greetings, Makoto Inoue here.
I hope you enjoyed my little intrusion into the world of Arakawa Sensei’s Fullmetal Alchemist.
If it brought even a little smile to your face, I’m happy.
recent news:
… Which is to say, more pet talk. Sorry to those of you who don’t like pets, but, hey, it’s an afterword, so I get to indulge a little.
Anyway, I’ve had this chipmunk for a while, but just this year I got my very first Java sparrow. Ever heard of them? They’re the little birds that sit in the palm of your hand. She’s got a black head and tail, gray wings, and a light pink stomach. She tweets and chirps and flies around the room, perching on my shoulder, yanking on my hair, sitting on my hand so she can stick her head through my fingers, and generally, she seems to like me a lot.
Actually, I have no idea how she really feels, but I like to imagine when she’s tweeting she’s saying “I like you, I like you,” and I say “I like you” back, so it was a bit like a honeymoon for the last few months.
Note I said “was.” Past tense.
Imagine my grief when I got dumped. Yes, the love affair is over.
And what did my Java sparrow have to say for herself?
“I found someone new.”
And who might the culprit be? My chipmunk!
Yes, my beady-eyed lover who once sang songs of passion to me from my shoulder now has eyes only for the chipmunk in the next cage over. When I let them out at the same time, she chases him around and seems to be having the time of her life.
What about all those times you said “I like you, I like you”? Oh, the treachery …
So I pass my days in a dreary existence, forlorn.
(Not that my Java sparrow and chipmunk are any less cute, mind you. Oh, and if you let your pets out together, take care they don’t fight.)
so, i told my editor, Nomoto, that I had bought a Java sparrow the other day, and out of the blue she asks:
nomoto: “Oh, do you let it inside your mouth?”
inoue: (utterly clueless) “… Huh?”
nomoto: (nervously) “… Maybe I heard wrong. I thought Java sparrows were supposed to sit inside your mouth.”
inoue: (in shock) “Whaaat?! How?!”
nomoto: “You just open your mouth and they step in … (suddenly understanding) Oh, I know, maybe it just won’t fit in yours.”
… Um, can a Java sparrow fit in anybody’s mouth?
Boy, was I surprised. Actually, I’m still surprised.
Do Java sparrows really like being inside people’s mouths? Somebody tell me if this is true, please …
In closing, let me offer a word of thanks:
There are a lot of people who make writing these Fullmetal novels possible. I couldn’t have made it through five volumes if it weren’t for you!
Thanks to Arakawa Sensei for always taking time out of her busy schedule to carefully check my work.
And thanks to my editor Nomoto, whose guidance has helped make every one of these novels much better than it would have been without. Thanks to the publishers and the printers, too. I couldn’t do it without your help.
And finally, thanks to everyone who’s been reading Fullmetal all along, and those of you who’ve just started. And a special thanks to everyone who sends letters (They gave me the strength to go on. Thanks so much. I read every one of them!).
Thanks to you all from the bottom of my heart!