Nayori
Who’d have thought, I'll meet you at the ocean? There I was, sitting in my usual spot on the beach, down by the old rocks, holding a shell I just picked up, scratching its surface to remove dried sand on it; putting it to my ear, hoping to hear something new, besides the usual sound of the ocean.
And when I looked up, I noticed you from the distance -- you, and your long hair -- not too long but it lengthens as the wind throws it to the side, and you use your hand to keep it from your face. Your form looked so beautiful against the backdrop of orange, red and purple splashed across the early evening sky.
"Did you see the sunset?" I shouted. "It was so beautiful. We get those sunsets a lot here."
"Really?" you said. "I came out too late for it I guess. I slept all afternoon. I had just gotten in from a long trip last night, so I was really tired." You said that while still looking at the marks on the sand, and holding your hair to your cheeks.
You are standing close to the water, straining to look, wondering if those tiny marks on the sand are actually from little turtles that had just set out to the ocean. You've been told they nest here, and that they hatch around this time of the year.
They must have been really tiny, you thought. And you whispered a little prayer, that they make a safe journey to wherever they need to be, and come back, here in this very shore, many years later, stronger and bigger, to start a new journey.
"Yes, those are turtle tracks," I said, reading your mind. You look up at me. "The last one of them actually crawled to the sea just before the sun itself disappeared." I added.
"Oh, I missed a lot, didn't I?"
"There'll be sunset again tomorrow, I assure you that." I said, smiling.
"How about turtles?" You were walking towards me by this time, still sweeping your eyes around the shore, looking for something, like something you’ve lost.
I stood up. "I'll walk you around the cove tomorrow, if you want, to look for other hatchlings." That seemed to comfort you and then you stopped searching.
Like these turtles, you have been to this beach before. You were born in this coastal city but grew up in another place where the air does not smell of sea-salt. And you’ve always heard from your parents about how beautiful this beach was. It was the reason your parents settled here for a while until shortly after you were born.
And now, just as you hoped for the little turtles, you are back.
"My name is Nayori." you said, offering your hand.
"Yes... mine is Tristan… Are you...Japanese?" I knew who you were, and I knew you weren't Japanese. You didn't even look it.
"No, not Japanese. Just fascinated by it. Well, at least my dad is. That's why he gave me a Japanese name. Funny because his first introduction of anything Japanese was not from Japan, but from Japanese immigrants in South America."
"Oh yeah, I’ve heard of Fujimori. And that there are plenty of Japanese immigrants in Brazil, Peru, Argentina... Makes sense because all the Japanese had to do was cross the Pacific Ocean and they’d be in South America."
"Nayori was the name of the receptionist in the hotel my dad stayed in when he was in Brazil. He was still single then, and he was there for work, and did not know a word of Portuguese." A short faint squawking of sea birds flying overhead gave you a pause, briefly looking up. Then you continued: "She is of Japanese descent, and was the only one in the hotel who spoke English. My dad says she was so friendly, courteous, and pretty, that from then on he thought her name would make a good name for her future daughter."
"Do you know what it means?"
"Uhm, that's one thing I didn't get to ask my dad. 'Friendly, courteous, and pretty', I suppose.” And you laugh a little. “Again, it's funny he should make a mental note of that name for a daughter. He hadn't even met my mom then, much less thinking of starting a family."
My eyes wander up and notice it's getting dark. You fold your arms, feeling the cold biting your skin.
A dog barks in the distance.
"Have dinner with me -- with me and my dog."
"Is that your dog barking?"
"Yes, she's too lazy to come out with me to the beach. But she's back there lazing around my porch. I think she’s hungry now. She's a golden retriever."
You look in the direction of the dog's sound. "What's her name?"
"Mocca."
"Mocca?"
"Yes. that's the name of my first dog when I was a kid. She was a mongrel but looked just like a retriever so I had always thought I’d get a retriever when I grow up… I guess I’ve grown up!"
"Here Mocca!" you yelled towards my dog.
Mocca gets up on his feet, wags her tail at you, barks, then runs down the porch, onto the sand and towards me and you.
"She's never ran up to me when I call out to her from the beach. She hates getting sand on her paws! I can't believe you made her do that so easily!"
"I guess Mocca and I are friends already." You pat Mocca on the back appreciatingly, and Mocca is very pleased.
"So how about dinner with me and your new friend Mocca?" I ask, laughing.
"Hahaha, you're jealous of your dog?”
“Nah, she’s a great and loyal dog. So… dinner? I’ll make sure we have some really hot soup.”
“Yes, dinner sounds good."
Dinner was to be a steaming hot crabmeat soup, spicy buttered shrimp, and broccoli flowers in oyster sauce.
As I was seating you to your chair, you exclaim, "I can't believe you cooked all this!" Your eyes are the look of amazement.
"I cook these dishes a lot, and they're actually pretty quick to prepare. I'm relieved you didn't fall into sleep waiting."
"Well, Mocca was perfect company, and I enjoyed browsing through your books seeing that there wasn't much on TV."
"Here, have some soup."
After a few sips of the still steaming crabmeat soup, you say: "You seem to have a good number of books on the Kennedys?"
