Sunset
“English, I learn.”
I remove an earbud. The man sits beside me on the train bound for Hiroshima.
“Your English is very good,” I say.
“Are you Ireland?”
“I’m from America,” I laugh.
“In America, where from?”
“Pennsylvania." The light of recognition leaves his eyes.
“It’s near New York City.”
The light returns. “I know.” He nods. “I know this place.”
“Have you ever been to America?”
He shakes his head. “I want to go to California. I go to Hawaii, too.”
“Maybe someday you can go,” I say. “My grandma lives in California. It’s very beautiful.”
“Maybe, but I cannot.” He opens his mouth, then closes it. He thinks for several seconds. I wait. Then he speaks into his phone – I catch some of the Japanese – and shows the translation to me:
“My father has Alzheimer's, so I cannot leave him.”
The coastline of an island passes us by.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Zachary Bray holds a degree in Japanese language from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and he spent a year studying abroad in Nagoya, Japan. This experience changed his life, and he seeks to weave it into his stories. Zachary lives in Indiana, Pennsylvania with his adorable terror of an Australian Shepherd, Stormy.