humming the doreaman* theme. It’s almost too hot for an adventure but the key word is almost. It’s never too hot for an adventure and even if it is you have enough money for some shaved ice which will make any adventure an adventure worth having. You bounce a bit more in your step in order to cool off a bit. You want to create your own wind. If you were melon pan chan* you could fly and that would be a bit like wind. You would like to fly.

If you flew you wouldn’t have to walk in these shoes which are really too big for you. They clonck on the concrete to announce your presence to everyone in the neighborhood. You could never be a spy with this noise. You’ll have to tell haha* that these are not good adventure shoes. You need shoes that fit but she says you grow to much and need shoes you can wear for a long time. Your new brother needs more shoes.

Watching mommy get fat was weird. You wonder how your brother got there and why he made mommy fat. She complained about it but ate a lot of weird things. She always made breakfast weird and it just didn’t taste the same. But now your brother is here with his loud crying and his tiny hands and his smelly diapers. You stopped needing diapers and that’s why you get to go on adventures and he has to stay at home. He just takes up space!!! So you go on adventures to get away from him and his space that he takes up. Stupid baby.

You don’t get what’s so great about a baby or why everyone fusses over every little thing he does. You can do more than giggle and poop and no one seems to care. You feel a bit funny but you can’t place what it is (and you won’t be able to place it until you’re older). You used to go on adventures with haha or daddy or maybe even sobo-chan if she came to visit. But now all anyone wants to do is play with the baby. You have to make your own adventures. NO one even said anything when you said “itekimasu” and left the house. They would have been so proud of you for coming up with that because you’ve never said it before. But no, the baby was crying and not saying anything so no one cared what you did. You stomp your feet louder at the thought of the stupid baby. Maybe one of those ladies with the umbrellas will come back and take you home with them. That would be nice. They’ll take you home and no one will notice until you’re a superhero saving the whole world and that stupid baby is just continuing on his way, being a stupid baby. Then your parents will say “Oh no! what have we done! We traded a super hero for that stupid baby.” And you’ll let them come play with you still as long as they promise to never make you go on adventures by yourself again.

It’s getting warmer now and every superhero needs their fuel. You go into the Conbini by yourself, like a big girl, and pick out an ice cream. Your haha always gives you enough for an ice cream cup and you save it until you’re on your way home from kindergarden with mommy. But she does it less and less. You walk home with friends now that the stupid baby’s at home. Apparently it’s too hot to take it for walks. But other mothers bring their babies to pick up your classmates. Your parents baby must be especially stupid. But the ice cream tastes good and in that moment all is forgiven. It’s coolness and sweetness spreads down to your toes almost making you shiver. Your stomach still growls and you don’t have money for chips or yakitori. You thank the clerk who gives you a look you won’t understand until you’re working an arubaito in a Conbini and you see a small child buying ice cream like it actually has financial freedom.

For now you have to go back to the stupid baby. Every superhero needs it’s nemesis after all. And if your nemesis is a stupid baby, it’s even easy to win against it. So lets play together stupid baby, so that I can defeat you when I’m older.

Ishoni asobi- let’s play together! (a bit childish)

Haha- mother, my mother, mom

Sobo-chan- your grandma, kind of liked memaw (I’m from the south leave me alone)

Arubaito- part time job.

I saw this little girl through the window of the bus. She flounced past some women with parasols, her shoes were indeed too big for her. She looked full of determination. I couldn’t even get her to wave at me (my hobby is getting babies and small children to wave at me, I know it’s weird.) She was also out walking by herself which surprised me because she couldn’t be much older than a first or 2^nd year in elementary school (if I’m generous). I wondered where she was going and I hope she didn’t faint because it was REALLY hot.