YUKI

“It was the times when hope and despair became rivalling best friends, when bonds strengthened and bonds broke, when midnight lullabies evoked assurance and foreboding, and when survival became a dream too hard to be fulfilled.” She starts speaking after a long gaze at the snow outside. I would’ve called it a happening evening, had it not been for us being stuck in this remote cabin in the middle of a snowstorm; the ‘best’ part being that there’s no electricity, internet, or phone service. But, Tyler and I are happy that we at least have shelter for the night, thanks to this old lady! I just hope that we are able to make it to the radio station maximum by tomorrow, else our boss might as well fire us.

“In those times, love could either be a blessing or a sin, for us, it turned out to be both…eventually.” Ms. Rosie continues, she’s telling us why she has been living alone in the middle of the woods like this. “Wars often leave everyone distraught, but this one was unforgettably agonizing – America entered on December 7, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The years that followed were like a befalling curse upon many and I was one of them.” She takes a sip from her coffee. “It all started sometime in ’30, when the depression was completely taking over and stock markets crashed drastically one after the other. I was one of the lucky ones coming from an upper middle-class family and we had a farm too, which was later converted into a thrift garden to sustain us as well as the orphanage run by my grandfather. Since my father was a lawyer, we could hold on to our assets through some good contacts and some proceedings thereafter. I remember it was just another Saturday for me when I was to accompany my father to our orphanage; he went there every weekend to look after its conditions and children and I was to observe and learn. That day, we saw each other for the first time. My then nine-year-old self was oblivious to that twelve-year-old boy’s plight. He came to us, wearing those ragged clothes and clung to my father. ‘New addition,’ said the warden and father smiled at him. I did not, I narrowed my eyes at him. But, he smiled with his crooked tooth and my heart felt light.”

“After that day, I found myself visiting the orphanage often, even on weekdays. Time went by as we grew up and I entered teenage, and in no time I started to love him. While other children used to play board games or hide-and-seek, we would be roaming around and playing in the woods all day long; Bainbridge Island is a beautiful place after all. And while everyone called me by my name – Rosie, he gave me a name to call for himself. ‘Yuki’ it was. It means ‘snow’ in Japanese. He used to look at me with those raven black eyes and say, ‘Yuki, come, let’s play!’ Little did he know how my heart skipped a beat every time he called me that. Although, it was much later that I got to know why he gave me that name.” Ms. Rosie lets out a soft smile, seeing both Tyler and I completely immersed in her story. She continues, “1935, few days before my fourteenth birthday, I asked him about his parents. It turned out that his parents didn’t die, but rather abandoned him. His parents were madly in love with each other and his father went against all his family members and societal mockery to marry his mother; she was a Japanese, her name was Akari-San. Mr. Thomas, his father, hailed from an upper middle-class family too and was doing well until he broke away from his family in order to marry Ms. Akari. In no time they had their first baby – Charles – the boy I was madly in love with by then and seven years later they had their second baby boy. Charles told me his name but I forgot, ehh, look what old age does to you!” She chuckles and takes another sip. We drink our coffee too; it’s still very snowy outside. “Ma’am, please continue.” Tyler seems to be enjoying the story as much as I am. “Although it became a little difficult sometimes for them to go through the year comfortably, things were working pretty fine until the Great Depression struck us all and since Charles’ father didn’t have his connections anymore, they suffered immense loss. Unlike us and like most people, all their assets didn’t belong to them anymore. Mr. Thomas tried very hard to make ends meet during the early weeks following the unfortunate event but to no avail. At last, Ms. Akari and he did the one thing they thought they could. I still remember how Charles told me the sentence, with his head bent down, ‘Mother brought me to this orphanage four days before I saw you and your father. She told me to wait as she would go and fetch some woods. I abided and waited patiently but she never returned. All I can hope now is that they are doing well; I miss them.’ My heart ached then.”

