She exited through the ticket gate and headed down the asphalt path to the point where the brick path veered suddenly to the left. There were a lot of parked bicycles and as she started down the brick path, she noticed a mini-supermarket and beyond that a drugstore.
Under an eave of the supermarket was a white umbrella, hanging upside down by its handle.
She walked up to it in wonder, then clapped her hands together.
Above the umbrella that hung from the soffit lay a swallow’s nest, with the canopy of the inverted umbrella positioned to catch bird droppings.
Shoko couldn’t help but express her awe at this innovation to the security guard, an older man, who was keeping an eye on the bicycles.
‘How thoughtful!’ she said.
The security guard, who she guessed to be a part-timer who had taken this job after reaching retirement age, turned and regarded Shoko with a dubious gaze. He appeared not to have heard what she’d said.
‘What a good idea!’ Speaking a bit louder, Shoko pointed to the umbrella hanging upside down. This time he seemed to have understood.
‘Oh, yes, that. We mustn’t take down the swallows’ nests. They travel such a great distance, they’re auspicious birds. But when they build their nest here, what can we do? Customers will get covered with droppings. So we all came up with this idea.’
Shoko finally understood what the old lady on the train had meant by those words.
A lovely station and what seemed like a lovely town (although it was so small that calling it a town was a bit of a stretch).
It made her want to buy something from this store that hung an umbrella from its eaves in order to honour both the swallows and their customers. Come to think of it, she had barely eaten anything at the wedding reception and now she was a bit peckish. There was a bench out front too, so perhaps she would treat herself to a little something to eat and some tea to go with it?
Shoko bowed to the security guard and went inside. At the front was an array of vegetables at bargain prices – she was tempted to buy some but thought better of it; she didn’t feel like carrying them all the way home.
It didn’t take long to make her way around the entire store, but for such a small space, it had an impressive selection. The mini-market was modest in scale but extremely resourceful with its stock, plus it stayed open late at night. Particularly convenient for someone who lived alone. You could quickly grow tired of eating meals from the convenience store.
There was an assortment of prepared foods near the cash register: bento meals and such like, as well as a basket piled up with onigiri. Except these were not typical convenience-store-style packaged items – the rice was studded with pickles, rolled by hand into balls and wrapped in cellophane. Charmed by their homeyness, Shoko selected an ume-shiso onigiri along with a bottle of green tea, and paid for them.
Today’s clear skies had offered a break in the rainy season, and the bench felt pleasantly warm. Without a second thought about creasing her dress, she finally sat down, her stubborn insistence on standing while on the train now evaporated.
The onigiri looked simple and unpretentious, like the ones her mother used to roll and press into shape with all the requisite maternal care. Shoko savoured it, chewing slowly and washing it down with the tea. That single rice ball was enough to quell her hunger.
Shoko threw the empty wrapper and bottle in the trash bin, and then called out to the security guard she’d spoken to earlier.
‘Excuse me?’
‘What can I do for you?’ the security guard responded affably, perhaps still feeling pleased about her praise for the umbrella idea.
‘Is there a store around here where I can buy some clothes?’
This mini-market didn’t have a clothing section so she figured it wouldn’t be rude to ask him.
The security guard cocked his head, confounded. Perhaps it was unlikely he’d know about any local women’s boutiques.
Eventually, though, he pointed to a large supermarket that faced the sloping path towards the station.
‘I think they have a ladies’ clothing section in there.’
Compared to this cosy little store, the building looked huge – there was no way of missing it.
Shoko thanked the man and bowed, then started down the slope.
Shoko in her stark white dress received a few non-judgemental looks. This town had an everyday feel to it, and most of the people coming and going in the early afternoon along this sloping path were dressed casually. Her dress stood out conspicuously.