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Since morning, the sea had lain still.
Even so, I sat astride my board and paddled out.
No waves.
Only the sea, swaying.
The board rises and falls with it, slowly.
The smell of the tide tickles the nose.
The horizon melts into a white sky.
It didn’t matter if no waves came.
I only wanted to be inside this swaying.
This feeling of becoming part of nature.
That alone made the trip worth it.
“On a day with no waves, you could just take it easy at home.”
Someone told me that once.
But I never disliked this time.
Around the same time, a quiet afternoon was passing in a Yokohama back alley, too.
A weekday afternoon; the hall was quiet.
The lights shone only on the tables.
Just two other customers.
Each was facing their own balls.
Choose a cue, stand at the table.
Racking the balls, not thinking of anything in particular.
Like going to the sea on a day with no waves, I had only wanted to come here.
Toward evening, a friend showed up on the beach.
“No waves, huh.”
“Nope.”
“Heading home?”
“Nah, a bit longer.”
We sat on our boards and watched the sea.
We didn’t say much.
But that was enough.
The sun drew closer to the horizon.
The sky began to turn orange, and the swaying surface scattered the light.
The tide came in, and the waves began, just slightly, to rise.
A message came from a friend.
“Where are you?”
“The pool hall.”
“I’m coming.”
A while later, the door opened. He looked around at the tables.
“Been a while.”
“Yeah.”
Talking about nothing much, we shot pool.
Missed, and laughed.
Made one, and went on with the silly talk.
The sound of balls dropping into pockets echoed through the quiet hall.
On the way home, I looked back at the sea.
In the end, the waves never came.
But it wasn’t a bad day.
The smell of the tide still clung to my clothes.
The two of them played until nearly closing time.
Winning and losing didn’t matter.
“Let’s come again.”
“Yeah.”
They returned the cues, opened the door, and the night breeze touched their cheeks.
Chalk dust still lingered on their fingertips.
On a beach with no waves, one person was looking up at the sky.
In the pool hall’s alley, two step out into the night breeze.
The waves never came.
Nothing big happened either.
Even so, it wasn’t a bad day.
There is a place where you can spend the day just as the self you are that day.
That alone was enough.
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