“A year later when I turned fifteen, I started working part-time as a nurse to support our annual income. A lot of children of the orphanage became adults by then, including Charles. They took up odd jobs here and there and helped in looking after the new children of the orphanage. That way, we always got to see each other. On the days when he came to our house, we’d sit by the window and listen to the radio and on other days we’d sneak in the kitchen when mother would be out and eat some more macaroni and cheese. I know it is selfish to say this but although some people were barely surviving, it was a beautiful time for us. We didn’t even know how the days were going by and soon after I turned sixteen, we started to get closer. We spent a lot of time on our thrift garden and helped cultivate vegetables and herbs. My father liked Charles from the very first day itself and gradually my mother also started adoring him; he became part of our small, happy family. I was the only child in our family, therefore I was always pampered, to the point that grandfather renamed the orphanage ‘Rosie’s Children’ when I was given my name after birth. But, Charles was pampered no less, in fact, he was the very first child to receive so much love from my family. My father considered him as his own son. It felt good when Charles used to tell me how happy he had become after I came into his life. Somewhere down the line, I knew from within that he felt the same for me as I felt for him, but I waited for him to tell me first. Our love was evident through the smallest of ways even, it just couldn’t escape any naked eye.”

Ms. Rosie goes into a trance for a minute, probably living those memories again as she reminisces. “There was this one time in a spring evening when we were sat on a tree talking about random things, and then we kissed. It was a first for us both and it just happened; the soft contact of mere seconds left an imprint on my heart that I’ve been cherishing forever. Neither of us said a word after, we went home just like that. And in the summer during that very year, I had the best moment of my life. We were just strolling in the woods when he said, ‘I wish for winter to arrive soon.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He looked into my eyes and said, ‘Because I love snow.’ That was the first time I felt like my heart stopped for a whole minute. I couldn’t utter a single word and just blushed the whole time as he went on, ‘My mother and I used to play our hearts out during winters. In tough times, she always assured me that we’ll soon build the next snowman and that kept me warm. I was an innocent child back then. When I first met you and got to know you thereafter, I saw my old self in you. And maybe I started falling for you ever since. My Yuki, My warmth.’ He melted my heart and I kissed him on the cheek, but still couldn’t tell him those words – ‘I love you’. That day, I decided that I’d confess my love on the first day of snowfall during that very year. As days and months passed and our love continued, we didn’t have a care in the world. We were like sunflowers in a field that danced along to the sun. Soon after, winter finally came and as it started to get colder, I felt like my world was getting filled with fireflies, one at a time. In the meanwhile, we built this cabin. It was meant to be our special place. Finally, the first snow fell on early December. I remember dressing prettily that day and rushing to the orphanage. What I didn’t expect to see was my father waiting for me, holding a letter in his hand. ‘I sent him to the military to serve, he’ll be able to make a living on his own that way and even support his future family.’ I felt as though I couldn’t breathe. ‘But father, why?’ ‘It’s for your own good. If you think that I don’t know anything about you two, then you’re wrong. If you want a good life and respect in future, let that boy work hard.’ Father handed me the letter that Charles left me, ‘Here, it shall help you go through the days.’ As I opened it, the letter was immediately greeted with tears. It read :

Dear Yuki,

You must already know by now. I have to go serve in the military. I do not know how long it’ll be before we meet again but let’s hope that we’ll watch the next first snow together. I shall come back as a better man and pursue you. Wait for me.

Yours lovingly

Charles

There was also an Iris flower drawn by the side of his name, it symbolized ‘hope’. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. And that one piece of paper kept me going. I didn’t shed a single tear. But fear gripped me when the second world war started. It was a very dark period in history. I prayed every day that America shouldn’t go to war. That year, on the day of the first snow, I waited for him but he didn’t come. I cried. I asked father what could be the reason but he too didn’t have answers. He just assured me that Charles would come soon and asked me to wait and so I did.”

“Why did you stop? Please go on.” Tyler says. Ms. Rosie seems to be tearing up a little.

