Kouya Hijiri: CHAPTER 10

I was slowing down, and didn't think I'd be able to make it up the next slope ahead. Just then, I heard the neigh of horses. I thought it might be horses drivers, or perhaps a carriage. It hadn't been very long since I'd parted from the farmer, but it felt like I hadn't spoken to another human being for 3 or 5 years. If there was horse up ahead, there might people and houses. Much encouraged, I went up the steep slope.

At the top of the hill there was a house without a gate. A man sat on the veranda.

"Hello! Excuse me!" I cried out to him.

But the man said nothing. He put his head on one shoulder and looked at me with hollow eyes. He wore a short kimono with short sleeves. He had a little pot belly and his navel poked out from his kimono. He played around with this strangely protruding navel, and the other hand hung limply between his knees.