The Last Breakfast

My dead wife appeared in the dream.

We started dating in college and got married when we were 24.

She appeared in high school uniform,looked young.I had never seen her of that age before.I don't remember the details or what she said in the dream. But it was a dream that can make me feel warm and happy.

I woke up in the morning and did my usual stretching exercises. The lumbago has been getting worse recently. If you refuse to give in to old age everywhere, you will be laughed at by your colleagues.

I want to get out of my pajamas and put on a suit, but I can't find the gray suit I'm going to wear for today's important meeting when I scan my wardrobe.

I don't remember sending it to the laundry, because of my meticulous personality, even if I drink too much at night, I will hang my pants on the coat rack neatly before I go to bed.So it's kind of weird that I can't find it right now.

Headache. Where did it go? I folded my arms and thought about it, but I still can't figure it out.

Maybe it's because I drank really too much last night.My memory is all mixed up, and I can't turn over a decent fragment at all.Think about the past,we used to drink until morning and go straight to work,so sad.

I have a bad habit of ignoring all other projects until I tackle the things that matter most to me at the moment, but I'm not in the mood to rumble through my closet at home before going to work,I already aware of the growing amnesia. But, to be honest, I was shocked when I couldn't remember where I put my suit.

Maybe it was in another room. I forced myself to compromise.

The morning breaks early in this summer. Even though it was not yet 6 o 'clock, the sun had already made a path of light through the gap in the curtains on the bed.

I've been getting up remarkably early lately. Is this getting old? I grabbed the thinning hair on my head and grinned bitterly.

It takes a full hour to get to the office. Usually I read the newspaper before going out. Today I'll read it in the subway. Anyway, I'll look for the suit first.

I open the door and leave the bedroom. The cold air in the room kept my skin dry, but as soon as I get to the hallway, the heat and moisture wrap me up.

 I noticed something strange.

There was some movement in the house.

The noise came from the dining room.A thief?

I walked gingerly down the corridor towards the smell of human life. Was a home of an ordinary office worker and a widower worth burgling?

According to an old woman nearby, there seems to be an increase in burglaries in this area recently. What should I do? Is there something I can grab to pretect myself?

No,even a broom or a mop, I wish I had one in my bedroom.

While thinking wildly,finding no countermeasure, I timidly push the door of the dining room.

"Good morning. You get up early."

Huh? I stared blankly across.

It's a young girl. Not nearly as good as I expected. She is frying eggs in the kitchen.

With a closer look, she is wearing a high school uniform and an aprone.

Wait, what's going on here? Early in the morning, a female high school student was cooking in the house of a middle-aged man who’s over 50.

The headline story of the web page comes to my mind.

Shocked!! The status quo of a girl who runs away from home: She dedicated her body just for food and lodging.

Wait a minute, I did have a drink yesterday, but I can't remember where I picked up a high school girl like this one.But I can't even remember where I put my suit, I feel my memory can't be relied on.

No, no, that's impossible. I wouldn't do that no matter how much I drank. Take a high school girl home? Nonsense.

Is it not a crime? Abduction of an underage girl. Fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years. I suddenly pictured myself entering the cell alone, with my head in my hands.

“Don't stand idly by the door, sit down and wait for breakfast.”

A girl with an innocent smile,cute smile.She looked exactly like my dead wife.The same face,the same eyes. No, no, no. She's a high school girl. She's a kid.I warn myself that in the face of this situation, you have to be an adult with judgment before you can be a man who can't understand the situation, right?

The girl took the curry powder out of the fridge and put it into the pot. The aroma of curry was palpable.

"Look at you, a huge body standing in that way. It's too much of a nuisance."

The girl's tone is completely free of tension, but also quite intimate. My heart feels tight, is such a kid and I have done something wrong?

No, I don't think so...

Did I? I have no memory at all, and I can't answer it myself. I hate myself like this.

The girl pushed me to the table.

"Well, wear you gray suit today. I put it on a clothes hanger in the washing table. Remember to put your pajamas in the laundry basket when you take them off."

