A collection of short fiction in English

by students of Toyama University of International Studies

Spring 2019

T U I N S Creative Writing 短編集

2019

Table of Contents ⽬次

Title Author Page

Foreword (まえがき) Mark Frank 3

Shooting Stars Socha 4

My Best Friend Mimi Marimo 6

I am the World angreed 8

Three Sisters Ted Smilly 10

Another Story of Mimi Marimo 12

Love is a Mystery hokusen 14

Monsters in Kyoto H & F 15

that woman… from the TV screen… Saki 16

OG3 iPhone 8+ 17

Long Summer Vacation Solanine 18

The Brother who Came to Visit Saki 20

Autumn Story Rose 21

Sophie and Elisha Wide View 22

A Change of Character hokusen 25

Akio Abolished Autumn REAL 26

My Friend Taro Socha 27

I am a Cat Chihiro 29

Shine Conataku 30

A Funny Story H & F 31

3

Foreword まえがき

This collection of stories was written by first year students at Toyama University of

International Studies in Toyama prefecture, Japan. Writing fiction gives us a chance to

study language in a different way. First, we have to use our imagination and enjoying

playing with language. Next, we have to use different structures than usual. For

example, we need to use past tense verbs and quotations. There are many challenges

in writing good fiction, but I feel that our students have worked hard to create an

interesting body of work.

I hope you enjoy these stories while studying English!

Mark Frank Assistant Professor Toyama University of International Studies

自然に囲まれている富山国際大学の東黒牧キャンパスでCreative Writingを学ん でいた学生が、英語の短編集を作りました。現代社会学部の1年生が書いたフィックションを集めたものです。作品には、学生それぞれの個性、そして富山の独特な味もあります。 フィックションを書くときも読むときも、遊び心と好奇心が必要です。どうぞ、ゆっくり、じっくり、英語を楽しみながらこのコレクションを味わってください。 フランク・マーク

現代社会学部 准教授

富山国際大学

4

Shooting Stars

There was a town that was famous as a place to see shooting stars at night.

Aldebaran was an 18-year-old boy living in that town. He was close to a girl named

Spica. She was an 18-year-old girl living in the town, too. However, one day she told

him a story like a lie.

“I will be a star in three days,” she said.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I will be a star in three days ... I am sick,” she said and seemed to be laughing

unnaturally.

Her disease was a disease that all people in this town had. Somewhere in the

body starts to glisten and the body disappears into the sky after a week. Nobody could

predict the age of this disease. His mother had also disappeared when Aldebaran was

6 years old.

He asked, "Why did you say such a thing now?”

She answered, “Because I thought that you feel sad.”

“It is not like that. Someday everyone will become a star, so nobody needs to

be sad.” He sighed.

“ It seems so,” she said a bit sadly.

"Are you scared of becoming a star?" he asked.

"No, I am scared ..." She didn’t say the next word.

After a short silence, she spoke again. "Hey, do you know that once you repeat

a wish three times to your heart before the shooting star disappears, the wish will come

true?”

"Well, I don’t know, nobody can do that," he murmured.

"Yes... That's right," she was laughing unnaturally again.

5

After that, they talked as usual, including conversation about dinner yesterday

and about her dog. But, they didn’t talk about the future. That made him realize his

parting with her.

He was thinking what he wanted to say to her. When his mother became a star,

he only said, “Don’t go.” Now that he knew it is the fate of the people in this town, he

wasn’t childish enough to speak so selfishly. At the same time, he wasn’t adult enough

to hesitate to say goodbye to her.

Today was his last night with her. They were on the highest hill in the town. A star

streaked across the sky and seemed to pick her up. He seemed to cry because the

star was too beautiful. Her body shone and became transparent. The time to spend

with her would soon be over.

"After all, a shooting star is too fast, I can’t repeat it three times," she said and extended

her hand to the sky. Her fingertips were gone as they melted in the night sky. Finally,

he opened his mouth.

“Do you know that once you repeat your wish three times to your heart before

the shooting stars disappears, the wish will come true?” he asked.

Those were the words she had said. She hadn’t cried for three days, but tears

flowed from her eyes now.

