最優秀作品: Last Memories

特選：A Man

特選：Last Miracle

特選：White Roses in Love

特選

：Socks and MotherLast Memories
SAIMonday, July 22nd. My doctor said to me “You haveAlzheimer’s disease.” I couldn’t believe those words, andI still can’t believe them, but they are true. I’ll lose mymemories. So, from today, I decided to keep a diary. …I
am getting sleepy. Today’s diary is finished. P.S. Friday is
our wedding anniversary.

Wednesday, July 24th. Mary and I traveled to Hawaii tocelebrate our wedding anniversary. Mary laughed a lot,and I joined her. I forgot my disease for a while. I hope
our conjugal life will continue forever. P.S. No problems
today.

Saturday, July 27th. We came back home, but when
Mary brought our suitcases, I asked her “What are thosebags?” She was confused by my behavior and said
“These suitcases are our baggage. Did you forget?” ThenI remembered that those bags were ours. …My disease isprogressing.

Thursday, August 1st. My disease is surelyprogressing. Yesterday, I almost forgot where my housewas. I have to enter the hospital. Mary cried and cried,so I made a promise that I wouldn’t forget her. …Thenurse is coming. Today’s diary is finished ※ My nameis Jack and my wife’s name is Mary.

2Monday, August 5th. My name is Jack Mary
Tuesday, August 6th. My name is J Mary
Thursday, August 8th. A beautiful woman came to mysickroom. She smiled and said “Oh, Jack! Sorry I
couldn’t meet you for long time. How are you?” She wasvery friendly, but I don’t know her. Who was she ? MaryYour name is Jack. Even if you lose all your memories,
I’ll always love you.
Mary3A ManK.Y
There was a man, Luke. He had a wife, Judy. She waskind and beautiful. Also, she loved Luke very much.
Luke was kind. But at the same time he was cruel. Hewas an American spy. He completed many missions.
But he never directly killed anyone. Today, his mission
was bigger than ever. It was to kill someone. He knew it was a very bad thing. He knew
he couldn’t come back when he did this mission. But he didn’t want to think about it.
He had to work for his family. His words echoed in his mind, “It’s only a job.” Hesmiled and told Judy, “This job is a little big. But I’ll be OK. Enjoy your travel.” Judysmiled too. But her smile looked sad. Luke told her, “OK, I’m off to work. See you.”
She told him, “Do your best”
His target was in the hospital. Her name was Mrs.
Oxford. He didn’t want to hurt a woman. But he had nochoice. He saw a doctor and asked him, “Do you knowMrs. Oxford?” He answered, “Yes. I’m her doctor.
What’s your name? Are you her son?” Luke said, “Er…
I… I’m her son. Yes, I’m her son.” The doctor told him,
“OK. Do you want to see her?” “Can I see her?” “Sure, please follow me. She is in
Room 304.” Luke asked him, “How is her physical condition?” The doctor answered,“Mmm… I want to say no problem. But she is in danger. Perhaps we can’t help her.
She’s too old.” Luke was surprised and asked, “What? How old is she?” The doctor
looked at him and asked, “Don’t you know? Why not? Are you really her son?” Lukesaid, “Yes! Yes! I’m her son!” The doctor told him, “I don’t know your reason. But you
have only one mother in the world. Please take care of her.” “Oh. I’m sorry” The doctor
said, “OK. We’ve arrived at her room. I’ll go to another patient’s room. Good luck.”
Luke said, “Thank you.”4Luke opened the door. Mrs. Oxford looked at him andasked, “Who are you …?” He answered, “I’m avolunteer. I’m going to take care of you for two days.”
She said “Oh. Thank you.” He answered, “You’rewelcome.” He took care of her. He helped when shestood. He cut an apple for her. He talked to her in afriendly way. He enjoyed taking care of her. Mrs. Oxford said, “You are so kind. Do you
have your mother?” Luke answered, “No, I don’t. She passed away six years ago.” Mrs.
Oxford said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you like your mother?” Luke answered, “Yes. I loveher.” Mrs. Oxford laughed and said, “You are very kind, so I’m sure your mother wasvery kind too.” Luke said, “Yes. She was very kind. But I’m not kind.” Mrs. Oxford
said, “Oh? Why do you think so?” Luke laughed and answered, “I don’t know. Why did
I become like this? I don’t know.” They became quiet. Later he said, “I will go home.
Thank you for today. I enjoyed it very much.” She said, “I enjoyed it too. Will you comehere tomorrow?” Luke answered, “Yes, I will.” Mrs. Oxford smiled and said, “Bye.”
Luke went out of the room and closed the door.

He arrived at the hotel. Judy and their son had alreadygone to sleep. He was very tired, so he went to bed. He
thought of Mrs. Oxford. “She is a kind woman. Should I
kill her? If I don’t kill her, she will die soon. Whatshould I do?” He fell asleep.

