-This is a story that took place up until a little before World War II ended at a middle school that was actually in Tokyo about a girl who attended that school.-

First Time At A Train Station

Freedom at the Okano train station, when coming down from Ooimachisen as mother pulls Totto's hand, is exiting through the ticket gate. Because Totto hadn't really ever ridden trains up until then, she thought it wasteful to give away the ticket that she had been carefully holding.

There she asked the old man at the ticket gate, "May I keep this ticket?"

As the old man replied, "No, you can't." he took the ticket from Totto's hand. Pointing at the box at the ticket gate where a lot of tickets had piled up Totto asked, "Are all these yours?"

The old man replied while snatching tickets from the other people who were leaving, "They're not mine, they're the train station's."

"Really..." Totto not giving up while peering into the box said, "When I grow up I think I want to be someone who sells tickets."

The old man, for the first time glancing at her, said,"My son also said that he wanted to work at a train station, because you mentioned it, it would be good to work together."

Totto stepped back a little and looked at the old man. The old man was plump, wore glasses, and seemed kind.

"Huh..."

While observing, Totto put her hands on her lower back and said, "I had thought that it would be good to work with you. But, I'm busy because I'm going to a new school."

Saying that, Totto ran over to where her mother was waiting. And there, shouted, "I think I'll be a ticket salesman."

Undaunted mother said, "But, you had said that you wanted to be a spy, what are you going to do about that?"

Totto thought as she grabbed her mother's hand and walked out, "That's right, I had, up until yesterday, decided that I was absolutely going to be a spy. But, I think becoming a person like this one that had a box full of tickets would be really good as well."

"That's it!!"

Totto had a good idea, while peeping at mother's face raised a loud voice and said, "Ya know, I really want to be a spy but, what do you think about a ticket salesman?"

Mother didn't answer. Speaking frankly, mother was extremely anxiety ridden. If for some reason, the school that they where to go to from now on didn't take care of Totto...... Mother's pretty face, who was wearing a felt hat with a small flower, became slightly serious. And then she saw Totto hopping up and down on the road rapidly talking. Because Totto hadn't noticed mother's worry, when she saw Totto's face it was smiling cheerfully.

"Ya know, I won't be either of those, I'm going to be a sandwich board advertiser!!"

Mother, more or less, in a helpless mood said, "Come now, we'll be late. The principal is waiting for us. Now, stop talking, turn forward and walk."

Before the two of them the small school's gate came into view.

Totto At The Window

Before passing though the new school's gate, to explain why Totto's mother had anxieties, in spite of it being Totto's first year in school she had already been kicked out of school. Her first year!!

It was just the week before. Mother was called by Totto's homeroom teacher who distinctly said the following.

"When your daughter is present, she becomes a disruption during class. Please take her to another school!"

The young beautiful teacher sighed as she repeated.

"She's really a bother!"

Mother was surprised. (What the heck? What kind of things... I wonder what kind of things that kid's been doing during class...)

The teacher, incessantly blinked her curled eyelashes and while brushing her hand through her short permed inwardly curving hair started to explain.

"First of all, while in class she opens and closes the top of her desk hundreds of times. So accordingly when I said, 'You shouldn't be opening and closing that when you don't have any tasks to do.' your daughter put away her notebook, pencil box and textbook, retrieving each and every one one-by-one. For example, when we go to do transcription. She first opens the lid to her desk and just as soon as she takes out her notebook she slams the lid shut. Then, instantly she opens it again thrusts her head in and when she takes out the pencil for writing 'a' she hurriedly shuts it and writes 'a'. However, she doesn't write it very well and makes a mistake, right. So when she does that, she opens the lid and again thrusts her head in and takes out an eraser and when she shuts the lid she hurriedly uses the eraser, next, she quickly opens the lid, puts away the eraser and closes it. At that point I look over because she immediately opens it again and to my surprise she has only written a single 'a' and she is putting all her tools away one-by-one. She puts away her pencil then shuts it, then opens it and puts her notebook away...just like that. Then next when it's time for 'i', again, starting with her notebook, pencil, eraser ... she does it like that each time, right in front of me, dizzily opening and shutting the lid to her desk. It makes my eyes spin! But, for the time being, because she has a task I won't say 'You shouldn't do that' but...

The teacher's eyelashes' incessant blinking became faster as if she was remembering all that at that moment.

What she heard up until now, mother could understand that Totto would open and close her school desk like that. That is to say, Mother remembered that on the day she first went to school and came back, Totto was awfully agitated and told her about it. 'You know, school's awful. The desk at home you draw things out like this but the school's lid is on top. It's the same as the lid on the garbage can but it's smoother and you can put various things in it. It's really great!'

Mother was certain that Totto would be amused by opening and closing a desk that she had never seen before. And with that she thought, "It's not that bad and I wonder that as she becomes familiar with it she'll gradually stop opening and shutting it." but the teacher said, "Because she pays attention."

Whereupon the teacher said the following in a tone that was a little more elevated than it was previously. "If it was only that everything would be fine but!"

Mother had slight sinking feeling. The teacher leaning forward a little said, "Just when I think the desk isn't making a noise, now, she's standing during class. Through the whole thing!"

Mother was again surprised and so she asked, "When you say she stood, where was it that she stood?"

The teacher said in a manner that was slightly angry, "At the classroom window!"

Because mother didn't fully understand she continued asking questions, "What was she doing over by the window?"

