Do we have to take a ferry today? We already took the shinkansen, a local train, and a bus.
It's only for ten minutes, honey.It doesn't take long.
I'm going to my husband's hometown for the first time today. He grew up on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea. It must be difficult living on a small island.
Oh, the sea is really beautiful at this time of day.
Yeah, it is.
We had to get up early, but I'm glad we took the first shinkansen. If we didn't, it would be nighttime and the sea would be just black. I was on the baseball team in high school. We practiced after school, so we came home really late. The sea was black every time I took this ferry home.
What? You went to high school by ferry? Uh-huh.
Why?
My island didn't have a high school.
Really? I can't imagine going to school by ferry.
It's the same as taking the train, I think.
But what happens when there is a typhoon? How do you go to school?
If the typhoon started before school, then we just stayed home. But if a typhoon came when we were at school, we had a problem.
What did you do?
My uncle lived near my school, so I stayed with him. I was lucky. Some of my friends didn't have any family members to stay with, so they had to stay with their friends or teachers.
I can't believe it. Why?
What do you mean?
Why did you stay on the island? You could have lived with your uncle.
That's true.
Then why didn't you do that?
People from my island always went to high school by ferry. That was the way it was.
Your high school life was very different from mine.
Hey! We're almost there!
Already?
I told you it doesn't take long. Look! Everyone is here to see us!
I was surprised to see my husband run out to the deck like a child. Then I went out on the deck, too. I looked at the island, and I was really surprised.
Hey! Everybody! I'm home!
There were many people at the harbor.
I saw his parents and his grandparents.
It looked like everybody from the island was there to see my husband come home.
I saw them, and I knew why my husband didn't leave the island to go to high school.
This was his home.