He had a dream about his mother. She told him, “Be akind man. I don’t like people who hurt other people.”
Then his mother smiled.

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He got up at seven. He drank a hot coffee. He went tohis car and looked at the sky. A cloud hid the sun, so it
was a little dark.

He arrived at the hospital, and he followed the doctor. Then he went into Mrs. Oxford’sroom. He saw her smile. “Good morning,” she said. He answered, “Good morning.” Hecut an apple again. He thought, “Kill her… kill her with this knife…”

But suddenly, she asked, “What’s your name? I forgot to ask you yesterday.” “I’mLuke,” he answered. She said, “Oh, Luke… A nice name.” He said “Thank you.” Later,
he cut an apple. “Here you are,” he said. “Thank you,” she said.
He couldn’t decide whether to kill her. She told him, “I don’tknow what you did. But you cut an apple for me. You talked to me
in a friendly way. I know you are kind.” She smiled. He cried.
Then he told her “I came here to kill you. It’s my job. But I don’t
want to kill you.” She was surprised and put her arms around him.
She told him, “It’s easy. You don’t want to kill. Then, you won’tkill.”“I will quit my job,” he said. She smiled. He said, “I
must see my wife. Then I will tell her.” She said, “Doyour best.”

6He bought a flower. It was for his wife. Then he arrived at the hotel, and he saw Judy.
She was surprised and said, “Hi.” He answered, “Hi Judy. I want to hand you thisflower.” She was surprised again. “What is it?” Heanswered, “It’s my present to thank you. Also, I willquit my job.” She was stupefied. He said, “Next, I will
start job hunting. So… please help me.” She smiled andsaid, “Sure.”7

Last Miracle
M.O.
My girlfriend had a rare disease. She aged very quickly ten times more quickly than a normal human does. Thisillness generally appears when a person is born, but therule didn’t apply to my girlfriend. She developed it when
she was 15. Now she was 20, and she was on the brinkof death. I visited the hospital as many times as I could
and tried to spend as much time with her as possible. And it was the same on that day.

I was talking to her in the hospital room, and suddenly
it happened. A bright light flashed into the room. Iunconsciously closed my eyes and heard my girlfriend
gasp.

The next second, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My girlfriend, who was supposed to look
like an eighty - year - old woman, was back to looking like when she was 15!
“What…?” She whispered, surprised. “Am I a girl? Why? Is this a dream?” “I don’tknow,” I said excitedly. “It’s a miracle! I think it’s a present from God.” “I can’t believeit,” she said. “But it’s amazing. I always dreamed of looking like a girl again.”
Then I got an idea “Let’s go outside,” I said. “Let’s doall the things you want to do. It’s a special date. I will beyours, I will take you wherever you want to go, buy you
whatever clothes you want. Let’s go!” “But I have to tellthe doctor…” “That can be later. I can’t wait to walkoutside with you!” I took her hand and ran out of thehospital.

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It was a wonderful date. My girlfriend was dressed
beautifully, and we went to a beach. We ate lots ofdelicious food, and she drank wine, because she had
never drunk it yet. She was so cute.

We went driving at night, and finally we were back at
the hospital. “Thank you, Rex. It was so much fun. I think
it was the best day in my life,” she said, smiling.

“Do you want to do anything else?” “Um…” she turned
toward me. “I want to talk with you. I want to spendsome quiet time with you.” So we started talking. We
talked about many things - about our memories of thatday, about when we were younger, about our first date etc.

It was almost midnight when I looked at the clock. “Rex.” She
called my name and said, “I’m so grateful to you. Thank you foralways standing by me. To be honest, I thought that you wouldstop going out with me when I heard about the disease.” “…”“But you never abandoned me. You always encouraged me. I wasill, but I was so happy these five years.” “Because I love you, I
stood by you because I wanted to.” I felt like crying because shesounded like it was the last time for us to talk.

“I love you too,” she whispered. “But I think it’s timeto go now. I’ll say it again. Thank you so much. I’ll
always love you.” Suddenly, a bright light flashed again.
She disappeared, and a bunch of white flowers was left.

9White Roses in Love゜o゜<The Preface>“I will change you into a devil because of your sin. ButI will give you a last chance. Go down to man’s world
and make someone happy. If you carry out yourmission, I will give you eternal life.” “What!? Go down
to man’s world!?” “Yes,that’s what I said.
Well… make that lady happy.” “Oh, no! please……”<The Story>
Now it is 1974. They are Mr. Stephan Heinrich and Ms.
Mary Heinrich, They are married. They met in a very
ordinary way. They fellin love in a very
ordinary way. They were leading a happy life.

On a winter day, suddenly the sky got dark. It thundered. Mr and Ms Heinrich weresurprised. And they heard a voice that said, “The time has come.” “What is it?” Marysaid. Stephan said nothing. He looked very sad.
“What’s up, Stephan?” “I have something to tell you.”“Yes, I will listen to you,” Mary said gently. “You may
not believe my story, but please listen. I used to be anangel. I lived with many angels in heaven.

