"Moshi moshi? (Hello?)
Are you there? It's me.
Can you hear me?
I just hear the wind. Is that you?
I feel like you're here somewhere."
It is winter, and the family is gathering for a meal together. Loss is felt in the silence of the room. As they sit to eat, memories of happier times make the sadness more intense. One of the children moves outside, leaving him alone with his thoughts in the wintry landscape.
He makes his way to a phone booth where a yellow bird is filling the air with song. A phone sits there - an invitation to pick up the handset and have a one-way conversation. On the way home, he finds a yellow daffodil (his mother's favorite flower). Taking it home with him and sharing it with his sister brings joy and a chance to show her the information he has found about the phone booth. The two return so she has a chance to 'talk' with her mother.
"Moshi moshi?
It's not fair!
Why did it have to be you?"
They return home to show their grandfather and young sister, who are crafting origami cranes. Grandfather is hesitant, but the three convince him to venture out with them. Grandfather and little sister speak from their hearts as they collect the yellow daffodils that surround the phone booth. Father is furious to hear and see what they have done. Everyone flees from his anger, as he cradles the daffodils they have brought home with them.
It is his turn now. His son finds him there. The two release a paper crane into the sky. As spring bursts forth, there is a change from the deep sadness of winter.
"haru (spring)
pain's sharp edge softens
heavy hearts become lighter
hope blossoms anew"
Love lives on.
Back matter tells the story of Itaru Sasaki who created the original “wind phone” in Ōtsuchi, Japan in 2010 as a way to voice his grief over the death of a beloved cousin.
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