I Feel My Elder Brother Lives Somewhere And Is Watching Us
Taeko Arikawa (5 years old then)
On the first of August, four days after my sister was born, we were threatened by air raids in Urakami. So we moved to Koshima-machi, five kilometers from Urakami. After the atomic bomb was dropped, only my elder brother, who was a student at Chinzei High School, didn't return. Someone told us that he had been burnt and was taken to the hospital in Shimabara by train.
Soon Father and Mother went to Shimabara to take care of him. I was sure he would recover and come back soon. After a few days Father and Mother returned. They didn't come home with my elder brother but with a white box. When I got the box and shook it, it rattled. I feel my elder brother lives somewhere and is watching us.