The End: A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever

Plum blossoms didn’t have the same worldwide mystique around them as cherry blossoms. Crowds didn’t flock to the old cities to see the blooms in early February like they did in late early April. In Japan, they were still respected and known for their beauty, but beyond that most never thought of their wonder. In Inabe City, not far from Nagoya, there is an agriculture park where a grove of over 4,500 plum trees grow. Every year their flowers bloom from late February until mid-March. 

There, in that sea of pink, is where Hazuki and Naoe saved one another.

No one else ever knew their story. Only Sayane, Arthur, Matsumoto, Shinji, and Guji would ever know what transpired that night. Only they had seen the entire park aglow in pleasant golden white as the young couple vanished forever. No one else would ever know the story of Naoe and Hazuki. No one would know of the hundreds of days and nights alone beneath the sea of pink, hiding from the world while longing’s gentle tide whittled away at emotional walls. No one would know how significant a specific tree in the southwest region of the park was, and would never notice it as special, if not for the small Shimenawa rope that appeared around its mature trunk one day after all of the blossoms had fallen away.

Visitors would occasionally remark that something in the park felt safe, calm, and nurturing. People of all ages began to come to the park more frequently to sit beneath the trees, listen to the wind in the branches, and feel the grass rising up to meet their hands and feet.

In the seasons that followed, the leaves were even more colorful than before. When spring did return and the blossoms arrived once more, they were more brightly pink than anyone could ever remember them appearing. Four friends began to consistently walk those quiet paths, and were soon known to all who frequented the park. They were known to be seen sitting beneath the sacred tree.

She was beautiful and young and worked for the city. He was handsome and successful as an entrepreneur. He was older but was the kindest person to work at the park. He was a quiet priest who loved brightly colored clothes. The four of them never spoke of the secrets they knew. Only the trees shared their knowledge of Hazuki and Naoe.

Every night, those four friends would pray in their hearts that those two young lovers, so long forgotten and abused, were at peace. The trees were their memorial; every season they changed, grew, thrived, and nurtured. Those pink blossoms became loved by thousands. And, though it rarely came up in discussion beyond those whose hands tended to it every week, the soil was quite healthy.

The End

The Girl At The Plum Blossoms

By

Endymion and Prufrock