What You Are Looking for is in the Library

by Michiko Aoyama

“What did she say when you told her you wanted to open a shop?” Yasuhara looks away. “She didn’t...say anything.” Then he turns toward me with a gentle smile, and with an expression I have not seen on his face before. “She said nothing, and went along with it. I’m forever grateful to her.”

There are so many things to do, but I won’t make the excuse that I have no time anymore. Instead, I will think about what I can do with the time I have. One day is going to become tomorrow.

Be eaten or be loved. A lump forms in my throat at the thought of the utterly different fates awaiting these crabs huddled together in the plastic box. When I worked for the company, what kind of crab was I, I wonder. While still inside the box I was raised to be a manager, but ultimately wasn’t my fate to be eaten up by the organization?