If Cats Disappeared from the World

by Genki Kawamura

The fact of the matter is, in reality people tend to be surprisingly calm when they hear news like this. When I found out my diagnosis, the first thought that popped into my head was that I was one stamp away from earning a free massage at the spa, and also that I shouldn’t have stocked up on so much toilet paper and laundry detergent during my last shopping trip. But it wasn’t long until I was overcome by a bottomless sadness. I was only thirty years old. Okay, I know that means that I’ve lived longer than Hendrix and Basquiat, but somehow I felt like I still had a lot of unfinished business. There must be something, I didn’t know what, but something on this planet that only I was meant to accomplish. But I didn’t really dwell on any of this. Instead I wandered in a daze until I reached the train station, where I spotted a couple of young guys playing guitar and singing. This life will someday have to end, so until that final day arrives, Do what you want to do, do it, do all you can, That’s how you face tomorrow.