NYMO

Nymo (Satoru) has been depressed lately. His brother met with an accident and is now in hospital; he feels didn't do well in his exams; he's starting to smoke one whole pack a day and he's also getting pretty homesick. He called me up and asked if I'd like to join him for breakfast. I said I would if he's paying for my meal. Nymo failed to see it as a joke and agreed to buy me breakfast. Boy, he must be really depressed.


While we had breakfast together, I couldn't help noticing how terrible Nymo looked since the last time I met him. His dyed brown hair was unkempt and there were visible dark circles around his eyes. Nymo looking emo.

Nymo didn't talk to me much like usual that morning. He just sat there smoking and reading the newspaper for what seemed like ages. I'm not good at starting conversations, so I didn't say anything either.

Suddenly I remembered my sketchbook and pencil in my bagpack. I took them out and asked Nymo if I could draw him. He seemed surprised at first, and then he said yes. And so I drew a manga version of Nymo.

Nymo seemed a bit cheered up when I showed my work to him. I told him I drew the way he held his cigarette wrong, but he said it's okay and that he liked it. I gave the original sketch to Nymo so he could bring it back to his hometown in Japan.

He said he's returning to Japan this week to visit his brother at the hospital. I asked him to give my regards to his brother and to bring me back some geisha girls. He just smiled and said thank you many times. It's just not like him, and that scared me. The real Nymo would react to my jokes and we would end up arguing on things that seem important even though they're not.


There's one thing Nymo did that morning that I could never understand until now. After we finished our breakfast, I drove Nymo to the nearest stationary shop because he wanted to buy some art supplies. Before he got off the car, Nymo suddenly grabbed my shoulder and gave me a long hug. I was speechless.

After a few minutes, he slowly let go off me and sighed. "Sorry... Amel," he said to me, "I'm sad."

I was still frozen and speechless. Nymo muttered a "thank you" and "don't wait for me" in slurred English and then he hurried off into the shop.

That was... weird. I don't know why, but as I watched Nymo entering the shop I felt as if I won't get to see him again after this.

"TSUNAMI" BY SOUTHERN ALL STARS is playing in my mind today.