"Oh, thank you." I had to go with the flow.

"They'll pick you up at seven-thirty, so get ready by then."

Pick me up? Who?Why? Am I going anywhere with this high school girl? From the moment I opened my eyes, I was full of inexplicable things.

Wait a minute. I had a dream last night about my wife.

I don't remember what she said, but she's still the way she was in high school.

A foolish imagination began in my head. Had she returned?

There should be no such thing. I'm an atheist. I don't believe in ghosts. Furthermore, even if my wife appears as a ghost, I can't understand why she is a female high school student. In addition, can the ghost make curry fried eggs?

I plucked up the courage to ask, "Sorry, who are you ?"

The girl froze. She accidentally folds the fried egg in the pan in half.

With a bang, the spatula in her hand fell into the pot.

I was taken aback.

"Do you really still don't recognize me?"

She looked at me with a strange expression,in amazement or dismay.

"Sorry, I don't remember what happened yesterday at all. Where is your home? It's better to contact your parents before you go back."

The girl looked at me with lonely eyes, and began to cook again without saying anything. She put the thawed sausage into the pan.

"Are you listening? No, what are you thinking about? If you have any trouble, you can talk to me. But you have to go home eventually. Your parents might be worrying about you."

The curry is stronger. The sausages were squeaking in the pan.

"Well, when have you been here? I'm really sorry, my memory is vague. It feels like waiting for a stranger to cook for you in her house."

"All the time..."

The girl muttered.

"Eh?"

"I've been in this house all the time..."

What is she talking about?

I feel a little uncomfortable.

I don't know such a girl.

I research the memory, still no clue.

Is it really the soul of my wife?

She came to pick me up? So I'm going to die, or am I already dead? Is this another world?My wife in our most familiar place, with the most moving appearance to greet me.

I suddenly thought of the plot in Keigo Higashino's novel The Secret: the protagonist’s wife and daughter had an accident during a trip. The wife failed to survive, and the daughter miraculously woke up after being seriously injured and unconscious. Then he finds that the wife's personality and memories are loaded into the body of the recovered daughter.

In other words.the protagonist lost his wife's body and daughter's soul by accident, and the remaining two became one. A bewildered man live with a woman who has a daughter's body and a wife's soul secretly and wonderfully under the same roof.

Is there a sadder story for a middle-aged man?

This young girl, who is so similar to my wife, may be carrying my wife's soul in her body.

If so, how did the girl's body show up? No matter where she comes from, she must be familiar with the house, she's very familiar with what she's doing.

"All the time... What does it mean?"

"Please sit down while I get breakfast ready."

"No, it's obvious that a kid girl I don't know cooking in my own kitchen. How can I keep silent?" I can't help it.

"You sit down!"

Said the girl loudly.

I lost in momentum and became silent.

The sausages on the pan are burning.

I sat uneasily in my seat.

She doesn't seem to be a bad girl, and knows me well.

But what does "all the time" really mean?

The girl brought in the breakfast she had prepared.

I ate in silence.

I do not know why, it is a nostalgic taste.

"Is it tasty?"

"Mmm, it's delicious."

"Thank you."

We exchanged glances.

"Well, who are you? What did you mean by 'all the time'?"

In response to my question, she still looked down and said nothing.

Just when I couldn't bear the silence, she spoke.

 "Dad, you... were a little tired after mom died. You have already quit your job, but you wear a suit to go out every day, and you punch and kick the nanny aunt. I have contacted all the nearby housekeeping companies, and once they heard that it was you, none of them were willing to take the job.

However, I can't rest assured of you, so I try my best to do it. I also dropped out of college and decided to start looking for a job. In fact, I have always wanted to take care of you,daddy. But I have to participate in the recruitment. I have discussed it several times with the doctor and you. From today on, you're moving to a nursing home,remember? "

Can't remember.

 "So this is the last meal to eat together... Every morning you forgets me, and every time I see an upset dad, it is so painful..."

 The girl cried.

 I can't remember.

 This girl’s business, my business...

 Anything……