It had rained overnight, and when I woke up, the summer air felt cool and refreshing.
“Shall we go to the cafe together?”
My daughter and I walked to the car, enjoying the fresh air.
“Our car isn’t here,” my daughter said.
“That’s strange. I’m sure I parked it here yesterday.”
I walked along the back of the parked cars, leaning to the right to see farther down the row.
“Oh, maybe I parked it near the entrance.”
I turned around and walked back toward the apartment entrance where we had come out of the elevator. My daughter followed me.
But the car wasn’t there either.
“Huh? Where did it go?” I said, laughing.
I headed back to where I had first looked. My daughter followed me, looking around for the car too.
This time, I walked along the front of the parked cars.
“Oh, here it is!”
A large SUV had been blocking my view.
“Oh, I couldn’t see it because of this car.”
We laughed together.
As I drove to the cafe, I kept thinking about what had just happened.
I could have seen it if I had walked a little farther.
Ah, this isn’t the first time…
The Last Time
I remembered something similar happening before. I had been alone that day.
I had looked along the row of parked cars but couldn’t see mine.
How could I forget?
What’s wrong with me?
I was flustered.
I immediately turned around and hurried back toward the apartment entrance. When I couldn’t find the car there either, I went down the stairs and walked quickly toward the shopping area’s parking lot to see if I had parked it there.
Nothing.
I trudged back toward the original parking area, this time approaching it from the opposite direction.
“Oh, here it is!”
I was so relieved to see my car that I laughed out loud.
Is my car small?
No, it’s just old. Newer cars are bigger.
A large car parked next to mine could easily hide it from view.
I should remember exactly where I park next time.
I blamed my poor memory.
How did I end up searching for my car in exactly the same places, in exactly the same order…?
I felt a little discouraged.
Both times, my car had been there all along. But instead of walking a little farther, I had turned around.
I had already decided it wasn’t there and started looking somewhere else. One thought led to another, and I kept moving from place to place.
Oh, but this time I walked along the front of the cars and found mine right away. I didn’t even go down to the shopping area’s parking lot.
I smiled to myself.
