Quincy High School - Goldenrod Yearbook (Quincy, MA)

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12 THE GOLDEN-ROD green trees, lighted only by small metal lanterns which the garden boy had lighted at dusk. They reached the house, set like a doll's play-house of paper, beside a small pond. Savonaras, goodnights, were said, and Sui San entered her small room. Everything was ready, as she had said. A new American trunk was strapped and waiting by the flower stand. Her best kimono and obi were laid beside the small block of wood which was her pillow. She arranged her flowers, drew back the paper shutter, and lay down upon her matting bed. to think. Sleep she knew would not come to her for a long time. Thoughts, dreams, desires were surging through her brain. She was to leave her country, her home, and her friends to go to the great America. Should she be happy; But yes. why not: She would have Wakasa, her little home and yes. perhaps a tiny child to brighten it. Oh. she was not worthy of such fortune! The honorable ancestors were very good and kind to al- low her such happiness. And then came the thought of her approaching marriage to Wakasa. She loved him with all her heart, and she would be happy. Her girl friends were to come early in the morning to help her dress for the ceremony. She would wear her snow-white wedding ki- mono. which had been her grandmother's. They would arrange her hair and place in it the tiny white bird of paradise. The priest would say a few words, and she would be the wife of Wakasa. Her friends would kiss her hands and give her sweet- meats and flowers. They would all bow very low before her, and then she and Wakasa would ride away in a jinrickisha to the great railroad station, take the train for Yokohama, and—of all that she could not think. Sleep came at last, sweetly carrying away all thoughts and giving her the rest which she needed. “Ohaio, Sui San, it is morning, your wedding day!” Sui San arose happily to a glowing world. Her girl friends greeted her glee- fully and smothered their exclamations as they saw the bright-eyed Sui San. Never had she looked more beautiful. Her eyes shone, her head was held proudly high, as she called the little servant Nayo to help her. The girls assisted Nayo in arranging the clinging folds of Sui San’s heavy silk kimono, tied her obi. and fastened the small bird of paradise in her hair. Dur- ing this process, Sui San stood, while all waited upon her, her eyes full of far- away things, her voice sweetly soft and clear as she gave directions to Nayo. At last she stood ready, calm and lovely in her wedding clothes, and in her dark eyes a love-light was shining. The Shintu priest arrived; the guests assembled, each carrying a pure white chrysanthemum. The room was decor- ated with the same flower arranged simply in very tall vases. Ogomenasai, I beg your pardon, everyone is ready, Sui San, said the little Nayo. “Yoroshin, all right, I will come, Nayo.” Stopping only a moment to kneel be- fore the Shintu shrine and murmur a few words, she walked gracefully into the room where the guests were waiting. She hesitated only a minute, then went for- ward to meet Wakasa. With her head bowed she knelt before the priest, re- splendent in his festive robes, old, and greatly revered. A few words were said softly and slowly by the priest, and a prayer whispered by Sui San and Wakasa. Wakasa took both her hands and, raising her up, told her to lift her head. There was or.e kiss and the sweet ceremony was over. The guests arose, presented Sui San with flowers, sweetmeats, and bowed low, very low, before her. Hastily Sui San and Wakasa said farewell to their friends and rode away in the jinrickisha which was waiting. They rode through the busy streets, lined with open shops and filled with happy children. When they arrived at the Ueno station, which is Tokyo’s largest railroad station, they alighted and went quickly into the waiting-room and further out on the platform. There Wa- kasa left Sui San and went to attend to the baggage. “I will be back in ten minutes, at just twelve o’clock, Sui San.” Neither of the two realized just how long that ten minutes would be. For it was just at the stroke of noon that the platform upon which Sui San was stand- ing began to shake as if a very heavy train were pulling in. Sui San looked

