The Last Day of Saki Enomoto

Angus’s Short Stories

The Last Day of Saki Enomoto

By Emps

“There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do hopes and dreams,” – Neil Gaiman


It was the third day of winter vacation. Most of the students had already left by now, this time including Kikezawa and her new Pollack boyfriend. Saki’s own parents would be picking her up tomorrow, meaning this would be the last day she would have to spend time with Kenji until school started again. She wanted this day to be very special. She was standing beside the road, leaning against a tree when she spotted Kenji walking down towards her.

Saki laced her left arm through his right once he got to her, and they set off down the hill at a slow and sedate pace. Kenji had gotten better at hiding his paranoia, but that was only part of the reason. Due to her condition, she could not walk too fast, especially down an incline, or she risked falling over. Kenji would be able to help her up, but it would still be embarrassing to fall in public like that. Not that there was anyone else on the road at the moment.

“Where are we going today, Kenji?” she asked him.

“The Shanghai,” Kenji said, his voice thick with sarcasm. Saki could imagine him rolling his eyes behind those thick lenses.

“I’m serious!” Saki pouted.

“Alright, I’ll tell you,” Kenji said, “we’re going to the park. I’ve arranged to have pizza delivered there, so we can have a picnic.”

Saki couldn’t help but smile at her boyfriend’s idea of a picnic. She forced him to stop before reaching up and planting a quick peck on his cheek before setting off again. How she loved to see him blush like that.

“That sounds lovely!” she said, “anything else?”

“Well, I figured we could stay in the park for a bit before heading back to my dorm to do some planning,” he said. “Planning,” in this case could refer to either legitimate planning on their part about what they would do about the JQ, or it could be a euphemism for sex. Saki figured either was as likely, and she hoped for both.

“Come on! We want to get there before the pizza arrives, don’t we?”

Saki nodded. “Yes, I think we do,” and let Kenji guide her down the hill.


Kenji and Saki were sitting in front of each other on the grass. There was no blanket, as Kenji had forgotten to bring one, but Saki didn’t mind, as long as she got to spend time with Kenji. An open pizza box sat on the ground between them, a single slice of pizza left. Kenji caught her eye, and a beam of light flashed across his glasses. She knew what he wanted.

Saki went for the pizza at the same time as Kenji. He got there first, but she grabbed a hold of it anyway. After a few seconds of mock struggle, Kenji relinquished his prize to her. “You win, this time,” he said. Saki smiled before stuffing the slice into her mouth. When she was done she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He blushed, then pulled her in to sit beside him.

“Someone should throw away that pizza box,” Saki said.

“I’ll do it!” Kenji said, shooting to his feet. He soon had the box in hand and was off in search of a can to put it in. He returned a short while later, without the box, and laid down on the ground, arms behind his head. Saki repositioned herself to use his chest as a pillow, her hands resting on the waistband of her skirt. Saki was looking at the clouds, trying to find shapes in them, when Kenji spoke.

“Saki, what do the clouds look like?”

Saki described the clouds she could see to Kenji. There was a triangular one, with another shaped like a checkmark below it. She told Kenji it looked like a happy merchant. A bit in the distance there was a pair that, separate, looked like lightning strikes, but together formed the symbol of the Schutzstaffel. Another, a more amorphous blob, had the appearance of a rounded Star of David. All of this, she told to Kenji. They laid together like that for hours, before one of them wanted to move.

Saki rolled over so Kenji could get up, after which he would help her up. After that had been accomplished, Kenji wrapped his arm around Saki’s waist. “Your place, or mine?” he asked.

Saki giggled. “Your place, I think.” Kenji nodded and they began the return journey to Yamaku. Kenji stopped in the shade beneath a tree near Yamaku’s gate.

“Is something wrong, Kenji?”

Kenji shook his head. “No. Actually, I have a present for you. You’ll be fine waiting here while I go get it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Kenji nodded. He turned and ran off through the Yamaku gates. A few minutes later, Saki hear the roar of a car as it came up the hill, so she turned to watch it go.

Saki could see the entirety of the driver’s face in immense detail. She could count every wrinkle on his balding head; every curl of his black beard beneath his oversized hook nose. He didn’t see her. His eyes were glued to the cell phone in front of him.
‘What a fucking Jew,’ was all she had time to think before the car bisected her. The headlines the next day would read about the fatal car crash that killed two: high school student Saki Enomoto, and the Israeli banker Benzion Goldstein.