The Premonition

by Banana Yoshimoto

Behind her hair, her sweet ringing voice, her long fingers on the piano, she harbored something vast, lost, and familiar, and it was like a siren call to those of us who were missing parts of our childhoods. It was something deeper than night, longer than eternity, out of reach. We saw her in our minds, bearing this burden for so long, how she stayed true, her courage and grace, the pain it must have caused. And then, ever more enthralled, we end up coming together like this in a starry wood to share a meal.