“Nobody can do that,” she answered. He watched her and wished three times

so that they could meet again.

She was amazed and laughed. “Surely I will be able to meet you again someday,

because my wish is the same as yours.”

At that moment, her body became points of light and flew to the sky. The

shooting star slowly flowed to make his wish come true.

Aldebaran quietly said, “See you again, Spica.”

6

My Best Friend Mimi

My name is Alice. I work in a cosmetic company now.

I have loved rabbits since I was a child, and there were many stuffed rabbit

dolls in my room because I was not able to have rabbits as pets. I used to play with

my friends or mother using cute dolls when I was a kindergarten child. Of all these

dolls, “Mimi” was my favorite. My mother gave Mimi to me as my birthday present

when I became six years old. However...my mother died because of an unforeseen

occurrence (a traffic accident). She was stuck by a car that ran a traffic signal, but the

criminal was not arrested. After this unhappiness, I was alone. My father worked as a

doctor in a hospital, so he hardly ever came home and had no time to play with me.

But I didn’t feel that I was lonely because I forgot my loneliness when I was with Mimi.

Nine years later, I became a high school student. I often carried Mimi in my

school bag.

One day, I was spoken to by a strange man when I was walking home from

school. He seized my arm by force and took me to a deserted warehouse. Then, he

struck me and I fell down. I saw that he was taking my wallet out of my bag. His

purpose was robbing me of the money I had. I couldn’t raise my voice because I had

packing tape on my mouth. He picked up Mimi and said, “What’s that? It’s a dirty doll!

Throw it away.” And he stomped on Mimi. I was about to get outraged at him--suddenly,

then, he collapsed and was struggling. I heard a kind voice that said, “Thank you, Alice.

I’m always watching over you.” The man had fainted.

A short while later, a man named Lucas (the man who killed my mother), and

the strange man who struck me were arrested. The strange man was Lucas’s son.

7

The voice I heard then−my mother. Was my mother’s heart living in Mimi? I

clearly remember this mysterious happening. Mimi is displayed on a shelf in my room

even now.

8

“I am the World”

Once upon a time, before the God we believe in was born, there was a man

who was a hunter. One day, the man found a bear in the forest. He killed and skinned

the bear. He heard a voice, “I will ask you.” When he went back home, he looked

around, but no one else there. When he looked to the sky, the voice said, “Here.” But

there was nothing in the sky. At the time he was confused because the concept of God

did not exist. He asked the voice, “Who are you?” The voice replied, “Me? I am the

world.” The man was stunned. “What is wrong with the world to have will?” the voice

continued a bit crankily. When the man was silent, the voice added, “Why did you kill

the bear and skin it?” The man came to himself and said, “To live.” “To live? Answer

concretely to me,” the voice asked him.

“I will make money by selling it at the market.”

“Then what do you do with the money earned?" the voice asked again.

"Buy food and clothes,” the man answered clearly.

The voice seemed bored and asked, “Is it all?”

“Not only that, but I have a daughter. I have to bring up her,” he said

powerfully.

“What's the meaning of that?” the world asked indifferently. “Is it worth the life

of a bear?”

The man couldn’t find any words. He felt his actions were meaningless. “Is it

necessary to live by depriving other lives? Are there no qualification to live by myself?"

He thought about various things. He asked the world, “What is the right way of living?”

The world answered, “I don’t know.”

The man was stunned by these words. “Find the right way of living yourself.”

With these words, the voice ceased to be heard. The man bought a small hair

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ornament after selling the bear's fur at the market. “The meaning of my life may be as

small as this hair accessory,” he thought. Then he went home where his daughter

waited.

10

Three Sisters

Once there were three sisters, Nichole, Carley and Saki. Nichole, age 12, was

the eldest of the three. She was smart and very kind to everyone and took care of the

two sisters, but recently she looked tired because she was getting fed up with her

sister’s selfishness despite the fact that she wanted to concentrate on studying for her

entrance exam. Carley was the second sister, age 8. She was active and fun-loving.

Every day, she begged someone, “Play with me! Play with me!” She loved to play

outside after school. Saki was a quiet girl, age 5. She often went out somewhere alone

without being noticed by anyone. Her family always looked for her. They were close to

each other.

