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Durian, A Story (Part 3): Can You Keep It a Secret?

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Mochi that Pecolin gave me when we had Durian feast...
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This story actually occurred before the second part of the story, but I'd like to use this to close the trilogy (starwars? Indy Jones? :-) ).

Like I had mentioned before, I was ‘magnificiently’ successful in obtaining Durian this year, and without waiting until my room became Durian-scented, I brought it to Pecolin house. For a particular reason (that you'll also know after you read this through), I remember the date: it was May 14th.

Pecolin was surprised when I came, and indeed looked happier than usual. I often visit the family and she's always looks happy, but I never saw her grinned from ear to ear like that before. Even after I gave her the Durian, the smell couldn't erase the smile on her face (well, she likes Durian anyway, so it didn't count :-) ). Sonoyo was not there at that time, therefore we kept some for her and three of us had the Durian feast: me, Pecolin, and Otoosan (my home stay father. Otoosan literally means father. May be you will consider it strange that I call Pecolin by her name but call her husband 'father'). Anyway, the feast went without any accident. Pecolin likes Durian (so no problem with her), and even Otoosan who had never eaten Durian before had no problem to finish it (he even didn't need to rush for toothbrush after that :-) ).

Several days later I met Yoshimi. It looked like she had talked with Pecolin because she knew about the Durian feast.

"You know, she was very happy that you visit her last week."
"I can see that too." Pecolin ear-to-ear grin was still fresh in my mind. "She's always cheerful, but I never saw her so happy before. Was there any particular reason?"
"You didn't know it?"
I shocked my head.
"Do you still remember the date you visited her?"
"May 14th"
"You don't know what date it was, do you?"
I shocked my head again. ('Ear-to-ear grin' day? :-) )
"It's mother day! You know that she always considers you as her own son, and it was very meaningful for her when you visited her on Mother Day..."
Suddenly everything became clear.
"Actually I didn't know that it was Mother Day..."
"But still, she's very happy because of that..."

Well, should I tell Pecolin the truth, that it was just a coincident that I visited her on Mother Day? I didn't intended to lie to her, and if I keep it a secret from her, it wasn't a lie either, was it? As long as Pecolin herself doesn’t ask about it, I don't have the need to tell a lie, and everybody’s happy...

"Yoshimi, could you do me a favor? I hope you don't mind to keep it a secret from her? That I actually didn't know that it was Mother Day? I don't ask you to lie, just don't tell her about it. I think it's better to leave it that way..."
"Of course! Leave it on me."

May be someday Pecolin will find out about it anyway. Still, I think it is best to keep it a secret as long as possible. And if someday she finally finds it out, I hope at that time I had already had the chance to show her in other ways that I also consider her as my mother...

Anyway, several days later, I received a mail from Sonoyo. (Actually it has nothing to do with the 'Mother Day' stuff, but since this story started with I promised Sonoyo to find her Durian, I think it is better to close it with a mail from her).

アワンくん、こんばんは。先日はドリアンありがとうございました。初めて食べました。匂いは本当に強いですね。びっくりしました。(@_@)
味は匂いとは違っておいしかったです。主人は一口いただきましたが、ちょっと難しかったみたいです。私はたくさんいただきました。でも、日本人にとって、食べなれない味ですね。きっとアワンくんにいただかなかったら、生涯ドリアンを知ることはなかったかもしれない。
本当にありがとうございました。また会いましょう!

(Awan-kun, good night. Thanks for the Durian you gave us the other day. It was my first time to eat it. I was really surprised that it smells that strong.(@_@)
However, different from the smell, it tastes good. My husband could only eat a bit and it looked hard for him, but in contrary, I eat a lot. I think it is difficult for Japanese to eat it. May be if you never gave us the fruit, we will never eat it at all.
We really appreciate it. See you next time!)

In my reply I can only pray that her husband won't get any nightmare about Durian... :-)