Special Award (Japan) “BUMP, Hibiki-kun, and Me” Ryo Ouchi (12, male, elementary school student) Tokyo |
I met a guy called Hibiki Tanaka last September. Well, I didn’t actually meet him or talk with him. Hibiki-kun is my teacher’s son. He burned a CD for me by a group called BUMP. I always used to say negative things before I came across BUMP. I didn’t practice typing braille at all. After I discovered BUMP, I changed. I don’t say negative things any more. The first track I typed on the braille board was “Blues of Glass”. I typed out everything. I like the following lyric in particular: “A cat with glass eyes cries out. Jingle-jangle, for its short life”. I wrote a letter to Hibiki-kun thanking him for burning me the BUMP CD. Then Hibiki-kun wrote me back. He said, “Blues of Glass is a good song that gives you hope for living. Like the cat in the song, please live your life as well as you can.” I was very pleased to hear this, so I wrote him back again. This is how we started our correspondence. Hibiki-kun is in his second year at high school, four years above me. But through our letters I can talk about lots of things with him. When I mentioned my taking a braille test, he encouraged me. Recently we talked about BUMP’s latest track. Apparently it hasn’t come out yet. I can’t wait to hear this new track and talk about it with Hibiki-kun. Through this kind of conversation, I feel like I’m in the same room and talking with him, regardless of time or distance. Eight months have passed since we started exchanging letters. With music in the background, I’m recording my voice as if I was actually talking to him directly. I like Hibiki-kun because I can talk about lots of things with him. I want to keep on exchanging letters with him. I’m looking forward to it, Hibiki-kun. |
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