The station was on a slope near a mountain. It would lead to a mountain pass. I saw a locomotive without following cars running on a railroad siding. After getting down on the platform, I crossed the railroad track and entered the station building. There were not too many passengers getting off at this station. It seemed that there were not many houses nearby. The train stopped at such a rural station, probably because the locomotive car needed to be changed here.
I found a bus stop. But no one was around the station. I did not see even a station employee. Maybe due to the high altitude, the temperature was low. It was to the level that I could see my white breath.
I got away from the building, and walked for a while. The black asphalt pavement was still new. I saw white guardrails starting from the middle of the slope. The yellow road sign that warned of rock fall was standing a bit ahead of me.
I have come this far, I thought.
When I pilot an aircraft, I fly farther. But, I have never had such a feeling. I cannot return to the base with the current amount of fuel. It is such a strange feeling like that. Probably, it is not a matter of distance. It is rather about time. Likewise, our lives are not a matter of distance, but time.
I stopped at about two hundred meters down the slope from the station and lit a cigarette. I could see the downward slope stretching endlessly. While curving repeatedly, the road went all the way. Beyond that, the scenery was too hazy to be seen.
There were fewer trees around here. Only grasslands and bare rocks. Over the station, high mountains were towering like those in a fantasy tale of a picture book.
I looked at the sky. Something like dots were moving there. They are airplanes. I could not recognize the shape. They were subtly giving off white clouds. Judging from the altitude, they had to be large aircrafts.
I sensed the presence of someone behind me, and turned around to look back. But, no one was there. I was reminded of the dream I was having on the train.
Right, I was having the feeling that the woman might appear again.
She will come to shoot me.
I’m sure she will come sometime in the future.
I have to live until she shoots at me ...
I heard the sound of car tires approaching me from behind. I looked back. It was turning at a curve, and was going down the slope toward me. The headlights were on. Come to think of it, the vicinity was dim as if the sun had already set. It was still in the early afternoon, though.
Since I had been walking on the center line of the road, I stepped aside. The car slowed down and stopped beside me. Its windows were reflecting the light so that they appeared to be glowing in silver, and I could not see what was inside the car. The door was opened. It was a woman in a long brown coat.
“You have really come here, eh?” She smiled.
“Right. It might be a dream.”
She was approaching me. I kept myself standing. She hugged me while wrapping her arms around my torso and putting her hands on my back.
Oh, come to think of it, I once saw a scene like this before. I felt so for a moment. Is it because of the scent of her hair? Or, because of the color of her eyes?
“Get in.” She said, and moved away from me. Then, she was staring at the direction of the station.
I looked at the direction, too.
I got in the passenger seat, and fastened the seat belt. She started the engine immediately. The car made a U-turn and went up the slope, along which it had come. It was very warm around my legs in the vehicle.
I felt centrifugal forces many times while the car was driving on the curves. The sound of car tires was unique. A subtle amount of metallic sound was mixed in it. I wonder if studs on the tires are responsible for the noise.
After we went down the slope for a while, we were then inside a conifer forest. The car turned to the left at the intersection, and we were on an upward slope again.
“You have managed to remember the number I wrote on the card, haven’t you? That’s good. I can’t believe it. I am actually seeing you again.”
“How was your trial?” I asked.
“Yeah ...” She sighed and then smiled. “I’m glad. You have fully recovered, haven’t you?”
“Are you talking about me?”
“Yes, of course.”
I did not understand well what she meant.
“What great mechanisms humans have! If it is broken, it can be restored. With its own power.”
“Have I recovered?” I asked.
“Don’t worry. You will get even better.”
In the first place, I had not had any notion that I was broken. It might be the proof of my being broken, though.
We drove through the forest, and the road started sloping downward. We got down to a flat ground, where I could see houses here and there. After passing by a small irrigation pond, we entered an unpaved road. A wooden fence was on the way to signal the dead end of the road. She got out of the car and walked to the obstacle to open it. I realized that it was not a fence, but a gate. She pushed both sides of the gate, looked back at me, and smiled. She seemed to be in a good mood. I felt her smile was nostalgic. Is it a lingering scent of memory somewhere in my mind?
She moved the car by a few meters and stopped it again.
“I will close the gate.” I put my hand on the seat belt.
“No, you don’t have to. You are a guest.”
She got off the car again and closed the gate. I saw her in the sideview mirror.
She was wearing a pair of jeans and brown boots. The road was moist and looking soft.
The car moved by a few more hundreds of meters and passed by a short wooden building. It was getting into a place like a tunnel with a roof. It was structured like a factory. The car was parked in it.
“Here.” She looked at me. “This is where we get off.”
I got out of the passenger seat and looked at the building. I saw several small skylights on the high ceiling. Just the exterior walls were made of wood, whereas the frameworks were made of light steel. The thing, which surprised me more than anything, was a biplane at the back of the building. This place seemed to be its hangar.
“Nice garage, isn’t it?” She said.
“Whose airplane is it?” I asked.
“Mine.”
“Do you pilot it?”
“Yes.” She smiled happily. “I learned to do so.”
“Did you learn?”
“Indeed, I need this to live here.”
“For what?”
“Why do you ask for what? Of course, it is for me to move.”
“Oh ...”
“This area is inconvenient. The mountain path often becomes impassable due to avalanche. When it happens, I cannot get mails. Still, I have to go shopping for food. You know, I cannot go on foot, can I?”
“But if you purchase an airplane ...”
“Might I as well buy canned foods?” She showed her white teeth. “Well, come with me.”
She started walking toward one direction. I followed her.
We got out of the garage and moved to a building like a cabin. Climbing up the steps, she put the key into the keyhole. There was a window right next to it, and I could see the dim interior.
The room was warm. A steel stove was placed near a wall to my right. She first walked to the stove, opened a small cover at the lower part of it, and put something black into it with a stick. It seemed to be fuel. I saw a red flame.
She got back toward me while rubbing her hands together. She then took off her coat and hung it on the coat hanger beside the door. I removed my jacket, and she also put it on the coat hanger.
“So, what’s next? You are hungry, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Well, will you start with a cup of hot coffee?”
“Sounds nice.” I nodded.
She walked to the back of the house. The kitchen was in the direction. To the left end, I saw a steep stairway. It seemed to lead to the loft. It has got to be the bedroom. I mean, this space and the attic are the only rooms of this house.
“Oh, if it is dark, you can turn on the lamp there.” She said.
I found it by the window. Not an electric one. It needed fire to be lit.
“Do you know how to light it?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then, I will teach you later.”
I did not think it was dark. If I wanted to read a book, then it would still be bright enough by the window.
There was no sofa to sit on. So, I was standing at the very center of the room.
“Wanna sit down? Umm, there, that one ...” She was pointing at one direction from the kitchen. “Put the books on the chair away, and take a seat.”
It was a small chair by the window. Without a backrest, it was a simple, round, wooden chair. A few books were piled on it. I moved them onto the window’s crosspiece, pulled the chair a bit, and sat on it. I felt it was relatively firm.
She seemed to be boiling water. She walked near me once, and put away the scattered objects on the floor and the cabinet. However, since she did no more than just moving them to different places, they were still visible. They were notepads, paper boxes with small items, photographs, etc. The worn carpet was laid on the floor. Pieces of cloths were attached to a wall here and there. Are those incantations, or something?