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The Story “Sayonara, Sui San.” “Sayonara,” and Sui San slowly turned and pushed aside the paper walls which opened into her room. Together, Sui San and Wakasa had watched the beautiful Oriental sunset. To them nothing had ever seemed more beautiful. Wakasa would have been will- ing to sit forever by the wall and watch with Sui San that great golden ball as it sank slowly, slowly, and serenely to meet the sea. There had been a moment when both had held their breath, for it surely seemed as though the disk of gold must rest on the edge of the world for a while. But the moment of waiting was soon over, and the sun had resumed its journey downward, shedding as it went a glow far over the sea. Rose, gold, and blue of the sky so intermingled and blended as to give that touch of beauty so often lost in the clouds and haze which hem in our vision. No steamer leaving its trail of smoke on the horizon, a tell-tale of civilization, only the broad, ribbed, wing-like sail of a Jap- anese junk silhouetted against the western glow, and moving so slowly as to make one wonder whether or not it was moving at all—altogether a picture so fraught with calmness, with the poignancy of beauty, that it was never to be erased from the minds of these two. “Sui San, only tomorrow we shall be sailing toward the very place where the sun is sinking. You will be my wife and we shall be starting on our long, long journey to America. Tomorrow—tomor- row—and then—” “Oh, yes, Wakasa, and shall we sail from Yokohama?” “Yes, dear, the arrangements are com- pleted. We shall take the steamer from Yokohama tomorrow afternoon, cross the of Sui San Japanese Bay, go down to Manila, touch at Singapore, go through the Suez, and at last cross the great Atlantic Ocean and reach America.” “Then, Wakasa, you may study. You may become a great man: you may learn of government, of the wonders of Ameri- can ideals, and then after those few years we will come back again to dear, dear Aoyama. Is it not so, Wakasa?” “Yes, Sui San, it is all true. I shall study. You shall have your own little home and wait for me, until I have learned how I may help my country. Then we shall return to Aoyama, and watch again just such sunsets as this.” The sun had dropped below the water. The rose and gold of the sunset glow were slowly changing, blending with the deep blue to lavender, deeper still to purplish gray, and now the twilight had come and evening’s quiet was settling down on the sea before them, and on the garden in back. The great sail of the junk had be- come almost invisible as its color blended with the soft gray of the evening sky. The first stars were pricking through the cur- tain of the sky and night was coming down, so softly, gently, and peacefully. “I must take you to your door, Sui San, and let you go in and have your rest. You must sleep and dream of the pleasant new country to which you are going. Every- thing is ready?” “Yes, yes, all is ready, and I am only waiting for the morning to come. But sleep, Wakasa, sleep? I shall try to, but no, I shall not sleep. I shall think, think, and wait for tomorrow. They walked through the tiny land- scape garden, across miniature bridges, through huge beds of chrysanthemums, through a path, dark with dwarfed ever-

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THE GOLDEN-ROD 18 around her in amazement. People were pouring out of the shops and fleeing in all directions. Cries and shouts of “Earth- quake!” filled the air. Clutches which she made to hold onto posts, the window ledges, or walls were in vain, for the very buildings were rocking and cracking. Sui San was speechless with fright. Her small, dark eyes were opened wide; her face was colorless. She felt as if she were in a very small boat on a rough and choppy sea. “Wakasa, Wa—” but she said no more, for she was pushed into a waiting bus by a hurrying official and was rushed through streets where houses were falling, walls were tumbling, and worst of all, where flames were eating their way from one house to another. Eire gongs pealed, while engines rushed by, shrieking their awful message. Poor Sui San covered her eyes and tried to think. W hat was hap- oening? W here was Wakasa? Was he hurt: But there was little time to think, for they were being driven at a terrific speed across the city, away from the flames and over rough and cracked ground. After several hours of such rid- ing, she and her companions were hurried out of the bus and into various halls and houses in a town called Karuizawa, among the hills. To Sui San came the realiza- tion that, as she was unhurt, she might do something to help, so she ran to a woman who seemed to be in charge. Her services were gladly accepted, and for hours fol- lowing little Sui San was busy cheering the homeless, hushing crying babies, ban- daging the wounded, and running about on errands of mercy which she gladly performed. When at last she did have a minute’s rest, she incoherently put into expression the thoughts which had been foremost in her mind for the past forty- eight hours. Where was Wakasa? Should she ever see him again? And to Wakasa came the realization that Sui San was lost only after he had been rushed aboard the “Empress of Japan,” which was now anchored in Yo- kohama Bay. The official to whom he had been talking when the earthquake had come had taken him by the arm, hurried him into his own private car, gone toward the docks and, in spite of Wakasa’s pro- test and cries of opposition, had pushed him aboard the ship. Now, as he watched the lurid sky with the large moon, which stood out against the red so plainly, and saw the puffs of smoke from the city, he was nearly frantic with anxiety for the safety of Sui San. For him there seemed to be no hope of ever seeing her again, his bride of only an hour! With the flames which were sweeping the city, leaving de- struction and death in their wake, there was no possible chance of searching for her. Sampans were plying back and forth, loading the ship with all the refugees which she could hold. For the following two days, Wakasa went back and forth in one of these sampans, assisting wherever he could, and each time wandering as far inland as he dared, in the hope of finding someone who knew of Sui Sap. During these two days the sun was blood-red when it rose and lemon color when it set. Messages came to him that Tokyo and Yokohama were dead cities. He had only to look to see the devastation wrought in the latter. And then, the “Empress of Japan” pulled up her anchor and sped across the great Pacific to America. On the morning of a week later, she docked at San Francisco, and emptied herself of the great load of homeless refugees from the stricken country. Many of these found friends in “Little Japan,” and others were enred for in hospitals and homes. For Wakasa, there seemed only one way to pursue. Consequently he journeyed alone across the vast country which he and Sui San had planned to visit together. He established himself in the eastern univer- sitv to which he had planned to come and occupied himself with his studies. All his time outside of school was spent in trac- ing. in any feeble way he could, his wife. After months of helping in Karuizawa, Sui San had decided to return to Aoyama. if possible, and find whether her home and any of her friends remained. She soon journeyed over devastated areas, back to the city of Yokohama, which already was in the slow process of rebuilding; thence to Tokyo, and at last to Aoyama. She found by some miracle her own portion of the citv safe and her own little home unharmed. To her friends she told the sad story of her loss, and was gratefully welcomed home again. Sad, sad days