The last tomato - Hiroshima told in his own words: (10)

　
(10) Oh, you are alive!

I had and ate two rice balls after I came back to Mr. Masumoto's home from the army hospital once again. And I went across the Tenma and Ohta rivers. I arrived at the national highway No. 2 line (the road which leads to Shimonoseki from Hiroshima) with suffering troubles. The distance from here to my house was about 4 km.

10 hours already passed from the moment of atomic bombing, and it was 6:00 oclock in the evening. The national highway No. 2 line was also much crowded. There were persons who were going to the city for help, those who were escaping from the city with bedding or household goods and those who had fallen on the road. It was really a serious bustle.

When I was pushing way through the crowd, I heard the man on a bicycle shouting, "Shigenori!" It was my father. I said, "Oh! Father". He said, "You are alive. I think you are dead." He was very surprised to find me. He supposed that I had died already, because he heard that the Hiroshima city office where the three classes of the second grade of the Hiroshima Shudo middle school were was completely destroyed. Then he thought I was not alive any longer and he had almost given up me.

Since he thought that he would confirm whether his daughter working at the Bank of Japan was alive, he was moving by the bicycle. The father explained me what and how to do later and he started by the bicycle to the ruined city still burning briskly. I went back home in a hurry and took out a bicycle trailer.

I put down bedding on the bicycle trailer. I went back to the place which was decided by my father, with another elder sister who was married and lived in the neighborhood. The place is at the west of Hiroshima and 3km apart from our house. Around 9:00 oclock at night, the father brought back my elder sister, picking up on the rear seat. I heard that the elder sister was in the underground of the Bank of Japan.

I placed my elder sister on the bedding of the bicycle trailer immediately. I ran 3km distance desperately to our house. Although, as for me, my breath became going out repeatedly, I only wanted to make the elder sister easy on the tatami mat. I knew even in the darkness that my elder sister was in a severe condition. The position of the Bank of Japan was only 500m apart from the center of the explosion.

The elder sister was laid in the drawing room. I looked at my elder sister's body anew and found she undertook the serious burn in the whole body and she was in a pitiable situation.

My father went away again, after he laid the elder sister. He was acting as a chairman of the town association. He had to act as the person in charge of the relief squad. People who had escaped from Hiroshma were accommodated in the elementary school. They escaped desperately from many places and died one by one there.

Those who died had to be transported from the classroom to the playground soon one after another. Otherwise, those who were still alive could not be given their allowance. Even if he had his daughter who was dying soon, the father had to go out. Instead, I had been sticking near my elder sister. The elder sister's consciousness was solid and she began to say after a while, "I want to go to a rest room".

Although it seemed that she had still energy to try to stand up by herself, since a bedpan was prepared, I said, "A situation may be sufficient. I recommend you to carry out here". She wanted to go to the rest room by herself, and never agreed with me. Since it was unavoidable, I lent the hand to her and took her to the rest room as the elder sister said me. And I made her pee, holding her from back. Across the passage, a bathroom was on the other side of the rest room. A full-length mirror was in the dressing room of a bathroom. It was a keepsake of our mother who passed away four years before when I was a fifth grader in the elementary school.

I realized the mirror was there. I was careless. But recovery was impossible. The elder sister caught herself reflected in the mirror.
She saw that not only she undertook the burn to the whole body, but also that about three holes were opened on her head.
It could be seen neither as a 20-year-old daughter, nor as a figure of man. What kind of thing I did?

I had shown an ugly figure to the dying elder sister who must be encouraged no matter there may be what.... The elder sister who had caught her own sight said, "This is not man. It is not man's face", and began to shed tears.
"This is not man. I do not want to be alive in such a figure."
Though till then, she had power to try to stand up by herself, she lost her energy after catching her sight.

If that mirror did not exist .... If I did not take her to the rest room .... the elder sister would not catch her ugly sight. .... When I thought so, I was quite regretful, It was too late for me to be regretful.
I could not bear that. I could not bear that. It was an imprudence of my lifetime.

The father came back once midnight, but he went out immediately. The elder sister was being nursed all the night by myself, another elder sister, the grandfather, and the wife of the oldest brother who had a new born baby.

(To be continued)