A pale view of the hills

I said: "And this woman, was she killed in a air raid?" "No, she committed suicide. They say she slit her throat. I never knew her at all. As you see, Mariko ran away from me one morning. I don't remember the reason now, maybe she was upset about something. The important thing is she went out running in the streets, so I went after her. It was very early, and there was no one around. Mariko ran into an alley, and I followed her into it. There was a small canal at the end of the alley, and the woman was sitting there, submerged in the water up to her elbows. A young woman, very thin. I knew she was disturbed as soon as I saw her. And so, Itosuko, she turned and smiled at Mariko. I knew there was some disturbance, and Mariko must have known it too because she stopped running. At first, I thought the woman was blind, because she had that look, as if her eyes couldn't really see anything. So, she raised her arms out of the canal and showed us what she was holding beneath the water's surface. It was a baby. I then grabbed Mariko and we left that alley." I remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Mariko poured herself some tea from the teapot.