One day, Nichole went home earlier than always to do her homework and study.

Twenty minutes later, Carley came home too and came into Nichole’s room. “Hey!

Nichole, how’s your life?” Nichole replied, “I’m studying! Don’t disturb me, go away!”

and closed the door roughly. She heard Carley crying outside the room. Her cries were

too noisy for Nichole to study. After a while, their mother entered the room with an

angry look. “Why do you bully Carley? You should put up with her silly little things

because you are her older sister. We are going to hold her birthday party tomorrow, so

please prepare some present for her.” Nichole raised her voice, “Isn’t it unfair? You

always stand by Carley and not me if I ‘m not wrong. And there is only one reason, I’m

the eldest sister! She sucks!”

The next day, an accident happened. A police officer called and told the family

about it. Carley had been kidnapped. Their parents couldn’t believe the words. Saki

wasn’t there, as usual. The parents called back soon and drove flat out to look for

Carly. According to the call, she had been playing alone at Elephant Park. They ran

toward the park. When they arrived, no one was there. They found her phone but not

11

Carley.

Nichole heard about the accident through a message from her parents and she

was shocked. Carley was somewhere. She didn’t understand what to do. Carley’s

hands and legs were tied by rope, and tape was stuck on her mouth. She was in a

dark shed.

When Saki walked near the shed, she found Carley’s bag. She saw a strange

person wearing a black suit entering the shed. Saki chased him, then she noticed that

he had a gun.

Carley screamed, “Freeze!” Saki gave up helping Carley. Carley prepared for

her death. The person shot Carley. Saki cried. Then, the person handed her something

and said, “Happy Birthday Carley, I’m sorry to frighten you.” The person was Nichole.

In fact, the gun that she had fired was a toy. Nichole handed a present to Carley. Carley

was surprised and got excited, “Wow! This is the coat what I have wanted! Thank you,

Nichole.” Of course, the parents got angry with Nichole later.

12

Another Story of Mimi

Misa was in third grade. She had no friends because she was too concerned

about what other people thought and she had avoided connecting with her classmates.

She had forgotten how to make friends.

One day, she asked her mother about how to make friends. Her mother worked

at a cosmetic company and she was beautiful. Her name was Alice. She said, “I had

no friends when I was the same age as you. But I felt that this stuffed rabbit doll named

Mimi encouraged me to speak to my classmates. My mother gave me this doll on my

birthday. However, she died one month later.” She looked so mournful and Misa felt

sad. “It may sound stupid, but I think my mother’s spirit exists in this doll. I know! I’ll

give you Mimi. If you get nervous to speak to someone, you should remember Mimi.

Don’t worry about it. I think your classmates will accept you kindly,” her mother said.

The next day, Misa went to school with Mimi in her school bag. It was

encouraging for her but she was afraid of a scolding by the teacher because the stuffed

doll was a toy. She tried to speak to a classmate...three boys, her classmates, collided

with her and she dropped Mimi from her bag. Seeing Mimi, they laughed and said,

“You’re childish! How naughty you are!” They made fun of Misa and she felt vexed.

One of the boys robbed her of Mimi. She was scared...then, a girl named Ann helped

Misa. She took Mimi away from boys and told them, “You’re so cowardly to take on a

girl by group! You are very bad children.” The three boys were frightened and ran away.

Ann handed Mimi to Misa tenderly.

Misa said Ann, “Thank you for helping me ...why don’t we go to the classroom

together?” Ann said, “Ok! Let’s go together!” Since then, they got along well.

13

Misa appreciated Mimi because it made a chance for her to speak to Ann. Her

mother also felt happy because her daughter could make a good friend. She thought,

“Mimi has always helped us with taking a risk. Perhaps, is it mom...? It’s like a guardian

for us.”

14

Love is a Mystery

Love is a mystery. We can’t know the opposite sex’s mind.

There was a boy named Tom. He had never had a girlfriend. He was famous

as the guy who was not able to understand a woman’s heart. So, his with women

reputation was bad. However, he never changed himself, because he couldn’t believe

women. He had a friend who was a girl. They talked about songs and comics, books

and so on. Also, they went to karaoke and shops together. Gradually, he felt attracted

and he misunderstood. He thought that she loved him, so he confessed his love for

her. She turned him down. Life is heartlessness. She already had many boyfriends. In

spite of this, he hoped to be her boyfriend, so he implored her to go out with him. Then

she told that she dislikes his face, so he said that he would undergo plastic surgery.

