""When the rain stops, it will surely be a new landscape. ......"" Like the white moon in the haze of morning dew, this is a story that will gently accompany you. Seven works are included in the collection, including ""Classmate,"" which depicts an exchange with a classmate reunited after 30 years, ""White Moon,"" which focuses on loneliness in the home, and ""Rooster,"" a story about a chicken and his grandfather's struggle. A masterpiece collection of short stories that delicately depicts the daily emotional turmoil of everyday life! [contents] Classmates Cloudy Day Ezo Salamander Autumn Rooster (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) Death Anniversary White Moon Afterword Author Biography [Author's Profile] Harumi Hirano After reading ""Moon Sleeping Forest,"" I realized that the story contained in this book always has some kindness in it, even if there are painful and sad parts. If I were to use an analogy, I have the impression that the story expresses the container of a person's heart by weaving numerous words. I got the feeling that the characters in the stories are really alive, with cracked hearts, broken hearts, and large, peaceful hearts. For example, in the work ""Classmates,"" the protagonist and his then classmate meet again by chance in the city. When I learned that they lived close to each other, I wondered if it was fate that brought them together. The two had hardly been in contact with each other since they graduated from school, but their lives begin to intertwine. The protagonist had the impression that her classmate was attractive, had her own opinions, and was a strong person in a sense. The protagonist was even conscious that he was being tested by this classmate when he had a firm conversation with her for the first time in a long time. As the story quietly and unobtrusively progressed, I learned that she was in fact not the person or life I thought she was, but that she was living in her own heavy reality. At that time, as I was reading the story, I had the impression that the vessel of her heart was cracked. However, the main character still treated her as a friend, and I was sure that the story would continue after that. In the afterword to the book, the author wrote, ""Each story is told by a different person, from a pre-elementary school child to a middle-aged man and woman to an 80-year-old man, all of whom are alter egos of the author. When I read them again, I feel as if I had been cut off from my own body."" The author wrote, ""I feel as if I had been cut off myself when I read it again. Perhaps it is because these characters are, in a sense, the author himself that I could feel the vessel of his heart. Perhaps it is also because I felt their kindness. Each of the stories had its own charm, and I was drawn into reading them. I hope to read more stories drawn by the author. (30s: male)