The Cousins and the Blind Willow

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

The narrator’s visit with his hearing-impaired cousin reopens an old memory of a sleeping woman, a lost friend, and an unrecognized failure to act.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Return to Kobe Return to Kobe from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". Back in the Old Room A stalled return The narrator comes back to Kobe after leaving work and ending a relationship.

Return to Kobe from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". Back in the Old Room A stalled return The narrator comes back to Kobe after leaving work and ending a relationship.

Back in the Old Room A stalled return The narrator comes back to Kobe after leaving work and ending a relationship. His childhood room feels preserved but emptied of life. A family errand His aunt asks him to take his cousin to a new hospital. Their long silence makes the journey an unexpected test of closeness.

The Crowded Bus The Crowded Bus from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Strange Ride Familiar route, unfamiliar bus The cousins board a new, crowded bus on a route the narrator remembers from school.

The Crowded Bus from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Strange Ride Familiar route, unfamiliar bus The cousins board a new, crowded bus on a route the narrator remembers from school.

A Strange Ride Familiar route, unfamiliar bus The cousins board a new, crowded bus on a route the narrator remembers from school. A group of elderly hikers adds to his unease. Conversation at a distance His cousin asks about watches, school, and the future. The narrator tries to reassure him but cannot find easy words.

The Hospital Cafeteria The Hospital Cafeteria from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Scene Repeated A vivid resemblance The narrator sees twins, a lawn, and the sea from the cafeteria window.

The Hospital Cafeteria from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Scene Repeated A vivid resemblance The narrator sees twins, a lawn, and the sea from the cafeteria window.

A Scene Repeated A vivid resemblance The narrator sees twins, a lawn, and the sea from the cafeteria window. The scene feels like a memory despite being new to him. The old hospital returns That landscape leads him back to a visit years earlier, when his friend and the friend’s girlfriend sat together after her operation.

The Blind Willow Tale The Blind Willow Tale from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Sleeping Woman A story drawn on napkins The girlfriend invents a hill, a sleeping woman, and a pollen-bearing Blind willow.

The Blind Willow Tale from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". A Sleeping Woman A story drawn on napkins The girlfriend invents a hill, a sleeping woman, and a pollen-bearing Blind willow.

A Sleeping Woman A story drawn on napkins The girlfriend invents a hill, a sleeping woman, and a pollen-bearing Blind willow. Tiny flies enter the woman’s ear and consume her. A rescue without rescue A young man climbs the hill, but the woman is already being eaten. The story’s sadness unsettles the boys, though neither grasps its warning.

The Bus Pulls Away The Bus Pulls Away from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". What Remained Unseen A recovered memory The narrator recalls that the boys left the chocolates melting in the sun while absorbed in themselves.

The Bus Pulls Away from "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman". What Remained Unseen A recovered memory The narrator recalls that the boys left the chocolates melting in the sun while absorbed in themselves.

What Remained Unseen A recovered memory The narrator recalls that the boys left the chocolates melting in the sun while absorbed in themselves. Neither noticed what their carelessness meant. Back to the present His cousin’s grip brings him out of his paralysis. The real bus arrives, but the narrator carries the old failure into an uncertain future.

After the narrator quits his Tokyo job

On the morning of the hospital appointment

Late morning, while the cousin is being examined

During the remembered hospital visit, eight years earlier

At the hospital stop, near the end of the visit