“Your heart is dirty,” she told him. He cried and ran away. He became melancholy.

“Why? Why?” He kept on thinking of her every day.

After that, he fell in love with anime characters. He spent all his money for the

goods. Finally, he wasn’t interested in real girls at all.

15

Monsters in Kyoto

Akane was a 17-year-old girl who lived in Tokyo. She was very kind and

cheerful, and she liked Autumn colors. She decided to take a trip to Kyoto and see the

sights in two days.

At first, she went to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Senbon Torii was crowded

with tourists. She took a lot of pictures and she lost her strap without noticing it. When

she realized that she had lost it, she was visiting Kiyomizu Temple. She searched her

bag and pockets, but she could not find it. Her strap was a present from her boyfriend,

Aoi, and she treasured it. She couldn’t continue her trip, so she didn’t go to Zinushi

Shrine and Ninenn Zaka and more. Next, she checked into a hotel and dissolved into

tears in her room.

She cried herself to sleep. That night, she had a strange dream. A white fox

appeared and said to her, “Please don’t cry. Tomorrow will be better.” At that that, she

got up. She had a doubt but she resumed her trip.

She visited Kifune Shrine, located on Mt. Kurama. As she walked toward to

the shrine, a strong wind raged and autumn leaves blew in the wind. Then, a man

wearing a red mask stood across from her and handed her something. The strong

wind raged again and he disappeared. She noticed she was holding her lost strap.

After careful consideration, she decided that he was a tengu. Tengu is an

imaginary red-faced human figure with a protruding long nose, flying through the air

with two angel-like wings. It is a monster who likes mischief. She must have made an

easy target for him. Having satisfied his desire, he returned her strap. She

encountered a strange event but she had a good time in Kyoto. She wanted to visit

there again with her boyfriend.

16

that woman...from the TV screen...

Yuko was a college student. She had two friends who liked to watch horror

films. One day, they invited her to watch a film at her house. Since she was a child,

Yuko had extraordinary inspiration. So, she felt that something would happen. That

day, her premonition came true, because a woman appeared from the TV screen.

Yuko fell down and was not able to stand for a while. Her two friends could not see the

woman, but they could feel that something had happened. Yuko did not look away

from the television for a long time. They turned off the television and asked her, “What's

up?” When she tried to answer, “… a woman ... from the TV screen ..." with a frightened

voice, a man who seemed to be the woman’s acquaintance also came out of the TV

screen and closed Yuko’s mouth with his hands. Afterwards, the television that they

had turned off turned on again suddenly, and Yuko was taken into the TV screen.

Her two friends told their parents, the police, their teachers, and their friends

all the incidents that had happened so far. Their parents listened to the story and

thought it was unbelievable and could not understand the reality. The police began to

investigate it as a kidnapping case. The teachers were desperate to suppress the fuss

at school. Some of their friends were amused, others were worried, and others did not

believe the story itself.

Yuko’s two friends blamed themselves for inviting Yuko to a horror film and

were regretful. Somehow, they wanted to let world know about this incident. They

thought that the way was for the story to be read by many people in a book. The plan

was successful and the book became a best seller. The following year, it became a

movie as a true story. Many people think that the woman might be “Sadako,” and that

it is the story behind “Sadako.”

17

OG3

One day, I was walking near my house when I found old man. He wasn’t

wearing anything, and it was rainy. I wondered why he didn’t wear clothes. I was just

curious, so I approached him. I said, “Hello” then he answered, “I’m freezing.” I had

gloves and so I gave them to him. But he put them on his feet. I was very surprised so

I taught how to put on glove, he couldn’t understand language. I thought maybe he

has dementia.

By the way, I gave him a name, because I didn’t know his real name. The

name I gave him was “the bold freezing old man.” This name was too long, so I gave

him a shorter name, “OG3.” It means “Only Gloves, Sir.” The pronunciation is “O-ji-

san.”

