Haruko Otonashi

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2020

Stories (7)

7 Stories

145 karma pts

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“24-Inch Screen ” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #49

24-inch. 16:9 aspect ratio, 1920X1080 resolution. That was his world. Enclosed from the outside, it was nothing more than a suffocating cage. Even he himself was aware of that. But he chose not to care. Or rather, he chose what he perceived to be the wiser decision. ‘The outside world—’ His phone beeped with a notification. He glanced at it, the simple message from someone he cannot perceive. The person standing outside his door now, waiting anxiously, with a phone in her hand. He swept it off his table, landing with a soft thud on h...

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“Red Letter Day ” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #47

You opened the letter.Of course you did. I mean, why wouldn’t you? Red envelopes are a rarity these days, aren’t they? I myself have once received a love letter in red before—but that turned out to be a prank, so that is irrelevant. Over in the Far East, people make it a tradition to give out red envelopes filled with money on New Year’s Day—but today is not New Year’s Day, I assure you it is not. And there is no money to be found here.I write this letter to tell you that your death is near.Are you panicking? Are you laughing? I’ll tell you,...

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“Today, I Want to See the Ocean” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #44

Your name is Fujisaka Wasure. Age 27. Gender female. Do not panic if you realise you don’t remember your name. It was unpleasant, to say the least, to wake up to this message scrawled upon my forearm, in terrible handwriting, in what looked like black permanent marker. My head was spinning, I searched my mind in a frenzy, only to come up blank. That was right. I didn’t remember my name. I pulled up the nightgown I was wearing. There was another message—an accompaniment to the first one. ‘You forget everything wit...

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“You” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #43

There are those of us, who look for something in nothing. And then there are those of us, who pick up burnt-out dreams, thinking they can be rekindled. We laughed by the riverside, picking up stones and counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold. Seven for a secret never to be told. Then you left me, and I cried, because we were kids and kids didn’t know of sorrow, only of joy. There were many things we have yet to know, isn’t that right? Many thin...

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“Departure-- The Day We Said Goodbye ” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #40

I grasped tight in my hand, the strap handles dangling from the roof of the train. At least, it was the one thing I have yet to let go. Unlike the many things I had to let go of this day. The train bumped upwards, sending a jitter through my body. A drag to the right as the train ground to a halt at a station. The familiar ‘ding-dong’ as the doors slid open, I closed my eyes and imprinted it within my brain. This definitely wouldn’t be the last time I rode this commuter, but whatever I still have, I want to grasp tight. I want to know it’s...

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“A Tale of A Trillion Years and One Night ” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #39

I’ll tell you a story of a trillion years and one night.When you climbed up those perilous hills and gazed up at the star-spangled skies—not now, of course, because you’re probably gazing, with your narrow-sided view, upon that hazy screen of yours—but a few years from now. Or maybe a good couple of decades. Who knows? My memory fails me more than it serves.But regardless of the time, you will.Lugging that heavy, black bags of yours, stuffed to the brim with telescopic equipment. You’d be with a companion or two, people insignificant to me, ...

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“When the Rain Refused To Let Up” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #34

The family was staying in the house a lot more than they used to. Another war? That was the first thing my mind leapt to. But as the younger brother carried in the mail, I scanned through it and noticed no propaganda screaming on the headlines. Nor any posters urging young people to enlist for the army. The father locked himself up in the office, the mother cooked for nearly every single meal, the younger brother and older sister did not go to school, even though it was a Monday. I was definitely not used to the noise. As I wrote in my jou...

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Author bio

What am I doing? Such thoughts cross my mind, crosses it like a shooting star through the sky, brief and fleeting, and just as quickly forgotten. Thoughts like that, I can brush aside with a shrug. But deep down, I've always known. That I never was doing anything. That I had always been standing still, watching the world leave me behind.