Chapter 2.Winter: Gifts
Life 3
The woods ended and Takashi saw the last bright colors of the sunset through a break in the clouds. It was beautiful. He turned on his RUICA. "This is Takashi. Do you hear me? I am out from the woods. Please answer if you hear me."
People in the town office were elated to be back in contact with Takashi. They also learned that Ta-kun was still alive. It was difficult to ascertain their location with the GPS function of RUICA. Takashi was advised to go back to the car and turn on the car radio. Takashi's mother and sister also rushed to Takafu-cho from Tokyo. Keigo sent several images to Takashi's RUICA, with the instructions, "Please look at the pictures later."
Kanalu told Takashi, "Please hold Ta-kun until we reach you."
Takashi protested, "But I don't know how to hold a baby."
"Hold the baby close to your body. If you don't, both of you will die before morning. We are coming to get you."
Takashi was reluctant, but followed Kanalu's instructions.
"We assume that they are located to the east-southeast of Kanayama; we will head towards latitude 36°7'31" north and longitude 137°11'23" east."
Just after Kanalu gave the command, someone shouted. "Oh, God! There was an avalanche at Todoroki Pass. We cannot drive through there." "It will take half a day to clear the snow so we can't reach them till tomorrow." Mrs. Kishigami screamed. "We cannot afford to wait until tomorrow. My son will die." The Kishigami family broke down crying. Ryoko tried to comfort them.
The mayor spoke through RUICA. "Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the residents' cooperation, we have found that they are in Kanayama. However, we had news that an avalanche has occurred around Todoroki Pass, which is hindering us from approaching the site. Please bring your suggestions as how to resolve this." For a moment, there was no response. Then, minutes later, one video phone rang loudly and broke the silence.
