perhaps we had fallen asleep on the train ride There- now mountains rise where there once were skyscrapers. an ocean floats where the ground once stood. it almost looks to me like a ghost town till i catch a glimpse of bright orange shoes thumping up and down the road- crunching on the gravel- flashing by like neon lights. my breath clouds up my vision and the world outside looks much colder. stepping outside, we are born again.
perhaps we had fallen asleep on the train ride There- this is not There. yet Here- wherever this may be- i find my eyes piercing through frosted glass, adrenaline coursing through my lungs like a shot of caffeine delivered straight to my brain. i know now we are lost. and still, I need no map to pave the way home. it is Here- where the soles that wander next to mine are as familiar as the ground is not.
Here's what happens when you find yourself in Omi-Takashima instead of Kyoto after an hour-long train ride.