IX 穀雨 [1] / [4]
One night, when Alexander was sleeping with Cynthia, his phone rang. It was the caller. Again, the number was restricted. He answered the phone urgently, but tried to make his voice calm.
"Hello."
"It's been quite a while,"
a grave voice, difficult to measure in its gravitas.
"Long time no talk."
Alexander tried to speak as plainly as possible. There was nothing Alexander could do now. He didn't want to irritate the caller.
"Write down this address."
The caller repeated an address twice like a listening test.
"Visit that house tomorrow, at 9 p.m. Be punctual. Wear a black mask and hold a big red rose bouquet. Just ring the doorbell, don't answer. She will open the door for you."
The phone hung up.
Alexander didn't know what to make if it, but he felt he had no choice but to go along with it. They'd already invested so much in this course of action, that it felt absurd to pull out now. Still, Alexander didn't feel great about it.
Either way, he had to solve this case. As life drew on, it became increasingly apparent to Alexander that there was no escaping his duties so long as they were his responsibility. He moved his suffocated heart into the notebook. He turned the light off, and tossed and turned on the bed. After a long while, he fell into a deep sleep, as if he were dead.
<Life and death>
Life sang the prelude of death today as well.
When in the world is the time in which this song ends?
People of the world-
dance
with the song of life, which is like melting bones.
Before the sunset people didn't have any moment
to think about the fear
that came at the song's end.
(I knew only this.
People who tasted the end of this song
knew it alone,
and didn’t reveal the flavor of the next song.)
Who sang this song
as if carving beads in the space at the very center of the sky?
And who stopped this song
as in the moment after a sudden shower ends?
Those great men who are the victors of death,
who died already, of whom only bones remain!