Trying not to miss out on any corners, Yoshio wandered fresh from his bath, from the bedroom to the living room, and then to the washbasin, thinking. A frustrated Satoko spoke to him when he came into the living room for the third time.
“What’s the matter?”
“Huh?” Yoshio looked up only to look away again. He searched the room restlessly with his eyes. “Nothing…,” he said. “Looking for your phone?” Satoko asked abruptly.
“What? Erm, yeah…” He was taken aback. “It’s with me.” She placed his phone on the table as she said that. She caught him by surprise again. Almost automatically, he questioned her. “Why is it with you?”
She answered nonchalently. “Well, I thought, wouldn’t it be a good idea to exchange our phones for the next three days.” With that, she laid her phone down beside her husband’s.
“Wh…What?!” Yoshio thought he had enough surprises from her.
“What’s the big deal? I got the idea from watching TV the other day. It’s a way of increasing trust between a husband and wife. Well, Tomoko told me that she always checks her husband’s phone. But I don’t do that to you, do I?”
Yoshio couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Whatever programme that was, it sure was putting weird ideas into her head, he thought. Wait…no. Could she have come up with it herself? Hmm…that’s possible. What is it? Has she discovered something? But how? And when? But whatever it is, he has to say no.
“Of course not! How am I going to work?” Trying his best to act calm, Yoshio even managed a smile on his face. Satoko returned his smile. “But we have a long weekend from tomorrow, remember? I wouldn’t think of interfering with your work. That’s why I’ve waited till now. And if any work related calls come, I’d definitely answer them for you. That’s no problem, right?” “Huh? But…,” he stuttered.
“Why is that a problem?” she retorted. Yoshio thought he saw an unexplainable glint in his wife’s eyes. “No…it’s ok. But…”
She cut him off. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to check your phone list. I’m just going to receive your text messages and calls. That’s all.” He couldn’t think of anything worse than that! His head swam as he imagined every possible kind of worst scenarios. What should he do? Does she doubt him? Should he turn the tables and get mad at her?
At that instant, the phone on the table rang. It was Yoshio’s. At the sound of that particular ring tone, his face turned stark white. Without a single word or expression, Satoko reached her hand out for the phone. “Wait, no!” Yoshio shouted out desperately. “Why not?” she challenged him. “It….I…” Their wide eyes fixed on each other.
That phone call had sealed the fate of their long weekend.
This and the two other stories I've translated revolve around the theme of mobile phones. The writers featured in the anthology are popular writers of today. It's interesting the number of different stories you can get from a single object. It shows how much we rely on our mobile phones today and how our lives are greatly intertwined with it.
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