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92 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2013
‘I don’t know exactly what it is, but I do know that somewhere in this town there is something bad, and that those long shadows creeping up in the dark have come to tell me about it.’
‘Those Grandmas and this Grandma. The Grandmas I have in my head or the Grandma lying here with her eyes closed, quietly sleeping. Which is the real Grandma?’
‘So Ms Ice Sandwich’s face that I look at almost every day was made by plastic surgery. That’s not Ms Ice Sandwich’s real face…What does failed plastic surgery mean? One of the girls said that if it was her, she’d die. And that Ms Ice Sandwich would never be able to get married, and that her life was over.’
‘Ms Ice Sandwich just stands where she is, barely acknowledging the man, though she might have laughed a little. Uh-oh, I think, as in a flash the man comes storming back to the glass case, the manager chasing after him. Is she taking the piss? the man screams at the manager, then he looks square at Ms Ice Sandwich—speaking loudly and clearly, Listen to me, you ugly cow. I come here every day to buy my groceries, and every day I have to see your painted monster face. Butt-ugly females like you, you think you’re better than anybody else with your facial reconstruction crap.’
‘I had the thought that to create a proper love song, you need to confront a certain kind of shallowness and selfishness. To "fall in love" is fundamentally lonely, thinking things like "What can I do to get closer to them? What should I do to get into their sight? What should I do to be able to interact with them?" Rather than trying to understand the other person, it's a time where you think only about yourself. Wanting to do something for them, wanting to make them happy - things such as that aren't the essence of falling in love, I feel.’ – Yonezu Kenshi, natalie music
‘Doo-Wop and I never talk to these girls. It’s like there’s a barrier of barbed wire or something, except it’s invisible, that keeps us away from them. Well, it’s not as if we really have anything to say to them… The other day when we had to make a newspaper, we ended up in the same group, and they spent the whole time just talking to each other and putting fancy stickers on their notebooks, and then running off to the toilet maybe to look at themselves in the mirror; they didn’t contribute at all to the newspaper, but they’re not the sort of kids you can tell off for stuff like that, they’re too stuck-up, you know, kind of hard to get along with.’
‘Blood comes spurting out, and I wonder how that feels. I wonder how heavy the bags were stuffed with all that money. When they use the money will somebody know that it was stolen? I’m thinking about all these things as I try to keep watching all the action and confusion on the screen. Finally the gunfight ends and the car drives away, and then all of a sudden it’s a completely different scene and Tutti lets out a big sigh, grabs the remote, and pauses the DVD.’
‘I wonder if I’ll get the chance to apologize to Tutti…Probably not. This whole thing will probably just fade away. People always forget about these little things, but I believe that each one stays somewhere deep in everyone’s heart, and without noticing it they grow and harden, until one day they cause something terrible to happen.’
‘The automatic doors open and out pour people holding white plastic shopping bags stuffed with food. I guess they’re on their way home.’
If you want to see somebody you have to make plans to meet, or even make plans to make plans, and next thing you end up not seeing them anymore. That's what's going to happen. If you don't see somebody, you end up never seeing them. And then there's going to be nothing left of them at all.