"Ah, yes. I am fascinated with the Kennedys so my books on them seem to have grown into a collection over the years."
"You did have a couple of the Clintons too, but why the Kennedys? Neither of us was even alive during JFK's time."
"Yes, and yet until now people still talk about the Kennedy's. Like recently, Sen. Ted Kennedy was reported to have a brain tumor and people were heralding it as the end of an era. And it still counted for much when JFK's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, endorsed Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate."
"Still, you're talking about American politics, but what does that have to do with you? You're not American; you're not even Democrat!"
"If I were American, I'd be a Democrat. I don't even need to be an American to be a Democrat. All it takes is the Republican Bush Jr. to make the whole world want to be a Democrat!"
Laughing out loud. "You have a point."
"Like the shrimp so far?"
"Oh, I always like shrimp. It's my favorite."
Why did I like the sound of you saying your favorite? I guess I was starting to like knowing things that pleases you -- and I’m glad you liked my shrimp! I wondered what else it is that makes you happy. I wondered what brought you back here. Why were you so concerned for the turtles?
I wanted to hear more about you.
* * *
After enjoying a delectable dinner, we settled into my couch with wine and glasses in our hands. There is nothing to see now of outside from my living room's glass windows. Nothing, but darkness. But we could still hear the wind 's faint whistle and the gentle waves rushing to shore.
"Sorry I ran out of dessert, but I hope this fine wine will make up for it." I said.
"That's ok. Your cooking was fantastic and I am too full to have anything more. For causing me to over-eat, I forgive you with this wine."
For a moment there I thought everything seemed to pause, the sounds muted, as I noticed your eyes glint as our glasses reflected the yellow glow of the lamps. I wasn't just looking at you. I was seeing you, perhaps in greater splendor than I may not have fully noticed beforehand.
You are radiant, and truly beautiful.
And I haven't even had a sip of wine.
"Shall you pour me that wine now?" you asked, and everything moves again -- the sounds crisp again.
"Yes, sorry for taking so long. Here..." and I pour us both a portion of red wine.
"You seem to be suddenly in a daze or something… Indigestion?" you ask, grinning.
"No, sorry, hahaha, something just… occurred to me."
"What is it?"
“No, nothing really… just a random thought…”
“Come on, tell me what it is. I like random…”
"Okay… I just thought that I... can't believe we're here together in my living room, enjoying wine, after having had a great dinner...”
“Yeah, I really enjoyed our dinner and our conversations, of course…”
“Exactly, we’re like, having the time of our lives, talking, laughing, having fun, like…”
“Like?” You were looking at me like you have anticipated what I am going to say next.
“Like we were old friends..."
Then you stop -- looked at me thoughtfully, and then said, "We are old friends... aren't we, Tristan?"
"Wha...what do you mean?" Does she remember?
"I know you, Tristan. I mean, I've heard so much about you. You are the little kid from the neighbor's house my parents used to tell me about. I didn't realize that was you until I saw those pictures from your study while you were preparing dinner."
"Huh? But I..." How could she know?
"Your parents and my parents were good friends... Even then we were neighbors. Your family had always remained here, while my family later sold the house beside this and moved elsewhere because of my dad's work. But my parent's hearts had always belonged to this place.”
“I thought you didn’t…” It was too long ago!
“They remember you -- the little kid who liked to visit me when I was born. They said you always ran to our house so early in the morning to play with me; and you liked giving me kisses.” You smiled as you said this. “They said I always stopped crying when you were around, and I never wanted to go to sleep either when you were in the house."
"I can't believe..." You were too young!
"Me either. We had pictures of you; my parents kept them and talked to me about you while I was growing up, so I remember every inch of that picture, every fold, every scratch, and especially every memory about that little boy in the picture."
Squeezing your hands. "Nayori..."
"When my mom died last year, I felt so lonely; I didn't have other siblings, and my dad had died when I was 23. One time I was looking through old photographs and out came falling a faded picture of you. And then the stories kept coming back... and since then I had wanted to come back to this place... wondering if the place was still around, hoping that somebody familiar would still be next door... Somehow that thought made feel like I wasn’t alone…" Then you cried.
"Your house had mostly been empty, except for summers. The ones who bought it before rarely came. I missed going inside that house. Then I heard it was sold to a new owner a month ago... and then now you came..."
"I had to buy it back. I needed to feel home again... and this had always been home for me with all the memories it carried. I never considered any other place we stayed in after as home... they never did feel like home. But when I bought the house back, when I saw the beach... everything felt... home."
"I thought you wouldn't remember... I knew the name Nayori... I was hoping it was you... I can't believe you're here... with me… now…"
"It's been more than 25 years..."
"The turtles... they too can take that much long... and yet they still come back to where they were born..."
"I guess that's why I have had an affinity for turtles... I have always had a yearning for home..."
And then, holding you closer, I plant a kiss in your forehead and softly, I say, "You're home now, Nayori. You’re home now."
“I've been lonely for so long,
Trapped in the past,
I just can't seem to move on…
All I want to do is find a way back into love,
I can't make it through without a way back into love.”
~ “Way Back Into Love”, Soundtrack, Music & Lyrics