By the edge of the Dragon God’s pond, a rusty bicycle stood propped up, catching the spring light.
“Spice fixed it up for me. Today I’m finally going to master it.”
Kopo gripped the handlebars of the two-wheeler and puffed out his chest. He’d fallen yesterday, fallen the day before that, and the day before that he’d still been pushing it along on foot. His motive — “if I ride this thing gracefully , the girls are bound to swoon” — hadn’t wavered for three days straight.
The moment he pushed off, the bicycle tilted exactly as expected. Kopo fought to keep his balance with his whole body, and kept pedaling anyway. The grass along the embankment swayed in the wind, and small ripples spread one after another across the pond’s surface.
“Kopo, bro, you still don’t know how to stop?”
Minico called down from the top of the embankment.
“…I know. I know how — I just haven’t tried it yet!”
The bicycle wobbled its way onto the road along the river. Falling cherry petals danced through the air, and one stuck flat against the tip of Kopo’s nose. The April wind brushed past his ears.
That was when something changed.
The pond’s light looked like it had shattered into silver. The green smell of grass ran clear through to the back of his nose. Minico’s laughter reached him, bursting from somewhere far away. Beyond that row of cherry trees, beyond that crossing over there — maybe he could ride even farther than this. For just one moment, that thought crossed his mind.
The bicycle slammed into a stone wall and stopped. Kopo sprawled flat on his back in the grass and lay still for a while.
Minico ran over and sat down beside him.
“Was it fun?”
Kopo stared up at the sky for a moment, then blew the petal off the tip of his nose.
“…The world was moving.”
Minico quietly took in those words and looked up at the same sky.
Margin note: The next morning, a small stone with “Brake Repair Fee” written on it was found in front of Spice’s workshop. It was empty inside, but it had been properly wrapped in paper.
【Today’s Drop】
- Bicycle Day (April 19): In Japan, April 19th is designated a day to promote the spread and safe use of bicycles. It is also known internationally as “Bicycle Day,” commemorating April 19, 1943, when Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann deliberately took LSD for the first time and recorded that, on his bicycle ride home, “the world looked completely different.”
This is an English translation of “春風の二輪”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).