オンライン小説【Very Short】英語⇔日本語 第11話 ~Treasure~
公園を囲む木々が西日を半分遮っている。その奥に、公衆トイレの壁が見えた。
明日の朝また同じ時刻に…、とそこまで考えて、律は頭を振った。見られた以上
場所を帰るかもしれない。この町に、あとどれくらいの数の公衆トイレがあるか
見当もつかない。それに、いつも公衆トイレではないかもしれない。切りが無い。
The trees, surrounding the park was shutting half the lights from
the declining sun off. Between the trees Ritsu could see the wall of the
toilet. She stared at it and started thinking “maybe tomorrow morning
at the same time like this morning…” The she shook her head telling
herself that they would not come back there because they had been
seen about what they were doing, besides that she had no idea about
how many other public toilets this town had, and on top of that,
they might not always use a toilet. It was endless.
律は、こうやって公園に来たのは、タミラにまた会えるのかもしれない、
そう思っていた自分に気がついた。なぜかまたタミラと出会うようなぼんやりとした
予感がしていたのだった。緑がかった栗色の髪、光を帯びた強い眼差し。
どんなファッション雑誌のモデルより遥かに美しいタミラの顔は、思い起こす度に
鮮明になっていった。
ふと見ると、クッキー＆クリームのクッキーは、暑さで溶けたクリームを吸って
ふにゃふにゃになっていた。もはや液体状になったアイスクリームの最後の
ひとすくいを口に運び、律は空になったカップを手に立ち上がった。肌を焼く
暑さは無くなり、太陽の日差しはいつの間にか公園の木々の向こう側に落ちていた。
Ritsu finally realized why she came to the park this afternoon.
She had vague thought, rather a hunch to meet Tamira again,
a young woman with greenish chestnut color and beaming eyes.
Tamira was far more beautiful than any models on covers Ritsu
had ever seen. Every time Tamira's face popped up on Ritsu’s mind,
the beauty of her face became more vivid.
Ritsu noticed the ‘cookie and ream’ had totally melted by
the summer heat and the chips of cookie softened having absorbed
the liquidated ice cream. She scooped the rest, put it into her mouth,
and stood up with the empty ice cream cup. The heat parching Ritsu's
skin was gone and the sunlights were completely shut off by the trees.
家に戻り、玄関を開けると、義母が廊下の奥から飛び出してきた。
「りっちゃん、もう四時半よ。今日は学校十二時までのはずだから、心配で
学校や由美子ちゃんの家に電話しちゃったわ。携帯繋がらないし。ああ良かった。
連絡してくるわ。気に掛けてくださっている方達に。」おろおろした義母の目に
うっすらと涙が浮かんでいた。
いつも冷静で穏やかな義母が動揺している姿を、律は初めて見た。
When Ritsu got home and opened the door, her stepmother ran out
the corridor from the inner place of it.
“Ri-chan, it is four thirty. The school dismissed four hours ago.
I called the school and Yumiko’s. Nobody knew where you were and,
I tried your cell off course but it was disconnected. I was just
so worried. Well, my goodness I am relieved. I’d better make phone
calls there are people concerning about you.”
Ritsu saw her moist eyes as she talked. Ritsu had never seen her
stepmother jolted like this because she had always maintained
her calmness in front of Ritsu.
「ごめん」
律が目を伏せてそう言った途端、義母の表情が崩れた。
「いいのよ。私、騒ぎ過ぎちゃったかもしれないわ。最近、嫌なニュースが多い
から、つい……。りっちゃんに何かあったら、申し訳が立たないもの」
今朝、美坂公園で、教頭とタミラの密会を目撃していた最中、由美子が電話をかけて
きて、慌てて電源は切り、そのままにしていた事を、律は思い出した。義母は、
腰から巻いたエプロンで目をギュッと押さえ、律の手から空になったアイスクリームの
カップを手に取って、「ああ良かった」ともう一度自分に確認するように言い、
廊下奥のキッチンの方へ戻って行った。
“I am sorry.” As soon as Ritsu said it with downcast eyes,
the stepmother's face was contorted.
“No. No. I made a big deal out of it losing control of myself.
The news reports nowadays regarding girls put in trouble made me
feel so concern, I mean…if anything happens to you I can never
allow myself to make any excuses for that.”
In the earlier morning while Ritsu staked out on the vice-principal
and Tamira at the park, Yumiko called Ritsu on her cell. She turned off
it in a fluster. Ritsu remembered since then she had left her cell phone
disconnected.
Ritsu’s stepmother took her apron and pressed it around her eyes.
She took the empty ice cream cup Ritsu was holding, said
“I am relieved”one more time as if she had confirmed herself,
and went back to the inner corridor towards the kitchen.
階段を上がりかけた律に、奥のキッチンから幾分落ち着きを取り戻した義母の声
が呼びかけた。
「お腹空いたでしょう？冷やし中華そば作ってあるから一緒に食べよう」
「うん」律は、大きな声で返事をした。「一緒に」と言った義母が、昼食を食べずに
待っていたのだと解かった。罪悪感を覚えた分、返事をした声が大きくなった。
決して義母が嫌いなわけではなかった。ただ、受け入れる事ができないでいた。
律の中には、亡くなった母が居て、逝ってしまった後に築いた父との生活が、
まだ大切に存在していたからだった。
As Ritsu was about to go upstairs, her stepmother called out
sounding she had regained calmness to some extent.
“You must be hungry. I made cold Chinese-style noodle.
Let's have it together.”
“O.K.” Ritsu answered loudly responding to her saying
“together” because Ritsu sensed that her stepmother had not
had lunch either but waited until Ritsu came home, so she got
a guilty feeling now and her “O.K” answer was loud accordingly.
Ritsu never disliked her stepmother.
It was just that Ritsu had not been able to accept her.
Ritsu's natural mother who had passed away was still very much
alive in her heart. After her death Ritsu and her father built
their daily life from scratch and she had always cherished
those days very much.
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