I was in a writing program and my professor gave us this assignment where she handed a novel by random and were told to copy down the first sentence and continue the story. I recieved a copy of “An Artist of The Floating World” by Kazuo Ishiguro and this was the story I came up with!
If on a sunny day you climb the steep path leading up from the little wooden bridge still referred to around here as “the Bridge of Hesitation”, you will not have to walk far before the roof of my house becomes visible between the tops of two ginkgo trees. When a warm gush of wind blows towards you, you will smell the slightly repulsive scent of mushed ginkgo nuts that the squirrels have been nibbling on. When you smell the weird mix of charcoal and dirty gym socks, you’ll know that you’re somewhere close by. By then you will also know how the bridge got its name. But hey, life is all about adventures and tryin new things, right? So feel free to battle the repulsive scents and sit down with a squirrel to nibble on a ginkgo nut yourself. Emphasis on nibbling, you have been warned against eating a whole ginkgo nut in one go. If my grandma were here, she’d tell you all about the health benefits of it. But sadly, she’s not, and that’s the single reason I hold for now chopping down these two trees. I still remember my last night with her next to her hospital bed, she asked me to bring a few ginkgo nuts with her on my next visit. I remember walking home and picking out the roundest and freshest ones from the trees, fighting my battle against the squirrels while she fought against death on the white hospital bed. I took out my little basket and was so proud of my tiny selection of ginkgo nuts. While I won the battle against the squirrels, my grandma had a much harder fight. Winning both fights was hard. The next time I took out those ginkgo nuts that I was once so proud of, was at her funeral. Sitting beside the casket, I took a tiny nibble and placed a ginkgo nut beside her pale body. So just keep walking, you will see my roof gradually becoming visible in between the ginkgo trees. Always, and forever will be.
