THE DOOR THAT WOULD NOT BE UNLOCKED UNTIL...

IT WAS THE DOOR THAT WAS
LOCKED FROM THE DAY
THE DOOR WAS CLOSED. HOW MANY MEN WOULD WALK ALONG THE ROAD TO FIND THE DOOR LOCKED, HOW MANY MEN WOULD DARE TO LINGER IN THE DAYLIGHT TO PRETEND A KEY WAS IN THEIR CHARGE? HOW MANY MEN WOULD DARE TO RETURN IN THE NIGHT TO GIVE THE DOOR A SECOND CHANCE TO OPEN EASY WITHOUT A SCENE OF UNEASY PRETENSE? WHAT TREASURES WOULD THEY FIND INSIDE THE ROOMS BEHIND THE DOOR THEY DARE NOT OPEN IN THE LIGHT? THERE IS NO NEED TO ASK THE MEN; THEY ARE NOT ALIVE NOW AND LIVED ONLY LONG ENOUGH TO ENTER IN THE NIGHT. THEY NEVER HEARD, THE STORY GOES, THE DOOR LOCK ONCE THEY WERE INSIDE. SO THE STORY GOES. I DO NOT KNOW. LIKE OTHERS WHO STILL WONDER, I WON'T EVEN PEER INSIDE THE DUSTY WINDOW PANES TO SEE WHATEVER REMAINS. BY ROBERT L. HUFFSTUTTER

REMEMBERING THE STREETCARS OF YOKOHAMA...

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A MOMENT WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WERE WATCHING A TIME FRAME THAT YOU WOULD RECALL TIME AND AGAIN? THOUGH AT THE TIME, THERE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ANYTHING SPECIFIC THAT WAS AKIN TO A THUNDEROUS AWAKENING OR AN ENLIGHTENMENT FROM ON HIGH? IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY ON A CERTAIN SATURDAY NIGHT ALMOST FIFTY YEARS AGO I STOOD ALONE ON A YOKOHAMA STREET, A BRICK STREET NEAR THE BUND AND SAW THE STREETCARS OF YOKOHAMA SPEEDING THROUGH THE JAPANESE NIGHT, LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND, SPARKS FLASHING ON THE LATTICE WORK OF ELECTRIC WIRES ABOVE THE BRICKS, THE FACES OF A THOUSAND JAPANESE SEEN THROUGH THE WINDOWS, SPEEDING ON TOWARD THE FUTURE, LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND. I WATCHED AND WAITED, I LISTENED TO THE SOUND OF HISTORY IN MY MIND, THEY WERE ALL AROUND ME, IN THE OLD BUILDINGS FROM TURN OF THE CENTURY; THERE WERE THE EMBASSIES IN EMBASSY ROW, QUIET AND ASLEEP, THE SMELL OF CURRY RICE, THE ECHO OF THE CLICKING ABOVE THE BRICK, THE SPARKS FLASHING, CLATTERING, THE HOLLOW SOUNDS OF A NIGHT THAT ENDED BEFORE IT BEGAN. ALONE THEN FOR A FEW MORE MONTHS THEN ALL WOULD CHANGE FOR FIFTEEN MONTHS THEN CHANGE AGAIN FOR A LIFETIME. TIME LINES, SOME PLACES IN TIME WE REMEMBER BECAUSE OF REASONS YET TO BE EXPLAINED UNTIL YEARS LATER WHEN ALL IS VERY CLEAR, EVEN THE SOUNDS THE STREETCARS OF YOKOHAMA MAKE AFTER NEARLY FIFTY YEARS.