Running Away

Marino Miyagi, OCU

When I was six years old, my brother was born. I was happy but felt all of my mother’s love go straight to him. My mother was very kind. We used to go places on weekends. My father worked at night. I missed him every night when he went out. I cried a lot. I had my dog Hana who lived on the balcony. Sometimes we played together, and I would grow tired and fall asleep with her outside. The feeling of loneliness made her my best buddy.

During this time, I attended Daido Kindergarten. It was located near the snack bars in Sakaemachi. Everyday, passed-out drunkards would lie in street, so I didn’t walk there. I was a tomboy, honest and an animal lover.

My best friend was Narise. We had been friends since nursery school. We had always been close. She was adventurous and liked to do dangerous things. She couldn’t stay still. One day, we ran away together from kindergarten. We had thought that kindergarten was becoming rather boring, so we felt we needed to escape. We aimed for lunch break time, but we didn’t have time to change our shoes. We ran away with our hallway slippers. We moved softly, with slow stealthy footsteps in the hallway. The operation was a huge success.

First, we went to my grandmother's house. When we arrived, she asked us, “What’s up? You are supposed to be at school now, right!?” We answered, “We have no school today.” That was a lie. Around that time during kindergarten, the teachers noticed that we were gone. They searched around the kindergarten ground, but we were not to be found. Then they called our mothers. They said, “Please keep yourselves calm. Your children aren’t here. Maybe Marino ran away with Narise. We are searching for them, but they’re not here. My mother said, “I’m going to call my mother. Maybe they are there.” 

My mother’s suspicions were true. So, she came to my grandmother’s house and found us. We were scolded by her and my teacher. My mother was very angry. She was afraid that we had had some kind of accident. She said, “I am glad that you have returned safely. Please promise me that you will never run away.” I said “Okay, I promise.” I have kept that promise even to this day. On that day, I noticed my mother’s great love for me.

In writing this brief reflection, I asked my mother, “Did I do anything else?” My mother said, “Yes you did. When you were in nursery school, you ran away by yourself. You were just three years old.” When I was 3 years old, my mother had given birth to my sister. Maybe my mother was busy caring for my sister so I felt lonely at that time as well. Running away was my message to my mother, “I miss you.” Later, when I realized my mother given birth to my brother, when I was in kindergarten, I must have felt very, very lonely. In Japan, it is said that the eldest daughter receives much love and affection, but I must have been lonely not to be aware.