#107 Birthday Girl- Haruki Murakami
A young waitress is turning 20, an important day in the life
of a woman. She tries to take the night off from work, but her replacement
becomes ill. She must come in to work.
At 8 pm, For the last 10 years, everyday without fail, the
manager of the restaurant takes a meal upstairs for the owner. Its always
chicken, and despite every chef trying their best to impress the owner with
their best culinary skills, he never responds. Only the manager brings the
meal, and then retrieves the cart one hour later.
A half hour before his nightly duty, the manager becomes so
ill he must go to the hospital and for he first someone else must deliver the
nightly meal, as it turns out, it’s the birthday girl.
Upon meeting the manager, mysterious and polite, she is
invited inside. When he learns of her birthday, he reveals that he has a gift
for her. He will grant het one wish, but only one wish and she cannot change
her mind once it is granted. He is surprised that her wish is not that of a
normal young woman, but grants it nonetheless.
What is her wish, what does it mean, and does it matter?
Those are the questions we are left with. I believe we are supposed to look inward to
wonder what it is we would have wished for. A good story make story remember
it, and this one I will be thinkin about all night.
No comments:
Post a Comment