a rainy Tanabata night (7-4-10)

A combo of crises have gripped the world in the second half of this year: the catastrophic tremor in Haiti, the eruption in Iceland, the Greek financial crisis, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While felicitous events such as the ongoing World Cup delight people as much as expected, tragic ones are mostly unpredictable to give damage.

On Japan’s front, although the scale is smaller, recent unexpected resignation of the prime minister Yukio Hatoyama after the going of the leading government last year--the Democratic Party of Japan came to power toppling the Liberal Democratic Party which had hogged the position more than fifty years with no cessation but once in 1993--had the citizens’ jaws dropped.

According to a number of the media sources, however, the average approval rating of Naoto Kan, the succeeding head of the DPJ stands around 40%. This figure represents a modest recovery from the lowest around 20% during the Hatoyama administration, but no one can conduct an accurate prophecy to suggest seat-winners in the Upper House election scheduled to take place on July 11th.

Now, under the cloudy skies about noon, Shinjuku city, Tokyo, the commercial center, looked hectic being riddled with the full-throated voices of political candidates on the stump; the portraits of them were put up on the slates as their campaigns continued.

In such a disconcerting mood, Mike, aged 50-odd, was taking refuge at a cat-cafe on the eighth floor of a tall building, its highest floor. The shape of the building looked akin to how scrawny he was. As he was not interested in any political activities nor even voting, those loud campaigners were nothing better than annoying to him; So were a crop of pedestrians attentive to what those politicians were speaking boisterously in front of the Shinjuku station.

Mike just wanted peace and quiet and consolation apart from people’s affairs, as he was a public figure frequently appearing in TV shows; his book with his whole-body picture, which went together with stylish clothes, on its cover jacket was selling well; he was a past up-and-coming, already popular palmist-cum-TV personality.

Typically or not, he was a late bloomer. His career as just a TV personality had rather practically been moribund for a couple of decades until he was enlightened by a teacher in palm reading whose insight shed light on Mike’s aptitude.

The small room looked to have about twenty cats, each unique variety. While Mike was sitting cross-legged on the gray carpet, one of them crawled up from his jeans to white T-shirt under a green street jacket, and tried to reach for his goatee which was connected to his mustache. Mike swayed back off the paw, and gently held her body back onto the floor. Cats were mischievous and perhaps naive and incompetent, but therefore he could be relaxed at the cafe which was independent of corrupt human activities.

As he was eating some spaghetti in the afternoon here, the sky was still overcast and threatening. Although it was the rainy season, the total precipitation of it would have likely been less than the average this year.

On the way back to his own palm reading shop, on one side of the street he found an argument between a different palmist and a customer irritating other queuing ones.

“How can you say that you can’t read my palm!” A female dog (Cavalier) was upset holding her left paw forward. Facing the scene, Mike immediately gathered a sense of responsibility as he was the person who had ignited the boom of palm reading. Not to anyone else, but Mike sneaked to raise his sunglasses to surprise her and both hid themselves into an alley.

Neither was Mike able to read the paw of a dog, but she, Takeko, was craving.

“You know tomorrow is Tanabata. I really want to know what my palm lines foretell for my future with my boyfriend! Please!” Takeko was almost crying.

Mike gathered his wits and took out a marker from his bag and drew lines on her left paw: long and thick ones which would indicate the personally destined states of life, brain, feelings, and marriage. For a human body, the last one which piqued Takeko’s interest the most ran short and horizontal on an assumed pinky’s side of the hand and right under the finger. Adapting to the shape of good fortune, he stroked the line sharply upward to the bottom of the pinky.

“Very thank you, Mike! Now I’m confident for tomorrow! Bye!,” Takeko was cheerful.

The fable of Tanabata was: Orihime (Weaving Princess), the daughter of Tentei (Sky King) was good at weaving and diligent in doing the job. They resided on the west side of Amanogawa, the Milky Way. While Tentei was concerned about her indifference to marriage due to her such commitment, Hikoboshi (Cattle-herder Star) was good at taking care of cows and toiled with the job. He resided on the east side of Amanogawa. Then, arranged by Tentei, Orihime and Hikoboshi got married. However, happiness based on marriage made the couple no longer work hard and resulted in Tentei getting upset and splitting them to both sides of Amanogawa. Ever since, Orihime and Hikoboshi were never permitted to meet together but on July 7th. On the day, a bird, a kasasagi (/European Magpie), flew from nowhere to build a bridge over Amanogawa. If it rained, nevertheless, the flood prohibited their one-day reunion. As such, rain on July 7th was deemed as tears of both Orihime and Hikoboshi.

The next day, Tanabata, customers were forming a thick line after their fates to be read by Mike, as his shop in Shibuya was packed. Some were couples whilst single women dominated the majority. If a customer yet had a partner, Mike must have worked nervously and carefully as a misremark could lead them to breaking up. And this sensitivity required skill in learning a customer’s background to make Mike partly a consultant. Indeed, he was also good at reading the face of a customer. Now, as pouring rain outside was making him nervous due to the fable, he presented himself as someone potenter than a kasasagi and explained to his customers that he could connect a basket of destinies to another one.

Rain was still heavy as Mike had yet finished his work of the day. Outside, what loomed out of darkness into his eyes was Takeko, completely drenched. She was standing upright, without an umbrella.

“Hello, what’s up?” Mike suppressed the volume inferring any sad cause which had failed her into the state.

Without a word, Takeko immediately rested her face on his chest.

“I went to Yokohama as promised with my boyfriend. But it turned out that he was with a female cat! He didn’t follow through on our future plans!”

Having a look at the lines he drew yesterday, Mike discovered them all messed up by rain. He furrowed his eyebrows and sought for somewhere to free his focus, but failed.

“Let me offer an umbrella to you who is thoughtful about the future more than any stupid person,” said Mike as he brought her body into his jacket.