ONE MORNING

Dozing in the train is so comfortable, all seasons. That also includes when you’re sitting at the end of the long seat, leaning against the handrail. I’ve never heard of Americans and people from many countries dozing off in the train. Only Japanese people could understand this. I always see many workers and students dozing and leaning on someone’s shoulder, always apologizing as they spring out of their sleep.

    I read a love story last night, about a boy and a girl who were riding on the same train and had a chance to talk. It wasn’t their first time meeting each other——-they’ve known each other’s faces at the public library, but the only information was the book titles they borrowed, and the girl’s bag with a famous character printed on it. They fall in love, and by the end they would marry. Even though it is a total fiction, it made me think about meeting a future partner in the means of transportation. No one could ever expect what would happen, right?

    While I was thinking of the novel, the train made into a halt and on the station. It wasn’t my station so I kept on daydreaming. That was when the train started to move, and it was a sudden movement so my head bumped into the person sitting next to me.

    “I’m sorry,” I said, and looked up. The person’s face was located higher, and I realized I bumped into his or her shoulder. I tried to look at the person’s face.

    Suddenly my face stiffened. I knew him, and I knew this person because I see him every morning at school. There’s no way I could mistake him. My homeroom teacher!

    Mr. Doodles, we call him, because he likes to draw bad pictures on our tests, which he never realizes that it’s horrible. I didn’t like him much, because once he drew a cat (I guess he wanted to make it to be cat, because it had pointy ears and a long tail; however it was standing and had human hands) on my biology test that was 100percent. I felt like that cat ruined everything.

    Mr. Doodles turned, and nodded. He seemed that he didn’t realize I was his student. Great gosh he was a bit hopeless when it comes to everyday matters. He is a good math teacher, but never has a common sense as a person.

I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, before he would notice me. I swiftly stood up from my seat and moved to a different coach.

The image of the two couple in the story flitted across my mind.

Everything can’t be romantic. I sighed.