by Sara Ackerman Aoyama
Natsumi opened the door cautiously and walked into the Starbucks. She was counting on being able to grab a chair at the window overlooking the Kamo River. But first, her eyes went to the menu on the wall. She could hardly believe it but today, finally, was the day that the S’Mores Frappuccino was coming to Japan!
Before Natsumi could confirm that today was indeed the day, her phone rang. She stepped back outside and drew in a long breath before she answered.
“Natsumi? We’ve got the results.”
“We’ve found the allergen. As long as you never drink a cup of coffee again, you’ll be fine. But, I’ll warn you. Just one more drop of coffee could kill you within 24 hours. I know you’re a coffee drinker, but as of this moment, you simply cannot imbibe. It’s an unusual but lethal allergy….”
Natsumi stood there absorbing the information. It seemed a simple choice.
She took a few steps away from Starbucks, but then stopped again and instead reversed her direction and went to sit on a bench overlooking the river. It was so hot and muggy. Just like that summer so long ago in New Jersey, she mused.
Natsumi had only been eight years old when her father was transferred to the New York office of his company. They’d arrived in April. At school, Natsumi was the new kid. She spent a lonely three months in the unfamiliar classroom.
When school was out for the summer, her mother enrolled her in a day camp. On the last day of camp, they’d had a sleepover and cooked dinner over a campfire. As the night fell, the counselors came out with one more treat.
“S’mores!”
Other campers knew just what kind of treat was coming, but Natsumi was puzzled. Marshmallows on a stick, and then something else? What was she to do with the graham cracker and chocolate? Surely you couldn’t roast chocolate, and a graham cracker would just burn. She watched the older kids carefully and saw that a S’more was a kind of sandwich. Yum! She had not liked American food very much. But this was a kind of sandwich that she could appreciate. She smiled in pleasure as she took a bite and the three different flavors came together. She’d finally found something about America that she really liked.
School went more smoothly in the fall. She made friends. And then a few months later it was all ripped away when her father was suddenly transferred back to Japan. She’d never had a chance to go back. But now she had a chance to recapture a memory and a taste of her past in a cup of coffee. What could be better? She could die a quick death having circled back to her childhood memories. Sometimes she felt so ready to go.
A flock of birds flew overhead and startled her from her thoughts. She shook her head and brushed back a few wisps of her graying hair. Had there really been any question at all here? She got up, smoothed her skirt and smiled. She liked green tea, too.
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Sara Ackerman Aoyama first went to Kyoto in 1976. Her last visit was in 2016 and she hopes she’ll be there again someday. She blogs her memories here.
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