“Eternoon,” Joy says. “That’s evening time, when we look at the sun.”
Justin looks at her blankly.
“Don’t you remember?”
He shakes his head.
“Joy, do you want to see a sunset from Japan?” Yumio says.
“Yuh-huh.”
Everything around us changes. In front of us is a river. Far ahead is a mountain, and the sun is setting behind it, its orange colors spreading across not only the sky but the mountain and the river.
Joy stares at it with eyes agape. Suzy gasps. Madelyn takes in a deep breath.
“Fantastic!” Colin said. “Where are we?”
“Hakone, Kanagawa,” Yumio says. “This is Lake Ashinoko and these are the Hakone mountains. In the distance you can see Mount Fuji,” she points.
“Ahhh!” Almost all of us say at once. It’s the one thing we recognize in Japan, I guess.
“Wow, right, Joy?” Justin puts his hand around her shoulders. She nods.
“I want to show you the sunset from the Rez,” Charlie says.
Lake Ashinoko disappears, replaced by the Arizona desert, which seems to stretch on endlessly forward. There are a few clouds in the sky, and the setting sun fills them with pink color underneath.
We all stand in awe and wonder as we look at Charlie’s sunset. Then Justin shows the sunset of Toronto. Then Colin shows the sunset in Stonehenge, even though he lives in London. They are amazing
Amahle says, “I am missing all the fun. But, Joy, I wonder if I will be able to show you the sunset in Johannesburg, even though I have never seen it.”
“Do you think you can?” Joy says.
“I do not know,” Amahle says. “But I will try.”
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt