After the Bomb

          “We need to cross this river,” Zammie told Miss Hayata.

          “How? The bridge is destroyed and these people are too sick to swim.”

          “I’ll figure out a way. You stay here, Kyla. Keep an eye on Misses Nakamura and Toshio.”

          “Where are you going?” she asked.

Zammie looked around for any clues to salvation. “I just wanna check along the shoreline. There has to be a way across. I’ll be back soon.”

          “Okay. But hurry, Zammie!”

          Zammie walked quickly past the growing throng of injured people and continued along the sandy bank of the bending river. He stepped down into a gulch. Next to a small dock he saw a flat-bottomed boat called a punt that was about the size of a pickup truck. The boat was maroon in color and had a square-cut bow. It had been pulled up onto shore. The bodies of six badly burned dead men were lying in the sand around the boat. The awful stench of burnt flesh permeated the air. The men must have been getting ready to push the boat into the water right as the bomb exploded.

          Zammie carefully stepped over the men. He tried his best not to look at them, but he couldn’t help it. Their faces were charred red and black. Their eyes melted out. Their skeletal mouths frozen open in eternal screams. Zammie noticed one of the men was missing his front two teeth. Their fingers and legs were roasted away. Zammie wondered how old they were and if they had any children who were waiting somewhere for them to return.

          He pushed the heavy boat into the water. A tall bamboo pole was inside the punt so Zammie used it to steer the boat up the river by pushing the pole against the river bottom. The boat moved slowly along the lazy river passing through schools of orange and white koi that were swimming near the surface. Zammie was a little surprised they were even alive. I wonder if they have any idea what has happened, thought Zammie. How simple a goldfish’s life must be.

         

Gray smoke hovered over the water and a canopy of ash and fog still blotted out the midday sky. A thickening film of gray dust and powder began to settle on the leaves of the trees along the shoreline. There was a spooky quietness surrounding him even though he knew there were hundreds, maybe thousands now, of people waiting up in the park. As the punt rounded the bend he saw his cousin and the Nakamuras still waiting near the trees.

          -- from Time Trip #4: Killing for Country 

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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Bonsai!

The three children walked along the streets through the busy market area until they turned along a narrow road leading past a tram station and into a residential neighborhood. The houses were larger than the ones the cousins had seen ten years earlier. They had all been built within the previous few years and they still looked new.

Sadako’s house was a split-level structure made of bamboo and plaster with one side built up to three stories. There was a plum tree out front next to two bonsai trees. One was manicured into the typical “informal upright” style but the other was formed using the bankan or “twisted” technique where the trunk zig-zags back and forth towards the top. Narrow walk paths marked with rounded stones and green vegetation led from house to house. It was a peaceful neighborhood, but the nearby tram station disrupted the tranquility each time one of the cars rolled in for a stop.

          Sadako led the two cousins up onto the wooden porch of her home. Various pairs of sandals and shoes were lined up near the sliding door. Sadako took her shoes off and quickly flipped them towards the end of the line. Zammie and Kyla placed their shoes down with a little more care. Sadako threw the front door open and walked inside.

          “Mom! I’m home!”

--from Time Trip #4: Killing For Country

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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Little Boy

At 8:15am, the bomb bay doors opened and “Little Boy” was released along with three recording instruments designed to measure and record output levels of the bomb upon detonation. Once the bomb was dropped, the Enola Gay immediately banked into a sharp turn knowing that they had little time to scramble clear. All crew members then put on dark glasses and prepared for the blast.

          Zammie walked over to help Kyla stack some of the chipped, maroon tiles when a glimmer in the sky caught his attention. He looked up and saw three planes set amongst the pale blue backdrop like mosquitoes on a calm lake.

          This is it, isn’t it?

          Zammie watched the lead plane for a moment when suddenly it began to turn at a tight angle, nearly circling completely around.

          Too late to do anything now. I wonder what will happen to us? I should grab Kyla and run . . . but where? There’s no time.

