OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

PICK ONE

The typhoon No.23 (TOKAGE) kept me at home all afternoon today. It gave me some unexpected free time because my daytime work was cancelled, but I was sick of having to stay at home like that. It happened way too often this year!!

Whenever the TV news shows people evacuated to schools, I remember the time my family evacuated to our relatives' house in my childhood. There was a landslide warning and we had to pack up and leave house ASAP. My dad brought bankbooks and the most important hanko (personal seal), mom brought our clothes, and grandma didn’t bring anything else but our ancestors' ihai (family mortuary tablet). When I was packing my school bag, my parents told me to give the highest priority to school textbooks and stationeries, so I couldn’t bring my toys with me. But I brought some notebooks without telling my parents. I was secretly writing stories and drawing manga in those notebooks then, and they were my “treasure” at that time.

Then one question popped up in my mind. If I have to evacuate now, as an adult, what would I pick if I were to choose ONE thing to bring with me in addition to the emergency kit? (Mobile phone is included in the emergency kit.) Only one thing. Something I consider to be most important --- just like the “treasure” in my childhood. Something I don’t want to lose. Something I want to keep with me in emergency situation. What would that be?

I thought about it for a while and soon came up with an answer, but I didn’t like the answer very much. NO…I want the answer to be something touching… like a letter/present from the most important person in my life, or photos of the best time of my life, or a book which changed my life … something along that line.
A laptop PC and CD-ROMs sound just too realistic!!
posted by obachan, 10/20/2004 10:28:00 PM

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