The teacher said in a half yelling voice, "Calling out to a sandwich board advertiser!!"

When you examine what the teacher has said it seems that these things actually happened.

After an hour of the desk lid slamming a considerable amount, she left the desk and stood by the window looking outside. At that point, just as the teacher thought that it would be just fine for Totto to do that if she would just do it quietly, Totto facing outside shouted in a big voice, "Mr. Sandwich Board Advertiser!" Generally speaking, this first floor classroom window was bliss to Totto and Hell to her teacher and moreover, the street was visible from there. Speaking of boundaries because there was only a short hedge it was easy to speak with the people who were walking. Well, when the sandwich board advertisers, who happened to be passing by, were called they would come right up to the classroom. When that would happen Totto gleefully called out to the the whole class, "They came!" In response to her voice the kids who had been studying up to that point, all of them, would crowd around the window and unanimously call out, "Mr. Sandwich Board Advertiser!" At that, Totto would request, "Hey, could we hear a little?"

When walking close to the school even the advertisers were pinning down the source of the sound because it was a long-waited request they started in grand style on a clarinet, bell, drum and shamisen. While that was happening, teacher was wondering what to do, or in other words, there was nothing she could do until they reached the first place to pause but wait alone at the podium. While telling herself, "I don't have patience to wait until the end of the tune."

Then, when the tune finished, Totto sent them off and the students went back to their various desks. However, I was surprised that Totto didn't move from the window. To the teacher's inquiry of "Why are you still over there?" Totto answered very seriously,

"But, if a different sandwich board advertiser where to come it's absolutely necessary for me to talk to them. And then it would be awful if the previous advertisers were to come back."

"Do you understand that this must not happen in class?"

While talking to mother the teacher became quite emotional. Mother pondering realized, "I see, even the teacher is upset." And at that moment with an even louder voice the teacher said,

"Moreover...."

Mother while still more surprised shamefully asked, "Is there still more?..."

The teacher immediately replied, "'Still more' you say, if I where even able to enumerate everything I wouldn't have come here like this asking her to quit!!"

After that, the teacher calmed her breathing and looking into mother's eyes said, "Yesterday, because as usual she was standing by the window I thought it was an advertiser and I was doing a lesson, and again in a loud voice all of a sudden asked someone something like 'What are you doing?', right. I couldn't see who the other person so I wondered who it was and then again in a loud voice said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' In addition to that, this time it wasn't to the road she looked up and asked it. I became worried and wondered if I could hear the other person's reply and pricked up my ears but there wasn't a reply. Even then, because your daughter energetically continued saying, 'Hey, what are you doing?' and also being a hindrance to the lesson I thought I'd go over to the window and find out who your daughter was calling out to. I stuck my head out the window and looked up however there was a swallow on the roof of the school making a nest. She was asking that bird, right. Because I understand the kids feelings I won't tell them that asking a swallow something seems stupid. But I think that it's better if we don't ask a swallow, 'What are you doing?' in that kind of a voice in the middle of class."

Because mother opened her mouth to give some sort of an apology the teacher quickly said, "After that she also did something else like this. It was the first time drawing but I had told them to draw the national flag and the other kids properly drew the Japanese flag but your daughter began to draw the naval ensign like the designs in the Asahi Newspaper. That being the case I thought it was fine and then all of a sudden she started drawing tassel all around the flag. Tassel. That tassel looked like the stuff attached to the young person's association flag or a flag like that. At any rate I thought where in the world would she have seen that. Whereupon I glanced at the gaps, well, the yellow tassel was gradually being drawn on the desk. Because the flag took up most of the drawing paper, naturally, there wasn't too much room left for tassel but she was scribbling it on with a yellow crayon, right. That scribbling jutted off the drawing paper and when I removed the paper there was an awful yellow scribble left on the desk that wouldn't come off with blowing or rubbing it. Well, you might say that it's a good thing that it was only on three sides, right?"

As mother curled up she asked, "When you say it was three sides...?"

Even though the teacher was getting tired she kindly said, "Because she drew a flag pole on the left edge, the flag's scribble was only on three sides."

Mother thinking that it had helped said, "Yes indeed, that would only be three sides..." As she said that the teacher very slowly emphasizing each and every word said, "However, instead of the tassel, of course it was the edge of the flagpole that was left on the desk."

At that the teacher stood up and said coldly putting an end to the conversation, "And then it's not only me that she's annoyed. It seems that the neighboring first year instructor is upset as well..."

Mother would have to decide. (Certainly this bothers the other students too much. Somewhere, finding another school and transferring to it would appear to be best. Anyhow, it would be a school that would understand that child's character and teach her to live with others...)

So that is why mother has been seen bustling about from place to place, deciding on a school to go to from now on.

Mother didn't talk to Totto about being kicked out of school. Because she didn't think it would be good and even if she talked with her it wouldn't go well and Totto would get a complex and when she thought, "Someday, when she gets older, I'll talk to her about it." she regained her senses. All she said to Totto was, "Don't you want to try a new school? It's said to be a good school!"

After thinking about it a little Totto said, "I'll go but..."

Mother thought,"I wonder what this kid is thinking about. I wonder if she vaguely found out about getting kicked out of school and is hurt."

The next instant, Totto leaped in to her mother's arms and said, "Ya know, I wonder if a good sandwich board advertiser will come to the next school."

Anyhow, that is why Totto and her mother were walking toward the new school.