Accumu Vol.2

THE AUDIENCE

Yu Hasegawa

"Here comes another one!" says Ms. God of Water, looking down the earth.

"What is the human-being doing there?" Mr. God of Shadow asks.

"Just keep watching her. She is supposed to be very happy now, and I have to give her life a lot of sunshine." Ms. God of Light answers. Then the other Gods around them all started watching her.

Between the clouds there is a garden of Gods, thousands of them, looking down the earth. We can not see or hear them, but they can see and hear everything happening on the earth. Eating rainbows and drinking air-wines, they sit down on the edges of the clouds everyday and watch people down below.

Her name is Mi, a female human-being, as Gods would call her. She is very happy now, as Ms. God of Light says, Mi has just found out a few minutes ago that she has been accepted to the world's best university. You bet, she starts jumping around, singing and dancing.

"She will not be away from the telephone, making calls," Ms. God of Water says. As she predicts, so it happens.

"Then Mi is going to have a party, a big celebration," Ms. God of Light declares, and just so it happens.

"She will not be able to understand the feelings of other people." Mr. God of Shadow whispers, and so it happens.

Mi avoids being with people who are having problems because they might ruin her feelings; she keeps away from people who might be happier than she because she wants to believe that she is now the happiest person in the world.

Sure, Mi does not hear what the Gods are saying, but she is doing everything they thought she would be doing, a happy person would be doing.

"I'm going" Mr. God of Shadow says, "It's not fun watching her because I already know what she is going to do next, and I will not have any job to do."

"Mr･･･" Ms. God of Light calls him. "Why don't you wait until Mi's father dies? He is going to die soon, and she is supposed to get very sad, not a happy person anymore. Then you will have a job, giving her life a lot of shade."

As the God says, Mi loses her father, a father who has most loved her, She is very sad. She never answers phone calls and makes her family worry because she does not eat much. She stays in her room all the time, weeping. She thinks of death, of killing herself to be with him.

"I wonder if she is going back to school," Ms. God of Water mumbles.

"She is, probably. But I believe she won't be able to work hard," Ms.God of Light answers.

Mi does go back to school despite her will. Nothing has changed around the university, but everything seems different to her. Her personal world has changed.

"She will not go to see her friends to let them know that she is back." Ms. God of Light declares, and so it happens.

"...will keep weeping again in her dorm room. Then here comes my job. Lots of tears, tears, and tears,"　Ms. God of Water says, and so it happens.

"...cannot do well in her classes because she can not pay attention to anything. A lot of shade around her prevents her from seeing and hearing," Mr. God of Shadow whispers, and so it happens.

Mi does not smile at all and keeps away from her friends. Then she gets terrible marks on her examinations. She gets more upset and tries to be in the library all day. But she is not studying there; she is just wasting time trying to concentrate on her work.

"It's fun giving her a lot of shade," Mr. God of Shadow says.

"You will be giving her more because her grandfather is dying next," Ms. God of Water says, and so it happens that Mi loses her grandfather in five months.

Boy, does she need a lot of shade. She no longer goes to the libraries or to the classes. She has to drop several courses, but she does not mind anymore. No expression on her face, no movement on her lips. She just keeps herself closed and thinks that she is the saddest person in the world.

Sure, Mi does not know what the Gods are thinking, but she is doing everything they thought she would be doing, a sad person would be doing.

"I don't mind watching her when she is a happy person," Ms. God of Light says, "but I don't like the way she acts the sorrow as the heroine of the tragedy."

"...acts the sorrow? ...heroine of the tragedy?" Ms. God of Water wonders what she has meant.

"Everyone is the hero or heroine of their own lives," she replies, "When they are happy, they should try to be the happiest they can be; when sad, they should try to act the sorrow as fully as possible. They should not just do it half way. We, the audience, also get bored if we see them act the happiness, sadness, or anything else always in the same way."

"Anyway," she continues, "Mi is not trying hard enough to make her play moving or different. I wish she knew that we were here to watch her. I will go to see how other human-beings are doing as the heroes or heroines of their lives. Just let me know whenever Mi needs Light." And so Ms. God of Light goes away.

"Well, what do we want to do?" Mr. God of Shadow asks Ms. God of Water.

"We are going to wait until we see how Mi finishes her play," she answers. And they stay.

Since then, they have been keeping their eyes on Mi, hoping to give her a great applause at her end.