10One day, I sat down on His pedestal on an impulse. And I broke it. Then, the earth was
hit by Titan and his troubadours. We must not sit down on it. So, God was very angry.
And He turned me into the devil. But he promised me that if I could make someone
happy, I would have eternal life. He named me Stephan Heinrich. And that someone isyou, Mary.” “What are you saying? I cannot understand.” “ I’m sorry, Mary.”

I said, “But… I must go. I will have eternal life as whiteroses in a field. I cannot stay with you. Forever, I will
bloom white.” “I understand. Even if you are gone, I
will live and die for you.” “I will love you till the roses
die.” “Good bye, my kind devil,” Mary said with tears in
her eyes.

Every day, the sun shines. The bird sing. The flowers
are entranced by the wind’s melody. New life grows.
And Ms. Mary Heinrich goes to a field to pick whiteroses.

11Socks and Mother
S.THello. My name is Ken. I’m 15 years old. I have a habitof going around the garden in the morning.

One day, as usual, I went around the garden. Then I
found something in the grass. It was a pair of socks.
Strangely, those socks were not dirty.

“I want them,” I thought. I went back to my house withthose socks. “I found these socks in the garden,” I said.
But my mother replied, “Throw those things away! Don’t
take them into the house!” I couldn’t give up the socks,
so I hid them in my bedroom.

That night, I was going to sleep. Then I heard a noise from my bed. It was the socks!
The socks were speaking to me! “Wear us… and you
will be happy.” I wanted to be happy. So I put them on.

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Suddenly I was seized by craziness. My mind wentcompletely blank. I went mad. “Ha, hah. I can act violently for along time!” the socks said.

The socks were cursed! I had anurge to act violently. I didn’tknow what was what. So I got out of my bed and ran tothe bedroom door.

Then I kicked the door as hard as I could. Crash! Thedoor broke noisily.

“Ha, hah. Let’s go to the town and act violently.” I tried to go out of my bedroom. But
my mother was there. She looked very angry.
“Why on earth did you do this? You’re not getting
away with this!” “Sorry, sorry…” The socks and I werevery afraid. Then I regained consciousness.

The curse was broken! I went to the toilet and dumped
the socks. “I regret…”

I went to bed again. What’s the scariest thing in theworld? The cursed socks? No. my mother!

13Mike 先生からのコメント

Last Memories
This is a very moving story. Telling the story in diary form brings the reader inside
the mind of the main character as he slowly loses his memories because of Alzheimer's
disease, and the way the diary entries reflect his declining mental faculties reminds meof the classic story "Flowers for Algernon." In the end, "Last Memories" turns out toreally be a love story.
A Man
This is an exciting story about a man who has to decide whether to do good or to doevil. His developing relationship with his intended victim makes the decision moresuspenseful. Throughout the story the writer shows good insight into what factors
influence our decisions.
Last Miracle
This story has a couple of exciting miracles, but the heart of the story is the excellent
description of the relationship between the narrator and his girlfriend, such as thedetails of their special date together and the topics that they talk about during their lastconversation.
White Roses in Love
This is a very imaginative story that takes the reader from the cosmic events of sin
and punishment in heaven down to the ordinary lives of one married couple. The story
seems to be telling us that both in heaven and on earth, nothing is more important
than love.
Socks and Mother
This is the first story I have ever read about evil socks. The writer shows great
imagination as well as a great sense of humor. Also, the illustrations fit the story sowell that it is hard to believe that the story was created based on the illustrations rather
than the other way around.

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宮下先生からのコメント

Last Memories
進行するアルツハイマー病にむしばまれるジャック。付き添うメアリーの温かい心と、ジャックの病気による意に反した忘却が錯綜する。深刻なテーマを日記という形で、見事に描いた作品である。

A Man
仲むつまじいルークとジュディー夫婦だが、実はルークはやり手の米国のスパイだったのだ。読み応えのある長さの作品で、ルークの良心と責任感との葛藤が上手に表現されている。エンディングも意外性があってよい。

Last Miracle
通常の十倍速で年を取ってしまう病気を発症した少女というテーマ設定が、ミステリアスだ。人と人とのつながりの根底にある愛の大切さ、人生の意味を問う作品である。リズ
ム感ある話の展開が読者を飽きさせない。

White Roses in Love
おかした罪のために、神様のお怒りにふれてしまって、そのつぐないのために地上に降りてきたステファン。物語には会話文が巧みに使われており、二部構成なのも読者の興味をひく始まり方だ。

Socks and Mother
ソックスが話しかけてきます。そしてその謎とは何かと、テンポよく話が進むのでどん
どん読者が引き込まれてきます。絵の並べ方のセンスが光ります。文章と絵のバランスのとれた絵本のよさを兼ね備えた作品です。

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