A Year in June: Moments

Closing her laptop June lets out a sigh. It has been a long day. She looks to her left and sees Mina sprawled out on her bed, knocked out after a combination of too much work and too much beer. June swings her legs over the side of the bed, stands up wearily, and leans over to pull Mina’s covers up over her face.

            “It covers up my open mouthed drooling problems!” Mina had said when June asked why she slept with her covers pulled up over her face.

            June turned off the lights.

            Another person has turned down the family photos June so painstakingly fixed. People here don’t care for the past, she thinks angrily. She says barely a word that day to anyone and goes to bed before the 5 p.m. song blares over the loudspeakers outside. The next morning she awakes to a cupcake from the recently reopened bakery down the street and some freshly squeezed orange juice on the living room table. “Ganbatte! You can do it! –Mina-chan” a post-it note reads next to the spread. June takes a slow and appreciative bite of the cupcake and plans her day.

            On Mina’s birthday, June and Mina invite several disaster-relief volunteers and locals from the neighborhood they had gotten to know. More people show up than either of them expect. Everyone is looking for reasons to celebrate. The one-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami is fast approaching and everyone has been hearing stories of suicides and depression. As Japanese politeness dictate, everyone brings an omiage to the party—fishermen bring fish and seaweed, farmers bring seasonal fruits and vegetables, and the volunteers bring store bought gifts from the local shops. In return Mina and June keep the party well stocked with wine and beer and everyone revels with an almost desperate fervor. At the beginning of the party Mina is just a blur in her sea foam green dress, mingling amongst the guests, welcoming and accepting birthday greetings. But as the night wears on she is more and more often by June’s side. By the end of the night they are sitting together enjoying their beers and trading inside jokes as if they are the only ones in the room.

            The five p.m. song sings out over the fast fading light in Minamisanriku. June and Mina both simultaneously perk up from their work on the kitchen table, “Beer time!” they exclaim gleefully to each other in unison. Realizing their unintentional synchronization, June and Mina laugh.

For once June wakes up before Mina. A pale light shines through their curtains as the sun starts to rise. June groans lightly and turns onto her side. Mina’s face is uncovered and she sleeps with her lips slightly parted, a small nasal sound escapes to the steady rhythm of her breathing. June watches the peaceful scene until she falls back asleep.

June sits in the living room working reassembling the latest water and dirt logged family album. She hears the unmistakable sound of compressed air escaping a can from the kitchen. Without looking up she says “watashi mo!” and Mina laughs as she grabs another can of beer from the fridge.

John Belushi’s forehead and nose bend and bulge as he passes through the unintentional crease in the white linen sheet June hung up as a makeshift projector screen. Neither of them has seen Animal House, but somehow this additional funhouse mirror effect only makes the movie even funnier. They quote scenes from the movie for months.