Next, I decided to call an ambulance and we went to the hospital. I took him

to a doctor, but the doctor said, “He is not a human. I have never seen blood and cell

structure like his. I think he is…” While he was talking, suddenly OG3 began to speak.

“Stop talking, if you keep talking I’ll eat you!” Then OG3 escaped from the hospital and

ran away. Though I followed him in a hurry, I couldn’t find him.

The next day, I was watching TV and OG3 suddenly appeared in front of me.

I was scared. He said, “I have a reason why I came to this age, follow me. There is

something that I want.” So I followed him. We arrived at a game shop and he stole a

Nintendo DS. The shop owner chased after us. We ran away and got on a train. OG3

said, “I wanted to play this game, so I came here from the moon.” I thought, “He is an

alien—no, a stupid alien.” Finally, I took him to the police station and turned him in.

18

Long Summer Vacation

It was a hot summer day. My school was in summer vacation and I was staying

at my grandparent’s house with my family. The house was spacious and there were

many rooms. I loved the house because it made me feel adventurous. By the way, my

name is Tom. I am an 8-year-old boy who loves adventure.

One day I was exploring the inside of the house by myself. “How many rooms

are there in the house? I wonder if there is treasure!?” I was excited. Even if I found

treasure, I would keep it secret from my sister, I decided.

After that, I found a room that was locked and couldn’t be opened. I wanted to

enter the room. I tried to pull the door knob strongly and I tried to use a coin to open

the lock. Then, I heard the lock opening. I quietly went into the room and looked around.

There was nothing strange in particular. I was a little disappointed and decided to leave

the room. Just then, “HEY! Is there someone there?!” I heard my grandmother’s voice.

I was surprised and thought that I had to hide. I hurried back to the room and looked

for a place to hide. However, there was no furniture there besides dirty drawers. I heard

footsteps from outside the room. I entered the chest of drawers. The inside was wide

and many dresses were hung. I steadily went deeper inside. I walked in the dark and

long chest of drawers. At that time, something cold touched my feet. It was snow.

When I raised my face, there was a snowy forest spreading out in front of me. I doubted

my eyes and I thought this must be a dream but I certainly felt the cold. It was not a

dream! I was afraid but kept walking.

There was a white and beautiful bird with an injured wing. I brought clothes

from a chest and rolled up her wing. I broke the biscuit in my pocket and gave it to the

bird. The bird looked a little healthier than before and flew away. Next I left there and

went back to my family. My grandmother asked me, “Where were you?” I answered, “I

19

was in a dream.” My grandmother looked confused but I was satisfied.

A few days later, my sister disappeared and a letter arrived from someone.

“Welcome to our forest. This forest has been made into a country of snow by wizards.

Your sister is here. Please help us.”

It seemed to be the beginning of a long summer vacation.

20

The Brother Who Came to Visit

There was once a girl who had five members in her family. She lived with her

family, including her mother and two young sisters. One morning, a strange man was

watching TV in the living room as though he was her family member. They called him

Fuma as usual, but he was a complete stranger no matter how she thought about it.

As far as she saw their attitudes towards him, she didn’t feel any discomfort. She

thought, “He is part of the family in memories.” She had wanted to have a brother when

she was a child, but she didn’t want to have a brother in this way that made her feel

uncomfortable.

She decided to gather some evidence and show it to her family. After a few

months had passed, her father said to everyone, “Let’s go on a trip.” They agreed and

went to Kanazawa City to go sightseeing. Fuma didn’t appear in the pictures which

they took there. They began to feel suspicious about him. When they were about to

question him closely, he went away somewhere. She thought that he just disappeared

because he hadn’t existed in the first place.

Her mother said to them suddenly, “He may be the baby that died in my

stomach.” I realized that the boy who died had wanted to spend time with his family

only for a while in adult form.

21

An Autumn Story

This is an autumn story from when I was junior high school student. There was

a boy in my class named K. He was smart, a mood maker and a popular person. He

was belonged track and field club, and he was good at sports. I looked up to him.

