Elizabeth

“My story will be over soon. But it’s not something to be sad about. Remembering those who went ahead. Remembering those who will follow after. And someday, we will meet all those people again, out beyond the horizon”
― Hiro Arikawa, Nana Du Ký

“It snowed for several days in a row.
When it finally let up, I sidled over to the side of the warehouse where I had a clear view of the hospital’s front entrance.
It was the first sunny day in a while, yet Satoru didn’t appear on the terrace.
When the sun began to set, Noriko oulled up in the silver van. Her face looked pale, her hair dishevelled.
I pattered up to her, but she said simply, ‘Sorry, Nana. You’ll have to wait,’ and walked swiftly inside.
…….
Noriko elbowed her way through them to Sat’s side.
‘Satoru, it’s Nana!’
Satoru’s closed eyelids quivered. As if fighting against gravity, they slowly lifted.
Unable to move his head, his eyes searched from side to side.
Noriko clasped Satoru’s hand and placed it gently on top of Nana’s small head.
Satoru’s lips moved faintly. She thought she heard him say, ‘Thank you.’
The ECG screen flat-lined.
Nana nuzzled the top of his head up and down against Satoru’s lifeless hand.”
― Hiro Arikawa, The Travelling Cat Chronicles

“We have not touched the stars,
nor are we forgiven, which brings us back
to the hero’s shoulders and the gentleness that comes,
not from the absence of violence, but despite
the abundance of it.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

“How could I ever leave him, having experienced that kind of love? I will never, ever, leave him.”
― Hiro Arikawa, The Travelling Cat Chronicles