One Star

I found a faded photo in an old photo album. It was a photo of my family having a meal. I don't know who took the photo. All the people in the photo, except for my brother, are no longer with us . That house has been demolished and is now a road. It's all as if nothing had happened. The fireworks were launched. We cheered and looked up at the night sky. We were surprised and delighted in every moment, breathing like wildflowers under the night sky. And then the last fireworks were launched, and countless sparks would fall quietly like our tears. In that blinking moment, we were born, flickered as life, withered, and disappeared. The cheers would echo forever and ever as the voices of the soul, never disappearing from this earth, no, from this image. It was as if nothing had happened, even though we were no longer there. -Hideto Ishii