Editing City Series:Volume7 Appendix (section)

=== Story 4: Winter===

Once night fell, I opened the window.

It wasn’t that I wanted to see the stars in the sky or the stars falling from the sky.

It definitely wasn’t a reason that’s so cool I’d be embarrassed to admit it.

No, it was because I heard a sound in my room.

Only my best friend in winter – the space heater – understood me.

I rested my elbows on the windowsill and stared outside.

The white lights of the streetlights illuminated the road.

I heard a car in the distance.

Then it passed by.

After a while, my shoulders got cold, so I reached for the window.

That was when I noticed someone standing below.

I looked down to see a man decked out in a black tuxedo and silk hat.

“I do hate to disturb you at this late hour, but could you lend me a flathead screwdriver?”

He removed his silk hat, looked up at me, and made that request.

“Eh? Um, sure,” I replied and soon went to him with the requested item.

He was standing in front of my house.

He accepted the screwdriver, bowed, and walked down the road.

I followed him mostly out of curiosity and he stopped in front of a black gas lamp on the side of the road.

“When did they build this?”

He reached for the gas lamp’s support pillar and began unscrewing one of its screws.

“It has remained unlit in recent years, so snowfall in this region has been delayed. I am terribly sorry about the inconvenience.”

After a while, I heard a gas flowing through the gas lamp.

“That completes maintenance on this region. Your cooperation is much appreciated.”

The man handed me the screwdriver.

The gas lamp lit up and I watched him leave.

After a while, it started snowing in this region.