I learn that I have a serious illness.

There had been clear signs about six months ago. At that time, someone advised me that I should go to the hospital, but after improving my lifestyle and seeing some changes, I decided that I was probably fine.

Recently, I could no longer ignore those signs and went in for tests. Even then, I listened to the results with a light heart. In reality, however, they went far beyond the worst I had imagined.

I received a referral to a larger hospital, and now I am undergoing tests day after day. Surgery and hospitalization are expected to begin next month.

So what is it that I want to say?

Before all of this, I am glad that I had already brought what was inside me out into the world. It may have been nothing more than a small act of self-satisfaction, but it is better to have nothing weighing on my heart.

In “The Story of Kurumi and the Forest” it may appear that I am writing about death and reincarnation. Yet what lies at the foundation is not the idea that reincarnation exists, but rather the sense that death itself does not exist.

That may seem like a contradiction within the story. But it is not a contradiction, or perhaps it is acceptable for it to remain one.

People see the world according to how they perceive it.

This is how I understand it.