One day, his right leg was injured in a traffic accident two weeks before a big

game. I worried about that. He was admitted into a hospital for a while and it was

decided to operate immediately. I was very sad because he could not come to school

for a while. He couldn’t run, so I decided to step in for him to participate in the game. I

couldn’t run as fast as him, but the feeling, “I don’t know until I try,” inspired me. I

practiced hard for the next competition. On that day, I participated in the race and I

was anxious about whether I could win or not. However, a miracle happened. I won

the championship. I felt so good and happy. I appreciated him for giving me a chance.

That event happened in October.

22

Sophie and Elisha

There was a small family somewhere. Sophie was the eldest daughter and

spent time helping with the housework. One day, her brothers and sisters were making

a fuss in the garden. Sophie asked, “What's the matter with you?”

“Listen! It was in the alley there! A pretty woman left a boy!”

“She was a beautiful woman.”

“His eyes were as big as jewels!” The brothers and sisters spoke. Sophie

pushed through the siblings and looked into the center. There was a very pretty baby

in a high-class basket there. "Oh, my goodness! I've got to tell my father soon!"

On that day, the number of new family increased. The name “Elisha” was

embroidered on the baby’s clothes. The basket was so expensive that Sophie couldn't

understand why he had been dumped there. Nevertheless, Elisha was brought up as

a family and brought up well.

Elisha turned ten years old. At that time, he was growing up to be an eye-

popping beauty, with beautiful hair and skin and eyes as clear as sapphire. He was

well known as a good boy who was kind and willing to help everyone. Their parents

were thinking, "He might be the son of a noble….” But they loved Elisha deeply.

One day, Elisha was attacked by a suspicious person. He was able to escape,

but after that he was attacked again many times by delinquents of the town. He tried

to find out why, but one suspicious person said that he had been hired for a lot of

money. Elisha was very worried, but he didn't want to worry his family, so he didn't

consult anyone. But one day he was attacked while he was with Sophie. Elisha was

able to protect Sophie and defeat the ruffian, but she realized what he was hiding.

Sophie scolded him for not consulting her. "Why didn't you tell everyone? If you had

consulted with us, we might have made some kind of plan!"

23

“I can't make a plan for anything that comes from outside...Everyone will be

exposed to danger.”

One day, there was a fire at home. The fire was soon put out, but Elisha saw

that villains were setting fire to the house. He realized that his staying at home could

have set the house on fire and put everyone at risk. He decided to leave home that

day and live alone. He packed up his belongings and was about to leave home when

Sophie caught him.

“What on earth are you trying to do?”

“I must leave home to keep everyone away from danger.”

“No one thinks it's a nuisance.”

“I know! But I'm not a child of this house, my father is not my real father, and

my mother is not my real mother. No one really cares about me, right? It's not a real

family.”

Then Sophie slapped him on the cheek. “What are you saying? It is true that

our faces are not alike and we are not related by blood. But we have been living

together until now! We were living as a family! Everyone thinks of you as family! So

don't say that...Do you believe us?"

They cried and cried until they could not tell why they were crying. After that,

they consulted with their parents. Their parents were desperate and relied the people

of the town. The people of the town cared a lot about Elisha. They thought a lot and

took measures such as increasing the number of patrols. Because of this, the number

of attacks decreased. They had a peaceful time there for a while.

One day a big carriage came up in front of his house. A woman in a very

gorgeous dress came down from inside. The family became tense.

The woman said, “I am the mother of Elisha.” The woman began to talk about

her situation. She said that she was the second wife of a lord. She had been harassed

24

and her child had been kidnapped by the first wife of the lord and the first wife was

executed for her crime. Finally, she asked Elisha if he would come home with her

because she was at peace now. Elisha thought, “My real mother is there. But who is

my real mother? What is important to me?”

He already had the answer

“I’m sorry, I think you're certainly an important person to me, but my family is

all here now.” She looked very sad, but thought it would benefit him and went home.

Then he lived happily ever after as “family.”

I think family is… where we are and where we can be happy. What do you

think?

25

A Change of Character

There was a man who was a university student. He never made an effort so

he repeated the same mistakes. For example, he failed a class because he didn’t study.

