The Day the River Changes

A blazing summer-holiday afternoon. The wide riverbank rang with splashing and laughter. Sora, Riku and Umi were deep in a stone-skipping contest with Haruto and the others, while off in the shade the grown-ups set up the barbecue. "My turn next!" A stone skipped three times, and a cheer went up.

"…Huh?" Umi's hand stopped mid-throw. The water that had been glass-clear was faintly brown now, and the current seemed just a little quicker. Upstream, dark clouds were piling over the hills. "It's raining up the valley. A river swells from faraway rain, you know." It was one of the important signs written in her nature notebook.

"Everyone — out of the water for now!" A chorus of groans answered Sora. "Aw, we can still play!" "It's totally fine!" And true, the sky above was pure blue. But the water had already crept above their ankles. "If we get out and nothing happens, that's a GOOD thing." One by one, Sora herded them up the bank.

Then Umi cried out. "Haruto's gone!" They spun around — and there he was, alone on the little sand island mid-river. He had waded across to gather skipping stones, and the shallow path back had already drowned in the current. Riku lunged toward the water — and Sora caught his arm. "Don't go in! Rescuers get swept away too. Help comes from OUTSIDE the water."

"Haruto! Don't move! Wait right there!" Their voices were reaching him. Umi raked empty capped bottles out of the cooler box. "We throw these! And if the water ever takes you — hug one to your chest and float on your back. Float and wait!" Riku's throw landed a bottle right at Haruto's feet.

And still the water swelled. The sand island shrank by another step. The grown-ups' shady spot lay far downstream — beyond the reach of any shout. "Somebody has to run and get them." But it was Sora's voice that had finally steadied Haruto — and his eyes kept finding her, again and again.

Run, and the grown-ups were two, three minutes away. Stay, and she could keep holding Haruto together with her voice. Sora was the fastest of the three — and she was also the one Haruto trusted most. "Do I run? Or do I stay?" Riku and Umi waited for her call. What will Sora do?