Voices

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, ...