Having endured workplace bullying and being completely exhausted both physically and mentally, I returned to my hometown during the Obon holiday for the first time in a long while. My mother seemed to sense something and treated me kindly. Having grown accustomed to city life, I found the rural summer unusually hot. From morning till night, sweat wouldn't stop pouring, and it seemed my mother was the same.≪Sweat trickling down her neck, sweat overflowing from her forehead, sweat appearing on her chest≫ captivated me. Was it because of the heat that I started to see my mother as a woman…
