Rossini’s Thieving Magpie,

“Tara’s Theme,”

“Maybe you’ve got this deep well inside, and you shout into it, ‘The king’s got donkey’s ears!’ and then everything’s OK.”

The light shines into the act of life for only the briefest moment—perhaps only a matter of seconds. Once it is gone and one has failed to grasp its offered revelation, there is no second chance. One may have to live the rest of one’s life in hopeless depths of loneliness and remorse. In that twilight world, one can no longer look forward to

this is not a movie or a novel.

may be tough, but sometimes you’ve got to just stop and take time.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings

Slowly but steadily, new suits, new jackets, and new shirts were invading the territory that had once been occupied by Kumiko’s skirts and dresses.

I might be standing in the entrance of something big, and inside lay a world that belonged to Kumiko alone, a vast world that I had never known. I saw it as a big, dark room. I was standing there holding a cigarette lighter, its tiny flame showing me only the smallest part of the room. Would I ever see the rest? Or would I grow old and die without