“But, he didn’t come even on the next snow and the next too. I turned twenty by the time and learned to be patient in waiting. But, dread fell upon when two months later on December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and four days after Roosevelt declared war. I couldn’t spend a single day in peace knowing he was in the military and what scared me the most was that he was half Japanese; most Americans were developing a negative attitude towards the Japanese by then. And even though I prayed and cried every night, my worst nightmare came true on February 19, 1942 – Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 demanding the relocation of all people of Japanese descent to incarceration and concentration camps. We saw people shifting in huge numbers and those who refused were dragged regardless. Our island was one of the main places of focus due to the comparatively vast number of immigrants. Many of us felt helpless and sorry as we couldn’t do anything for our Japanese brethren and people like me suffered the most. We held onto whatever leftover memories of them.”

Ms. Rosie takes a deep sigh. “What happened then? Did he come back?” I asked.

“No. I have been waiting since.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Following the months after the order, there were some news saying that all the people will return safely once the war ends but only some of them returned. No one knows what happened to them. While some men spoke of the brutality the captives faced back then, others claimed nothing of that sort happened and said that the causes of deaths were natural. I don’t know what happened to Charles and that a wait can be this long and agonizing, but I know he will come back. I’ve been waiting and I’ll keep on waiting. And on the first day of snow that we get to see together, I shall confess my love for him. I shall tell him that I’ve only ever loved him as we’ll watch the snowfall together.” A tear finally escapes her eye. I won’t lie but I kinda feel sad too. I turn to Tyler to find him already crying. “But ma’am,” he says, sniffing, “Have you never tried to contact people and tell your story? I’m sure anyone will be ready to help after hearing it. If not, then please let us help you. Let us help you find Charles.” Ms. Rosie smiles. I give a look to Tyler for giving false hopes to her, he’s just acting on his emotions right now. Yes, Charles might be alive and we can easily help because we work at one of the finest broadcasting companies of U.S.A but chances of him being alive are very slim. But nevertheless, I guess we can give it a try. It’s a good story after all and media is always interested in collecting accounts of survivors of war. This might as well save us both from our boss’ wrath tomorrow when we report to the Bainbridge station explaining why we couldn’t reach them today; we can’t possibly tell them that we lost our way and then got stuck in this snowstorm, we might lose the deal with this station and then our boss might…you know!

“Many people have heard my story. After all, some souls just want their story to be heard as they wait.” She says, “People like you who get lost in this wood often find their way here and they listen to my story. They promise me that they will help me but once they leave, no one ever returns. I doubt you will.”

“No, ma’am,” I say, “Believe us. We can help you and we will. We’re from a broadcasting company and if things go well, your story shall be roaring in the states within no time. I’m not assuring you anything but we may be able to find Charles for you.”

“Yes, we’ll do our best, I promise.” Tyler says.

She smiles again, “It’s very dark now, go get some sleep. I’m off to my room. Goodnight.”

We sleep by the fireplace; I don’t know why but this place doesn’t even have the basics of modern items.

***

I wake up to a frantic Tyler shaking me as if world war 3 has started.

“What man?! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Jesus, Niall! Wake the f**k up, we need to leave, NOW!!!”

“But…”

“Shut up and let’s goo!” He literally drags me out of the cabin.

The snowstorm stopped at midnight. It’s clear daylight and everything is visible. After rushing to our car that was stuck at a distance, I finally ask him, “What the hell was all that about? I get that we’re running late but we have a story to cover now. So chill, we’re good.”

“What story?” He asks as he starts driving fast, “Huh? What story? The one about the woman we just met who died twenty years ago?”

“No, the one about Ms. Ro…Wait. WHAT?”

“Oh, just shut up and let me drive, I’ll explain everything later. For now, let’s just hope that we make it out of the woods soon, Oh Jesus, please help us!”

I still don’t know what he is talking about or maybe I just don’t want to know. But, come to think about it, she doesn’t seem that old for her age right now and no one else lives here. She doesn’t have any electricity, network or phone service. She didn’t even seem to have food; the coffee was ours too. And she said that she’s been living here forever. How?

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After all, some souls just want their story to be heard as they wait…