Around low tide, Kazuko goes to the sea.
During the low tide, the ocean moves further away, and you can see the sandy beach.
The beach goes on, forever and ever.
The wind blows through the folds of her kimono.

 

After walking for some time from the beach, Kazuko pulled off her head cloth.
When she pulled off the cloth, you could see both of her cheeks, which were tanned from the sun.
You could also see the lump that was covered by the cloth until now.
One of Kazuko’s cheeks had a big lump on it.
No one knew why, but since her birth, the lump had existed on her cheek like a swollen mochi rice cake.
The sea didn’t think anything of her, even after seeing Kazuko’s lump.
It didn’t think anything at all.

 

That day, Kazuko went to meet her friend Etsuko.
Etsuko had just given birth to her fifth child and so Kazuko had sewn her a little baby blanket.
“Kazu, thank you so much.”
“Etsu, take care of yourself, alright?”

Even after leaving Etsuko’s house behind, Kazuko could not forget the tiny baby’s face.
How cute it was.

 

Kazuko strolled unhurriedly down to the beach.
On the way, she heard the sound of a crying child coming from a house.
The child was throwing a tantrum and causing the mother troubles.
She said to her crying child,
“If you don’t behave, then a lump will grow on you.”
The child, after stopping its crying, replied,
“Just like that woman with the head cloth ! ”
“Exactly, I’m sure you wouldn’t want a lump like that to grow on your cheek, now would you?”
Kazuko, not wanting to be noticed by them, carefully, very carefully, walked away.

 

She hurried down to the beach so fast that her zori sandals almost slipped off her feet.
The tide had started to move the water away from the shore.
Kazuko aimed for the ocean that was visible in the far distance and started walking.
While walking, she dropped her head cloth.
Passing by many puddles of seawater and patches of sand, Kazuko ended up further than she had ever gone before.
Finally, she was able to cry.
If only I could stay in the sea forever.

 

In that moment, the sobbing Kazuko started to hear some bright music.

 

Strum strum pat pat strum pat pat
Toot toot tootle ti toot

 

Kazuko wiped her tears and looked around.
Over there in the open sea, she could see some people.
Slowly, she got closer.

 

Strum strum pat pat strum pat pat
Toot toot tootle ti toot

 

The people were dancing along cheerfully.
They were playing the flute, beating the drums and strumming the shamisen.
What a surprise.
How long have these people been here for?
They all had clear skin that looked like that of a whitebait fish.
Maybe the people from town came here to enjoy themselves?

 

Kazuko was standing still when she heard someone say,
“Miss, why don’t you sit down?”
A man who was drinking offered her a cup of sake.
Kazuko sat down in front of the man and had a sip.
“It tastes wonderful”, said Kazuko.
“I bet it does.”
The man nodded happily.
“Here you go.”
A child brought her shellfish.
Kazuko put the still wriggling, fresh shellfish into her mouth.
This, again, tasted wonderful.
“Here, have another cup.”
The man filled her cup once more.
Kazuko drank the always refilled sake and ate the shellfish to her heart’s content.
Then, with her stomach full, she drowsily drifted off to sleep.

 

Strum strum pat pat strum pat pat
Toot toot tootle ti toot

 

With no idea how much time had passed, Kazuko woke up because of the cold water.
It had soaked Kazuko’s entire butt.
The banquet, however, was still going on, and laughter echoed.
“Miss, you know, you never have to go back to the shore again.”
Kazuko gasped.
“ We only return to our human forms at low tide.
During the flood, we float in the ocean as sea foam.”
The area around the man’s eyes was stained with a bright red.
To think that even someone as beautiful as him had enough sadness in him to want to become sea foam.
While thinking about how to answer the man, the waves quietly come in.
Kazuko stood up.

 

So that’s what happened to the people here.
Everyone became sea foam.

 

Everyone became sea foam, and only once a day, return to being human.
That sounds fantastic.

 

“Miss, let’s have another drink together tomorrow.”
The man’s face was already submerged in the water.
The people from the banquet disappeared, and in their place, sea foam started to float between the waves.

 

Kazuko, now all alone, started to shiver.
She undid her Obi belt.
As if in a trance, she ran, and swam. Ran, and swam.
In the end, the waves pushed her back onto the beach, and Kazuko only ended up covered in sand.

 

That day, at the last moment, Kazuko became scared.
She missed out on becoming sea foam.

 

Since that day, Kazuko started walking along the sea during low tide.
Still, never once did she meet the sea foam people again.

 

 

Today the weather is clear and bright again and you can see the wide beach.
The lump is still on her cheek.
“Waa!”
There is a tiny hand touching her lump.
Kazuko smiles gently down at the baby in her arms.
The baby becomes very happy whenever it can touch her lump.
Kazuko became a mother.
Oddly enough, the man who became her husband looks strangely similar to the man at the banquet who gave her the sake.

 

 

END