Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Page 0,153
off during the week wasn’t difficult and she was able to adjust her schedule to fit the schedule of the counseling center, which was an unrealistic one for ordinary working people. The center required an appointment, so she phoned ahead. One thirty-minute session cost two thousand yen, not an excessive amount for her to pay. She made an appointment for one p.m. the following Wednesday.
When she arrived at the counseling center on the third floor of the ward office, Mizuki found she was the only client. “They started this program rather suddenly,” the woman receptionist explained, “and most people don’t know about it yet. Once people find out, I’m sure we’ll get more people coming by. But now we’re pretty open, so you’re lucky.”
The counselor, whose name was Tetsuko Sakaki, was a pleasant, short, heavyset woman in her late forties. Her short hair was dyed a light brown, her broad face wreathed in an amiable smile. She wore a light-colored summer-weight suit, a shiny silk blouse, a necklace of artificial pearls, and low heels. She looked less like a counselor than some friendly, helpful neighborhood housewife.
“My husband works in the ward office here, you see. He’s section chief of the Public Works Department,” she said by way of friendly introduction. “That’s how we were able to get support from the ward and open this counseling center. Actually, you’re our first client, and we’re very happy to have you. I don’t have any other appointments today, so let’s just take our time and have a good heart-to-heart talk.” The woman spoke extremely slowly, everything about her slow and deliberate.
It’s very nice to meet you, Mizuki said. Inside, though, she wondered whether this sort of person would be of any help.
“You can rest assured that I have a degree in counseling and lots of experience. So just leave everything up to me,” the woman added, sounding like she’d read Mizuki’s mind.
Mrs. Sakaki was seated behind a plain metal office desk. Mizuki sat on a small, ancient sofa that looked like something they’d just dragged out of storage. The springs were about to go, and the musty smell made her nose twitch.
“I was really hoping to get one of those nice couches so it looks more like a counselor’s office, but that’s all we could come up with at the moment. We’re dealing with a town hall here, so you can always count on a lot of red tape. An awful place. I promise next time we’ll have something better for you to sit on, but I hope today you won’t mind.”
Mizuki sank back into the flimsy old sofa and began to explain how she’d come to forget her name so often. All the while Mrs. Sakaki just nodded along. She didn’t ask any questions, never showed any surprise. She hardly even made any appropriate sounds to show she was following Mizuki. She just listened carefully to Mizuki’s story, and except for the occasional frown as if she were considering something, her face remained unchanged, her faint smile, like a spring moon at dusk, never wavered.
“That was a wonderful idea to put your name on a bracelet,” she commented after Mizuki had finished. “I like the way you dealt with it. The first thing is to come up with a practical solution, to minimize any inconvenience. Much better to deal with the issue in a realistic way than be tormented by a sense of guilt, brood over it, or get all flustered. I can see you’re quite clever. And it’s a gorgeous bracelet. It looks wonderful on you.”
“Do you think forgetting one’s name might be connected with a more serious disease? Are there cases of this?” Mizuki asked.
“I don’t believe there are any diseases that have that sort of defined early symptom,” Mrs. Sakaki said. “I am a little concerned, though, that the symptoms have gotten worse over the past year. I suppose it’s possible this might lead to other symptoms, or that your memory loss could spread to other areas. So let’s take it one step at a time and determine where this all started. I would imagine that since you work outside the home, forgetting your name must lead to all sorts of problems.”
Mrs. Sakaki began by asking several basic questions about Mizuki’s present life. How long have you been married? What kind of work do you do? How is your health? She went on to question her about her childhood, about her family, her schooling. Things she enjoyed, things she