The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

toppled the gas burner over and started the fire.”

“Hey you!” said someone, tapping Kazuko on the shoulder from behind. Kazuko turned to see Kazuo standing there in his pyjamas.

“Oh, Kazuo! I was worried about Goro’s shop.”

“Me too. But I think everything is fine. I hear it’s just a small fire. They said it’ll be extinguished in no time,” said Kazuo in his characteristically laid-back fashion.

Not too long after, when the last of the flames had been snuffed out by the firefighters, Kazuko and Kazuo walked over to Goro’s house. Together they jumped for joy at Goro’s lucky escape from the oncoming fire. Then they all went back to their homes.

Kazuko glanced at her clock as she got back into bed yet again. It was already three in the morning. She was absolutely exhausted, and fell asleep within minutes, but she kept having strange dreams all through the night. At first she saw a shadowy figure that jumped out from behind the fire and then flew away. Then she found herself in the lab again, which also started to rumble and shake violently. When she finally woke up, she found herself covered in sweat. But at least it was morning.

She looked over to where the sun’s rays were coming in through the window, casting lacy shadows on the floor.What time is it? she thought to herself, turning to glance at the clock. Oh my goodness! I’m late!

Skipping breakfast, she ran out of the house, with a sleepy, aching head and tired, unsteady legs. Fortunately, she caught sight of Goro waiting at the traffic light.

“Hey Goro!” she called out. “Are you running late, too?”

Goro turned around and smiled, happy that he wasn’t the only one running behind today.

“Yeah,” said Goro. “It took me so long to fall back to sleep after the fire that I ended up sleeping through my alarm.”

When the light turned green, they both dashed across the zebra crossing, but as they reached the middle, an unfamiliar voice startled them.

“Watch out!”

Then came a deafening horn.

Kazuko and Goro turned to see a large truck coming straight towards them. It looked as if it had just run a red light, and now it was heading directly for the intersection where they stood.

Kazuko whipped around and ran straight into Goro, who was standing right behind her — and they both tumbled to the ground. She looked up, and the truck was closer. Then closer still. Until its massive tyres were just meters from her face and Kazuko could do nothing but close her eyes.

BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY

Kazuko’s mind was racing with different scenes and different thoughts. Too many for her to deal with.

I’m going to die! she thought to herself. Run over by a huge, heavy truck! If only I’d stayed in bed a bit longer. Then I wouldn’t be so tired and slow!

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she prayed for the safety of her warm and cosy bed back home. But she knew there was nothing she could do. Nothing except keeping her eyes closed as tightly as she could. And so she did. About a second passed. But nothing happened. Then another. But still nothing happened. Kazuko began to wonder what on earth was going on. But right at that moment, she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. She felt a sense of warmth begin to engulf her. Like the warmth and cosiness of her bed that she’d been praying for.

When Kazuko opened her eyes, she found herself back in her room. She was wearing her nightgown and the sun was streaming in to paint lacy patterns on the floor. Had it all been just a dream? But it felt so real. And she remembered it all so clearly — the car horn, Goro’s screams, the shrieks of nearby pedestrians. Too clearly for it to be a dream.

Kazuko was struck by a sudden headache. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was now 7:30. So she had plenty of time for a nice, leisurely breakfast before strolling off to school. That meant she wouldn’t be running late and she wouldn’t be tired and sleepy — which caused her to be hit by the truck in her dream. And it was a dream, wasn’t it? If it wasn’t, then time must have turned back, and surely that could never happen.

Kazuko slowly got out of bed. Nothing in the house had changed, and her mother and sisters were all enjoying breakfast together as usual. But despite having plenty of time to eat, Kazuko didn’t have much of an appetite. So instead she got ready and left the house right away.

What if this really was the second time for me to leave the house today? she thought to herself. If just one more strange thing happens today, then surely I’ll go mad! As she reached the crossroads, possibly for the second time, she looked for Goro but couldn’t see him. And there was no out-of-control truck either. So she just carried on and made her way to school safely.

She sat down at her desk as she always did and briefly surveyed the classroom. Again, Goro was nowhere to be seen. If only he’d arrive soon, then she could talk to him and find out if the incident with the truck was just a dream or whether there was a chance it might really have happened.

“Morning!” called Kazuo from behind her.

“Oh, morning!” replied Kazuko, considering whether she should tell him all about the incident. Kazuo was a bright individual after all, and might be able to provide some sort of insight. But she quickly decided that it might be better to wait for Goro to arrive so they could all talk about it together.

“Is everything okay?” said Kazuo. “You look a little pale.”

Kazuo was always rather attentive, so he often noticed little things like that.

“Oh it’s nothing,” said Kazuko, shaking her head. “I couldn’t sleep much. First because of the earthquake. Then because of the fire! So I’m feeling pretty sleepy today.”

“A fire?” said Kazuo. “And an earthquake? I didn’t know anything about either of those.”

“Are you kidding? There was a big earthquake, and Goro’s house nearly caught fire. Don’t you remember? We were all in our pyjamas, and we met up in front of Goro’s house!”

“We met up? And I was there? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“Dreaming!” retorted Kazuko. “I wasn’t dreaming!”

YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONS

Could it really have been nothing more than a dream — the earthquake and the fire in the bathhouse right behind Goro’s house? But then, how come Kazuko could remember it all in such sharp detail — the different colours of the flames that leapt up against the night sky, and the exact words of her conversation with Kazuo?

“What’s happening to me?” Kazuko said to herself. “My memory is going to pieces!”

“What’s that?” said Kazuo.

“It’s just I’m sure I ran into you last night.”

“No. I’m sure it was a dream,” said Kazuo, standing up. “For a moment I wondered if it might be possible that I was sleepwalking — then you could have met me and chatted to me and I wouldn’t remember. That would have been weird. But it would have been possible. But then you said I was wearing pyjamas, and I don’t actually own any pyjamas.”

“Oh,” said Kazuko, nodding weakly. “Then I guess it really was just a dream.”

But deep down inside, Kazuko couldn’t quite believe that was true.

“Morning!” said Goro, putting his bag down beside them.