          “What are you doing, Zammie? Come help us.” Kyla was still bustling along like a good soldier.

          Zammie felt helpless. All the energy left his body. He bent over to pick up one of the square-foot tiles and it felt like a lead anvil in his hand. All of the activity in the neighborhood around them seemed to slow down.

         

Suddenly a bright light appeared less than a mile away right above the southern skyline. Zammie’s first thought was that the sun had shown up right next to the earth. The light was so bright that just a quick glimpse caused terrible pain in the eyes. He felt like someone had pointed a floodlight straight into his pupils. Some sort of pulsing shock wave could be seen moving rapidly towards them, spitting up dirt, trees, and buildings as it rolled across the land like a demonic hedgehog. A deep rumbling sound accompanied the pulse and Zammie felt the ground beneath him begin to tremble. Then a scorching surge of hot air rushed through the residential area, picking up people and houses alike, and flinging them back as if they were empty candy wrappers. 

-- Little Boy

from Time Trip #4: Killing for Country

Now Available at Amazon.com!

Stills from the animated film Barefoot Gen.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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Hibari Misora

Sadako slept in one of the small bedrooms on the third floor of their family’s house. Sadako and Mitsue shared one futon and Kyla and Zammie shared another. Kyla was awoken just before dawn by one of the trams rolling out of the Kyobashi stop outside the window and across the street. She climbed out of the blue futon and walked over to the window. She looked outside and saw people already beginning to fill the market area down the road. It had rained during the night and the last drips from the wooden terraces along the houses were still pattering down onto the pavement below.

          Kyla looked around at Sadako’s room. Mitsue’s school books were stacked neatly on the desk. Sadako’s books were already packed into her satchel on the floor. A small black and white poster of the beautiful teenage pop singer Hibari Misora hung on the wall. She was one of Sadako’s favorite performers. 

--from Time Trip #4: Killing for Country
Available 3/29/2013!!

Hibari Misora is probably the most famous Enka performer to have ever lived. She began singing as a Kyoto teenager, in the 50's, and continued right up to her sudden death in 1989. She was only 52. She is often thought of as having comforted Japan through the difficult recovery from the devastation of the war years. Her life has become a subject of popular legend.

 -- from TechnoGirls.org

An 11 year old Misora Hibari performs in the 1949 musical Odoru Ryugujo

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

To be released in March 2013! 

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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The Tragedy of Hiroshima

The woman had been blinded by the explosion. Her eyes were open but her pupils had been scalded white like two milky marbles. For those unfortunate enough to be looking in the direction of the explosion as it happened, the intensity of the flash would permanently destroy their vision. If the explosion itself didn’t kill you, then the heat blast would. If they heat blast didn’t reach you, then the white light would blind you. If you had your eyes covered then the radiation would find you. And if they radiation didn’t kill you that day it would try again the next. And the next. It would lie in wait for years if need be, like a patient killer, soon to be punishing even those who were not yet born.

--from Time Trip #4: Killing for Country 

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Both War and Civilization

"Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both."

--Abraham Flexner

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Like Mosquitoes on a Placid Like

          Zammie walked over to help Kyla stack some of the chipped, maroon tiles when a glimmer in the sky caught his attention. He looked up and saw three planes set amongst the pale blue backdrop like mosquitoes on a placid like. This is it, isn’t it? Zammie watched the lead plane for a moment when suddenly it began to turn at a tight angle, nearly circling completely around.
          Too late to do anything now. I wonder what will happen to us? I should grab Kyla and run . . . but where? There’s no time.
          “What are you doing, Zammie? Help us.” Kyla was still bustling along like a good soldier.
          Zammie felt helpless. All the energy left his body. He bent over to pick up one of the square-foot tiles and it felt like a lead anvil in his hand. 
          
          Suddenly a bright light appeared less than a mile away right above the southern skyline. 

Still from the Barefoot Gen anime.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!