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The Flow of the RiverAuthor: Makino Shinichi
| Original Title | 小川の流れ |
|---|---|
| Author | 牧野 信一 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | A tormented writer revisits his past works, consumed by shame at the garish protagonist he once crafted—Junkichi, a man whose pitiful infatuation with the capricious Yoko mirrors the author’s own unresolved contradictions. Yoko, a woman of gaudy charm and hollow sophistication, once shared his world as a mercurial muse: a self-proclaimed “filial daughter” who scorned domesticity, mocked earnestness, and dreamed of geisha glamour. Her laughter echoes through memories of chaotic household revelries and humiliating encounters where Junkichi’s fictional groveling now feels like a grotesque parody of the author’s younger self. Yet reality blurs—did Yoko’s theatrics warp his pen, or did his own insecurities birth this deluded lover? Decades later, their paths cross again, reigniting old tensions as Yoko demands accountability for vows he cannot recall. Between her performative fury and his spiraling self-reproach, a haunting question lingers: whose lies shaped their shared past? A feverish exploration of art’s power to distort memory, where vanity and longing collide in the murky river between truth and fiction. |
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