He was not able to cook. He didn’t improve when he played games because of his

fickle character. In Japan, there are many sayings about effort. For example, “Practice

makes perfect.” Similarly, “Rome was not built in a day.” These show the importance

of accumulating effort. You can’t succeed at something only in one day. However, he

didn’t know this. He had thought that it was impossible to succeed. Moreover, he didn’t

learn anything from his mistakes so he wasn’t able to grow at all.

He prayed to change himself and he became active. First, he began to train

his body by running and doing gymnastics. He believed that the action would change

his image by appearance, but he gave up. After that, he started reading many books.

It was impossible to acquire knowledge and skill but he didn’t know it so he gave up.

Finally, he bought cosmetics and the perfume and so on. He tried to pay attention to

his fashion. However, it was too expensive for him and he gave up. He abandoned

changing himself.

One day, he took a walk in the neighborhood and he found a dog in the park.

The cold had weakened the dog. He took the dog home and he nursed it all day. As

a result, the dog became healthy. He was glad and he named the dog Pochi. He

decided to keep Pochi as a pet. He was lazy but he always took care of Pochi. He

was able to change his mind. It is difficult to improve oneself only through

determination, but if you can help someone, it is a chance to change yourself.

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Akio Abolishes Autumn

There was a man named Akio. He was a Japanese traveler. When he was a

child, he often used to catch a cold in autumn. So, he didn’t like autumn and he decided

to abolish it from Japan by a special power that he had to abolish anything. He enacted

it at beginning of the year.

At first, he was not able to feel that autumn had disappeared because he could

see the changing leaves. But he came to gradually feel that autumn was disappearing.

He was so happy because he could keep his health throughout the year.

However, he realized that autumn was one of the important seasons in Japan

when he became an adult. He noticed this after autumn had disappeared. The four

seasons were one of Japan’s charms, so many foreigners enjoyed it. He regretted that

he had abolished autumn and decided to go for a trip to regain Japanese autumn. He

traveled to many regions and countries which had the four seasons like Japan. He

spent a long time looking for autumn. However, he never discovered any regions or

countries which had autumn like Japan.

Finally, he finished his life without being able to regain autumn. Although he

thought he had made autumn disappeared, in fact it had been caused by global

warming.

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My Friend Taro

Today is the day when I play a game with my friend Taro in his house. We grew

up together and got on great together. I forgot to tell you my name! My name is Kazuki.

I’m 8 years old and I have a sister. Everyone usually calls me “Kazu”. Also, I get scared

easily. Everyone has always been astounded by my attitude. I would like to change

my heart, but it’s not going very well. Compared to me, Taro has courage. Moreover,

he always helps me. Sorry, I got off track. I should go to his home soon!

Ding -dong. I pushed the doorbell at his house. Then, the door opened.

“Hello! Welcome, Kazu! Come on!” Taro said.

When we got inside his room, I looked at a game on his desk.

“Do you want to play this game by any chance?”

“Yes. It looks interesting!”

When we started to play the game, the screen suddenly flashed and someone

caught my arms.

When I opened my eyes, I was surprised! I was in a place I didn’t know.

“Taro!! Where are you?” I screamed.

“Here. Are you OK?” Taro said.

“No! Where is here?!”

“I don’t know. But, I have seen this place in the game.”

“I know many creatures are in this world!”

“Stay cool!! I got your back.”

I looked around. “What a relief…. Nobody is there.” When I looked at his face

again, Taro had sharp teeth and bloodshot eyes.

“Taro? You don’t seem well.”

And look! He was trying to eat me!

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“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Get up!” Someone was calling me. “Kazu! Dinner will be ready soon!!” My

sister was calling me. I think that I was sleeping and it was my dream.

“Sorry. I’m coming in a minute.” Suddenly I caught sight of my arm, and noticed

a fingermark left there.

“Oh my goodness!!!!!”

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I am a Cat

I am a cat. Since I was born, I could understand human language. My thinking,

too, was like human thinking because in fact I was a person before changing into cat.

I could change into a person or a cat when I drank water. One day, I was walking in

the park. There were places where many cats gathered. The reason was that a man

gave food to the cats. But I thought this person was dangerous, so I listened to him. I

discovered that he was a cat killer. If a cat ate feed from him, the cat suddenly went to

sleep, and next he took away the cat and killed it. I imagined that perhaps his hobby

was abusing animals. But since I didn’t have an owner, so I needed his food. Finally, I

couldn’t bear it and I approached him.

