Raymond

The glassdoors had a perfect view of the bay from his apartment. The ocean carried a vanishing fog away from daylight and as the winds pushed the remaining greyish banks of clouds, the horizon came into view ever so slowly. Some boats could be seen from the distance. He saw seagulls take to flight after a loud horn blew out its signal of approaching shipcargos. In the background, the screeches could be heard faintly though the industrial noise of the harbour drowned their cacophony.

He stood by, looking as the breeze started to fill his nostrils with the harbours disntinct self, that peculiar smell of salty airs that made him feel like dipping himself unto the vast ocean. There was something about that bay that attracted him so much. The mornings made it all the worth while. The sun gave spectacular shades of reds and purple colors and every now and then seal lions would scatter themselves throughout the sandy beaches just a mile away from his house. People would crowd, businesses loathed them off course, but Raymond loved them. The raucous they made was a week thing as opposed to all the year-round humanity nuisance people brought with their presence.

There were no plans for the day. Used to stress, it was unsually calm even for Raymond's constant demands that silence reign at particular hours of the day, no one was to disturb him between 4 and 6 for example, no matter who it was so this eccentricity of his did not bypass a few ill comments from his collegues who deemed this sort of behaviour somewhat odd. Once, a secretary of his had the gull to barge into his office with an urgent matter that requiered his presence in a vital stake were his company had placed huge amount of money and that of others and while the interruption had saved his company from near collapse the infringement costed the secretary his demotion to a lesser departmant at company headquarters in Fukuyama, a long and distant city which requiered the employee to move.

Raymond was a 33 year company share holder and one of the most young and promising company executives at Osaka Syosen K.K.

He took a cigarrette out and watched how the approaching boats came into harbour to unload their cargo, from afar he saw one of the company’s freighter approach and how the men in deck moved so hastily, about to anchor. It was a boat that had been detained by North Korean toll agents and had made newsheadlines for days as it created a diplomatic row between Japan and North Korea, at last and to everyone’s satisfaction The MS Kinai Maru was granted permision to go ahead and continue its journey to one of Japans most important harbours, so the crew awaited impatiently at the docks, to unload the goods and ship them off all over Japan.

It was then his eyes got a hold of a beautiful young lady jogging across the wet docks. He had seen her two days earlier at the local market and became impressed by her careful and detailed pickings of spices that were surely destined for a scrumptious meal. He stared at her and she did not let this look go unchallenged. She returned the icy cold look that Raymond was giving out.

He settled back into his room.

He grabbed a book from the bookcase that aside from the dragon and tiger sateen hand made Shiki futon and televison set made for his spartan bedroom. He believed in Zen philosophy and every now and then dipped his innermost thoughts in this type of thinking. He began to read and she came once again into his view, only this time she was in his head, who was she?

*Originally published November 17, 2003

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