The Purple Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

wanted some things to be different, at
least her life was simple. She still had a small circle of friends, most of
whom also spent their early lives in the internment camps. Like herself, they
were all widows. It was an unspoken morbid truth that their circle would
eventually grow smaller.
    So for each other, they
solemnly and quietly shared as much as possible in their last few years. They
often live in their own quiet solitude, feeling lonely and neglected and not
wanting to be a bother to their own families. They knew that their children had
their own lives. But more often than not, a phone call, an invitation to a
family event gave them immeasurable enjoyment. These were going to be their
last years and they were trying to enjoy them as best they could.
    Minami accepted her
solitude. She had always been more or less alone. She didn’t remarry as she had
only one true love, Hiroshi. Her granddaughter’s unexpected mention of him
brought back the image of him. His smile flashed across her mind, which brought
a moment of happiness to her. She only remembered him being young, since he
never had the chance to grow old with her. She wondered how he would look as an
older man and found that she couldn’t. His handsome young self is how she
remembered him.
    Her granddaughter caught
her on a good day. Minami had just prepared a cup of tea to enjoy while catching
up on a few magazines. With the phone still held to her ear and the cup of tea
in the other hand, she walked into her living room and eased herself down onto
the sofa. She never had the chance to tell her grandchildren about their
grandfather. Yet her granddaughter had just hinted, “before I lose the chance,”
but the reality was, before Minami lost the chance as well.
    “Well Aiko,” started Minami
as she brought the teacup up. “Where should I begin? I’ll start with my younger
days right before I met your grandfather,” she said as the steam from the tea
rose up.
    * * *
    The curious sea breeze
seeped in through the slightly opened window. Its ethereal presence wandered
about the room aimlessly as it wasn’t used to the confines of the structure it
had just entered. It was used to being free, but it was curious that day. But
now it was confused, carrying an essence of the salty ocean water from where it
was born. It glided about and around the room until it saw the young woman. She
was asleep, nestled into her bed and lying on her side. It circled about her,
stalking almost, until finally it swooped in under her nostrils at the exact
time she inhaled. The delicate skin of its presence tore instantly releasing
its salty essence as it disappeared into her nose, dissipating into
nothingness.
    Minami stirred from her
sleep as the smell of the fresh salty ocean tickled her nostrils. She turned
over and her closed eyes met the starting rays of the rising sun of that Sunday
morning. Instinctively, she placed the back of her hand over her eyes to ward
off the offending rays. She stayed that way as her mind started to float to
consciousness from an abyss of mental nothingness. She turned onto her back and
raised both of her arms with clenched fists into the air as she arched her body
to wake up every part of herself in one valiant effort. Her body fell back into
the warmth of her bed, her arms plopped along her sides and she relaxed. The
smell of breakfast had already started to seep in through the room and she knew
her mother would be calling for her soon. Rather than wait for that to happen,
she grasped the side of the blanket and lifted it off of herself so that she
could finally and reluctantly leave the warmth of her bed.
    Minami quickly slipped her
feet into her slippers, which were always turned outward from the bed. The
slippers snugly enveloped her feet. She rose up and passed her dresser where
the mirror’s sides were dotted with awards in all shapes and sizes. She exited
into the hallway and into the bathroom on the right.
    Her five-year-old brother
Yoshi