He shouted suddenly, “This cat! The cat I’m looking for!” He noticed that I was

human because I was different from other cats. I hurriedly drank a nearby puddle of

water. I thought, “I want to change to human form soon!” I drank all the water in the

puddle, but I couldn’t change into a person. “Why? Why!? I can’t change into a person!”

Then I noticed something. If I drank too much water, it took longer to turn into a human

being. He got closer to me. Finally, he caught me and said, “I have been looking for

you forever, to kill you!” And I was killed by him. After a while I knew that he seemed

to have killed various cats in order to kill me.

Why do you think I had to be killed? Because I had been a murderer in human

form before.

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Shine

There was a boy named Shine. He was so pure that he was not able to see

the surroundings when he was absorbed in one thing. He went to a junior high school

called Stars. A girl called Perry. went to the same school. She was cheerful and made

the people around Shine smile. They belonged to the same school class. In fact, Shine

loved Perry. Although he wanted to convey love directly to her, he didn’t do it because

he was shy. So he decided to convey his love indirectly.

At first, he bought the same writing tools and umbrella she had and used them.

Next, he asked Doraemon to make a tool to anticipate the clothes she would wear

tomorrow. Finally, he wore the same clothes as her. However, far from having favorable

feelings to him, she began to escape from him. He asked his best friend Bob why Perry

disliked him. Bob told him, “I respect your single-hearted love, but your action makes

her unhappy. When you wore the same things as her, you looked like a suspicious

person. The personality of each person is different. You must tell her your honest

feelings.” After that, Shine said to Perry, “My behavior may have hurt you. I’m sorry. I

love you.” She replied, “Never mind. Please be friends with me.”

They are a couple now, but Perry got cancer. Shine is worried about her. They

want to have a wedding together to confirm each other’s love.

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A Funny Story

My name is Ran and I am 17 years old. I live in Hokkaido. I want to tell a funny

story.

One morning in January, I moaned during a nightmare and fell out of bed. After

that, I felt a sharp stab of pain in my head that I hadn’t felt before. I saw a vision that I

would quarrel with my best friend, Yuzu. I didn’t understand it well, but I paid no

attention to it. I ate breakfast and got ready.

When I got to school, Yuzu was already in her seat. I greeted her as usual.

However, she ignored me. I asked other classmates about it, and they told me he

rumor that I did not like her and we were false friends had gotten around. I believed

she was my best friend and I could tell her my secrets. I was startled by the rumor,

and I could not talk to her.

The next day, I saw a vision again, this time that my parents would quarrel.

When I went into the living room, my parents were quarreling. I wanted to know why

they were quarreling and asked my mother. She screamed, “Papa went to a cabaret

club because he had the business card!” Next, she declared, “I want to divorce him!” I

noticed a serious thing that these visions were becoming reality! I suddenly became

scared and shut myself up in my room.

I stayed home and thought about why I could see these visions. I thought

about the day before yesterday’s action… I remembered that I slipped and fell down

on the snowy road. Next I wondered why the rumor had spread, and I checked SNS…

that I was warned by her boyfriend to stop getting along with her. He kept her under

constraint and he seemed jealous of us. And my classmates told me the real criminal

who spread the rumor: it was her boyfriend!

While I was thinking about it, it became evening. I questioned my father about

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why he visited the cabaret club and had its business card. He told me, “My colleague

put the card in my jacket when I took off it to go to the toilet. In the morning, I get

angry at her.” I told my mother these things, and she said to me, “What a relief!” And

she shed tears gladly.

The next day, I called Yuzu and her boyfriend after school. I told her the rumor,

and she gave him a slap on the cheek. She said, “I want to break up with you! I’m sorry

for my attitude.” And we were friends again.

Finally, I slipped and fell down on the snowy road again. After that, I couldn’t

see visions anymore. My relationship with Yuzu was good and my parents did not

divorce.

If you walk on a snowy road, you have to be careful!

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TUINS Creative Writing Class, 2018-2019

“Our class, our stories.”