Tears pour from my eyes. They’ve been flowing for a while. What’s happening to me? I don’t think tears are somehow more sacred than any other excrement like snot, saliva, urine, blood, or pus. No, I’m not thinking anything. Nothing at all. I just cry and laugh. I don’t understand everything Sol is saying here, but that doesn’t matter. The stars are beautiful tonight. But as I look up at the sky, it’s not the stars twinkling I want to understand, it’s the darkness that the stars hang against, and the darkness that hangs behind that. The impenetrable darkness that neither lightning or fire can break through, the darkness I can see between the branches where the sky and the land merge. Is there more darkness behind that darkness? I rub my eyes but it’s still not clear where I am. I feel like I’m locked in a strange prison called The World. There has to be an Exit. Of course there is.

Okay, I can do it. I have the courage within me. Now I’m ready to start. With my friend, and with slow, steady steps, one after another … I rub my face hard with my palms. I make fists with my hands. I like myself right now. The trees exhale fresh air and the water murmurs around me. I want to be kind to those who have been cruel to me. I fold the letter and stand up.

In the distance I see a long, blue shadow approaching. Someone is walking toward the bridge. I lean against the railing so they can pass me. From the other direction, two more people walk toward the bridge. The metal of the bridge rattles. Is it my legs that are rattling or this old metal bridge? Why are there several men in dark suits walking from opposite directions to this bridge at night?

“Get her! Now! Don’t let her escape!We’ll make sashimi out of her tonight!” It’s a familiar voice.

The men rush at me. Oh shit, I find myself hopping onto the railing. Leche is good at landing lightly like this. And I—like the girl in The Acrobat—I spread my arms, and cross my left leg in front of the right. I spin my arms in a circle like a propeller, but my body does not fly up into the air. Quite ordinarily and simply, I move.