One of the most important rules of being a traveler: don't get involved. As guests, we have to abide by their rules and laws, even if their customs seem unsavory to us. Otherwise, there might be consequences.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
[He glances over to the window, expression a soft smile.]
I'm just a piece of their heart. I can't say what the real me was thinking when he did it, or if he was thinking at all.
But as a result, they value their own survival very strongly. They were saved because of me, but they wouldn't do the same for someone else if they were in my position.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
A crowd had gathered outside the inn. Their faces were twisted in expressions of anger, rage, and disgust. The official was the only one who kept a calm look, pointing out the way out of the country.
Kino turned toward me, crouched down, and said as he looked into my face,
"This is goodbye, then, ×××××."
"You're leaving already?"
I asked him, why not stay for two or three more days? In the case that I ended up receiving the operation, I wanted to know what attitude would I be having toward Kino when I talked to him afterwards. I wanted to try talking to Kino after becoming an adult.
However, Kino said,
"It's my policy to stay only three days in any one country. I can learn almost everything about most countries in that length of time, and if I take longer than that, I won't be able to visit as many new countries... Goodbye. Be well."
I lightly waved at him, and Kino started climbing aboard the motorrad. But then my father approached me, carrying a long, thin kitchen knife. My mother was right next to him. Kino turned around.
My father looked at the official. The official nodded.
I was clueless as to why my father would bring a kitchen knife outside, when standing right before me, no less. I found the sight to be quite comical.
Kino asked the official,
"Why is that man carrying a kitchen knife?"
The official, in a tone completely unchanged from before, spoke the most ridiculous of things,
"Let me explain to you, then, as a special case. It is for the disposal of his daughter."
There is no end to the film roll. Right now, they can only continue to watch as an observer - as though it were all simply occurring on a projected screen before them.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Color drained from Kino's face. I did not immediately understand what was happening, however. I only heard Kino's voice of surprise,
"What?"
"Like I said, disposal. The girl has denied the magnificent operation and disobeyed her parents-- disobeyed those above her. We can not afford to leave such a child to her own devices. Children are, at all times and in all cases, the possessions of their parents. Parents created their children, and it is within their natural rights to dispose of their failed creations."
With the official saying that, I finally realized that I was going to be killed. But even though it was true that I knew it, and that I did not want to die, there was nothing I could do about it. I looked up and saw my father looking back down at me in disdain,
"A flawed creation..."
He grumbled.
"Dear traveler. It is dangerous here. Please step aside."
The official said, and at the same time, my father brandished his knife and made a lunge at me. The blade could be seen shining in silver. Ah, how beautiful, I thought.
Kino rushed in from the side, attempting to restrain my father.
At that moment, as my world went silent and time slowed down to a crawl, I looked on, realizing that the knife would stab me before Kino would reach my father.
Thank you. But you won't make it in time.
The film continues.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Time crawled on in the silent world. The knife was about to pierce right through me when my father twisted it to his left side. The blade turned from its vertical position to horizontal. As Kino dove in, it caught him in the chest, and pierced right through.
"GAH--!"
Sound returned, and I heard Kino's strange cry. Kino was leaning against my father, as if clinging on to him. The tip of the kitchen knife could be seen protruding from Kino's back.
Kino fell over face-up, knife and all, with a dull thud. He laid still. I knew he was already dead.
Unable to think, I took a few steps away, my back colliding with the motorrad.
....
Although I knew I was soon to be killed, for me to die without receiving the operation to become a 'proper adult,' I was glad.
Right before my eyes, I witnessed my father attempting to pull the knife out of Kino-- out of Kino's corpse. But it would not come out, so my mother gave him a hand. The hilt was covered in blood, so they wrapped it with a piece of cloth and pulled, little by little, SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!
Thinking about it now, I feel as if that time frame was Kino's final gift to me.
The film continues.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
As my parents worked together on the pulling, a little voice from behind entered my ears. It sounded like the voice of a younger boy.
"Have you ever ridden a bicycle?"
I whispered back,
"I have."
Then I heard the following:
"You'll die if you stay here, right?"
I answered,
"Yeah. But I'd rather die than stay alive and go through the operation. It's all the same anyway."
SHNK! SHNK! SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!
By this point, about half of the kitchen knife was out.
"Hm~m... So you want to die?"
To the question, I have an honest answer,
"I'd like to not die, if I had a choice."
"Then,"
The little voice said,
"Take the third choice."
"What's that?"
SHNK! SHNK!
Almost all of the knife was out. But I felt perfectly calm, listening on the complicated things the little voice suddenly started saying,
"First, jump on the motorrad behind you. Grab the handle with both hands and hold tight. Twist your right hand toward yourself and lean your body forward. Think of it as a fast, heavy bicycle."
SCHWNK!
The knife slid out of Kino's corpse, and my father and mother fell over backward. Ohh, the adults around them cried out in alarm, then proceeded to laugh without restraint. Blood gushed up like a fountain for a brief moment, then subsided.
"If I do that, then what?"
To the little voice, I asked loudly. The surrounding adults looked at me with a dubious expression on their faces. My father held the bloodstained kitchen knife tightly in his bloodstained hands, looking at me with a smile on his face. I saw the condition my father was in at the time as absolutely repulsive, but I felt no fear. I am not like him.
"Run away!”
The film continues - as the child hops onto the motorrad and escapes, as they drive past the gate into a wide field and are taken aback by the wideness of the sky...
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Was it the townsfolk?
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
One of the most important rules of being a traveler: don't get involved. As guests, we have to abide by their rules and laws, even if their customs seem unsavory to us. Otherwise, there might be consequences.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Then, if you're here in their heart.
What are you now?
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Yeah. That checks out.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
I'm just a piece of their heart. I can't say what the real me was thinking when he did it, or if he was thinking at all.
But as a result, they value their own survival very strongly. They were saved because of me, but they wouldn't do the same for someone else if they were in my position.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
I guess I'll see you there.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
There is no end to the film roll. Right now, they can only continue to watch as an observer - as though it were all simply occurring on a projected screen before them.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
The film continues.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
[If it'sa filk, all recorded ages ago, there's nothing left to do but see how it plays out]
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
The film continues.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
Yeah. Bought you one last chance.
Re: The Middle: “The Land of Adults” ─Natural Rights─
The film continues - as the child hops onto the motorrad and escapes, as they drive past the gate into a wide field and are taken aback by the wideness of the sky...
And as they watch, the scenery shifts