These days, I find myself singing “Happy Birthday” several times between daybreak and bedtime. As the next birthday in our family is weeks away, I feel a bit silly about it, even though I mostly confine the singing to my head. Since I am ...

Chapter 4 Hina had made her husband, Franz, agree with her that his parents, who were visiting from Germany, might expect more from their first trip to Japan than hanging around Happy Road Oyamadai. They were going through their options. "I will not take them ...

Chapter 3 "What is that?!" Franz's father, Armin, gasped when his son's friend O.G. erected the blindingly shiny and colorful construction he had bought for their living room. "It's a Christmas tree," O.G. explained. "What color is it?" O.G. checked the label. "Rainbow," he said. "In my time, they ...

Chapter 2 Franz called his wife from the Narita Express terminal at Shibuya Station to inform her that he had completely forgotten about his parents coming to visit them over the holidays and that they were already at Narita Airport. Hina took the news unexpectedly ...

Chapter 1 The best thing about leaving his neighborhood of Happy Road Oyamadai was that he would always return to it. That was the thought that gave Franz comfort now, in this noisy and confusing environment. Not a lot of comfort, though. Under his beard, ...

I'm fine with playing the German to humor my Japanese acquaintances — just not one German in particular.

Chapter 5 When Franz woke up, not much had changed. He was still in the big new house by the cemetery, which he had just moved into with his wife, Hina, and her parents. It was still Day One. Probably. "How long have I been ...

Chapter 4 It turned out Hina's parents did not hold on to old superstitions as firmly as their daughter had believed. They didn't mind that the big house their son-in-law, Franz, had found for them all to co-inhabit was right next to a cemetery. "Well, it ...

Chapter 3 Whenever the railroad crossing gate hit his head, Franz felt right at home. Like a true local. The crossing gates came down often at the entrance to Happy Road Oyamadai. At first, Franz had found it amusing, how the locals started running once they ...

Chapter 2 The meta-evil Doktor Fluxus had opened an Intrastellar Portal into the Double-negative Zone, causing a worldwide communications breakdown. With humanity on the brink of war and insanity, it was up to Nooncreeper and Lady Opaque to save the day. Due to secrets buried ...