Chapter Six

Watching Mr. Sasagawa work had made it look easy, but cutting out the sharp corners of a triangle neatly proved far more difficult than I had expected.

“Well…one eye has ended up much larger than the other.”

When I finished, the two eyes were completely different sizes.

“That’s all right. We can make this one larger too and turn him into a pumpkin with big eyes.”

Mr. Sasagawa took the knife and, as though it were nothing, enlarged the other eye to match. Then he carved the mouth and smoothed the edges of every cut.

“It really is different when you do it. The quality, I mean.”

“I wouldn’t call it quality. It’s only a pumpkin.”

“But you carved letters into those tiny ones.”

I peered over his shoulder as he added the finishing touches, admiring the care in every movement.

“Letters do take some practice,” he said, amusement in his voice. “Even now, I sometimes cut away a tiny dot or accidentally remove the center of a character.”

“Do you think I could learn to carve my own name if I practiced?”

“Of course.”

I looked at the completed pumpkin.

“Would you like me to carve your name on it?”

“What?”

“You made one of the eyes, Ms. Ono. We could put your name on the pumpkin.”

“But it belongs to the botanical garden.”

“What is your first name?”

I remembered our conversation at the front door—the day I had mistaken his name for the dog’s.

My face grew a little warm.

“…Haruka.”

On the lower part of the pumpkin, opposite its face, Mr. Sasagawa wrote *Haruka* in hiragana with a marker.

Then he picked up a tool with an even longer, finer blade than the knife he had used for the face and began carving the characters.

The garage fell quiet.

It was a gentle, comfortable kind of silence.

When I happened to look up, I saw Ro’s shadow curled behind the glass door connecting the garage to the house.

“Here.”

Mr. Sasagawa lifted the finished pumpkin so I could see it.

My own name, carved into its skin.

“Knowing this will be displayed along the botanical garden path makes me feel as though I absolutely have to go and see it.”

“Please do,” he said with a smile as he put away his tools.

“I brought you some baked treats to thank you. And this too, if you’d like it. You seem to like flowers, so I thought you might not mind.”

From the paper bag, I took out a small framed piece of pressed-flower art inspired by a pumpkin and a witch.

“I knew it,” Mr. Sasagawa said. “I was certain you were someone who made things. This is incredible. Is the pumpkin made from a zinnia?”

“Yes, it is. I should have known you’d recognize it.”

Apparently, our equally obsessive interest in crafts suited each other rather well.

We were two adults old enough to know better, enthusiastically praising one another’s work.

But there was no one there to see us, so it did not matter.

“Would you like to come inside? I’ll make some hot tea.”

“Then I’ll accept.”

When Mr. Sasagawa opened the door, Ro rose at once, as though he had been waiting for us.

While we waited for the kettle to boil, I studied the potted plants arranged in perfect balance along one side of the dining room.

“After Halloween, the botanical garden is holding a wreath-making workshop,” Mr. Sasagawa said, his back still turned toward me. “Would you like to come?”

“Yes. I’d love to.”

I watched him switch off the gas and pour hot water into the teapot.

“Mr. Sasagawa.”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind exchanging contact details with me? It might be inconvenient if I keep arriving at your door without warning like this.”

His hand stopped for a moment.

Then he began moving again and returned the kettle to the stove.

The cups on the tray sent warm curls of steam into the air.

After placing a teacup in front of me, he sat down across the table. Then he retrieved his phone from the cabinet near the entrance.

“I’d be very happy to exchange contact details.”

We entered each other’s information.

On my screen appeared the name:

**Minato Sasagawa**

“But…Ms. Ono…”

He hesitated, staring down at his phone.

“Yes?”

“If possible, I would still be very happy if you came to visit whenever you had a reason to.”

A faint flush spread along his neck.

“I mean…I think I would be very happy. Both Ro and I would.”

The steam from his tea clouded his glasses, hiding his expression from me.

“Yes,” I answered quietly.

As always, I left Mr. Sasagawa’s house and walked the short distance back to my own.

He and Ro stood on the porch, watching me.

Until now, I had always been too nervous to turn around.

But tonight…

When I reached my own porch, I looked back at Mr. Sasagawa and raised a hand before going inside.

He waved back.

I closed the door behind me and turned the lock. Then I leaned against it and realized that my lips had curved naturally into a smile.

I had never imagined that I could feel this way at my age.

Something indescribable had begun to take shape inside me, leaving me almost giddy.

*Trick or treat.*

An encounter that had begun with a dog’s little *trick* had brought an unexpected sweetness into my life.

A *treat* of my own.

I still did not know what this feeling might grow into.

But there was no doubt that it had brought the vivid colors of autumn into days that had once passed quietly, one much like the next.

“It really is a happy Halloween.”

Still smiling, I walked lightly toward the dining room.