Reading Resources for English language learners

The Same in Japanese

Part 4

I wake up and turn off my alarm. Friday. 6:00.

I get ready for work and leave the apartment without breakfast. Too bad the cafes don't open until 10:00. A crow flies down. It picks at some garbage, hopping away when people walk by, then hopping back again. And again. I try to keep away from it but suddenly, the crow looks up at me and our eyes meet. It looks at me, not moving, then goes back to picking at the garbage.

At Harajuku station I buy some candies, then drop them as I try to take out my train pass. There are too many people; I can’t stop to pick them up. I leave my candies on the floor, go down the stairs, and get on the train. I remember something about my dream, but it’s gone just as quickly. I read the advertisements above the window and on the walls outside. They pass by my window again. And again.

When I get to Shinjuku there are police, hundreds of them. They're taking down Box City and putting the homeless in trucks. A woman police officer has a loudspeaker. She is saying something to the office workers, and as they walk by she bows deeply. She stands up and our eyes meet. She has a big smile. Then she starts it all again. And again.

I cover my mouth and nose and walk quickly, but it's hard to move: too many people. Suddenly, in front of me is a policeman pushing the chair with the samurai on it. He still has his strange hair, but his sword is gone.

The samurai looks up at me and I remember the dream. I want to ask the policeman, "What is this for?" I stop. But I don't say anything.

Somebody walks into me and my things go flying. The policeman stops and helps me pick them up. As I look up, I see one of my business cards is on the samurai's leg. He picks it up and holds it out to me with both hands. "Keep it." I say in English. "It says the same thing on the back in Japanese."