“You okay?” I heard a voice behind me. The sound of the cicadas receded into the distance. I turned around and saw the lace hem of a long white skirt. Under it were unpainted toenails peeking out of a pair of brown sandals. I looked up, hoping to find a face. Maybe it was the sun or how she was holding her parasol, but I couldn’t see anything. “Um, I’m okay. I just fell in.” “Do you want help?” She reached down with her free hand. Her wrist was thin. “No, I’m fine. I can manage.” “Are you sure?” She sounded like she was probably older — older than me, at least. I summoned my strength and tried again, failing miserably. It was deeper than I’d thought. Chunks of soft earth tumbled down into the hole. I thought I heard something scuttle by my feet, maybe a small animal that had popped out of its own hole, then retreated in panic.
“You don’t look fine to me.” The woman squatted down and offered her hand again. Her parasol moved and I caught a glimpse of her face. She was wearing large sunglasses that covered everything except her smile. She had to be older than me, but was probably younger than my mom. I was embarrassed, but hardly had a choice. I took her hand. It felt cold. I thought I could see veins running through it. Was this woman really strong enough? She counted down. “Three, two, one . . .” Then she tugged. I twisted my body and managed to get a hip onto the grass. As soon as I did, I felt something sting my hand. The woman was smiling. “You alright?” “I’m okay,” I said, looking at my left hand. There was dirt under my nails. Near the top of my ring finger was a small red beetle, biting into me. I quickly hid my hand from the woman and thanked her for helping me. Her long skirt was covered in grass and flecks of sand. Her hand was dirty, too. “Sorry about your skirt,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. What are you doing out here in this heat?” She angled her parasol to share the shade with me. Her makeup was carefully done. Behind her amber sunglasses, I could barely make out the shape of her eyes. They looked like they were deep-set.
Behind my back, I tried flicking the insect off my finger. “I was on my way to the convenience store when I saw this animal . . .” Before I could finish explaining, the woman held out her hand and said, “Here, let me take a look.” I didn’t see any way out of this, so I gave her my hand. The red bug still clung tightly to my finger. It wasn’t an insect I’d ever seen before. It almost looked like a ladybug, but smaller and with no spots. It hurt. “Well, look at that.” She dug a nail into the bug. I almost pulled my hand back, but she’d already crushed the beetle’s head to pieces. She flicked the bits of shell caught under her nails into the air, then wrapped her finger around mine so tightly I thought she was going to break it. The rest of the beetle fell to the ground, leaving only a drop of clear liquid where it had been attached. “Sorry, did that hurt? There are still some parts of its jaw in there. We need to get those out . . . Okay. All better. I’m pretty sure it isn’t poisonous, but you should probably disinfect this when you get home.” “Uh, okay. Thanks, I will.” “Hey, so . . .” she said, bringing her face closer to mine. I couldn’t see a single drop of sweat on her.
“You’re the bride, aren’t you?” The bride? How was I supposed to answer that? Her eyes were blinking behind her sunglasses, but soon all I could see in her face was a distorted version of my own. “Mune-chan’s bride? My family lives next to the Matsuuras. You know, next to them, on the other side. We’re the Seras . . .” “I . . .” There was a large house two lots over from us, bigger than my in-laws’, and I’d seen the name SERA on the nameplate out front. When we moved in, Tomiko told me not to bother introducing myself — not just to the Seras, but to any of our new neighbors. “Don’t worry about making the rounds. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know when the time is right. A lot of our neighbors work odd hours and the last thing you want is for word to get out that you’ve gone around to meet some people, but not others.” “I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself, I’m—” Matsuura, wife of Muneaki, son of . . . But before I could say it, she cut in, waving her parasol slowly from side to side. “It’s fine.” It almost smelled like incense, powdery and sweet. “I know who you are. You moved in the day we had all that rain, didn’t you? Had to be a tough move. Well, I guess a hot day like today wouldn’t have been any better. And we needed the rain . . . Still, I’d rather not be out in this heat. My son hasn’t come home yet, but he has to get a shot today.” “A shot? A vaccination?” “Hehehe. In this heat, right? Anyway, you’re not lost, are you? Do you know where you are?” I thought I saw something moving by my feet, but when I looked down it was gone. “Um, sure, I know where I am. The store’s that way.” “Right. You’d better stay on the path. Don’t get too close to the river.” Sera smiled. Her forehead and cheeks were snowy white — only her lips were light brown. “Just go that way.”
“I will. So, um, are there lots of holes around here? I didn’t see it — I just fell in.” “I really couldn’t tell you, but my son would know. He’s always out here, playing by the river. Then he comes home covered in mud and bugs . . . I only came this way because I thought I might find him here. It was the strangest thing. From where I was standing, all I could see was your head poking out of the ground. Right away, I thought, that has to be the bride . . .” She snickered. As she brought her hand up to her mouth, her wedding ring glimmered in the light. Why did she keep calling me “the bride”? No one had ever called me that before. When I was working, people always called me Matsuura. Then again, we’d just met. She could hardly call me “Asa” the way Tomiko does. She definitely couldn’t call me “Matsuura.” For her, that had to mean Tomiko. Even my husband couldn’t be “Matsuura” in her eyes. I guess that would make me “the bride.” I’d been the bride for a while and simply hadn’t realized it. Sera turned and looked up the slope. A sweet smell filled my nose again. I noticed that the inside of her white parasol was yellowed with age.
“Sorry I took up so much of your time . . . I truly appreciate the help.” “Oh, it’s no problem. I’m glad we had the chance to talk. Well, I’d better get going.” I bowed and thanked her again. As she started to walk away, she smiled even wider and said, “Matsuura’s a real good one, isn’t she? You must be happy to have her as your mother-in-law.” I nodded. “Oh, I am.” “I can imagine. You’re a lucky girl. Well, see you around.” With that, Sera walked slowly up the bank, bits of grass still clinging to her skirt.
Once I was alone again, I knelt down and looked into the hole. It was too dark to see the bottom. I looked around the riverbank. The animal was nowhere to be seen. The river was moving in the direction of the store. The cicadas crescendoed again. What was that animal? I should have asked Sera about it. I couldn’t even tell if it was wild or some kind of pet. It didn’t really seem like either. I thought I saw a boy pop his head out of the grass, then duck back down. When I looked up again, Sera and her parasol were just a white dot in the distance. I watched as she disappeared around a curve in the path. I walked out of the grass, followed the path for a little while, then crossed a bridge. As soon as I was across, I found the convenience store, just where I thought it would be.