My name is Kano Sachi. You’ve probably never heard of that name. I was born in Japan without a father; he left me and my mum to find our own paths. Forgiveness can be sodden and black; this is why it still sank at the ground of my heart. I never forgave my dad and someday swore to find him. Although I had no reason, I’d still like to see what part of me was passed down from him.

I had gotten into my car; colourless from the dark mingling beyond early lights of early workers. It was about 5:47 according to the silver watch that grasped on my wrist. The mist had died down, and so had my nerves – but they weren’t forgetful. I sat at the edge of my seat wide-eyed like the ghastly saints of my memory that always crept back in my dreams.

My phone rang.

Keeping my sight on the deserted country roads, I answered my phone.

“Hello?” I said firmly, wondering who’d phone me at this time of morning.

Heavy breathing commenced, and I found no answers within the exhaling that bounded through speakers of my mobile.

“Who’s this?” I asked, with a more confident tone.

Silence commenced once more; that awkward silence that you get after you’ve asked your first date to the cinema.

“Oh, hey babe!” spoke a voice, lovingly.

“What are you doing up so early, Jess?” I replied.

“The beds cold and you’ve been gone for hours!” Jess exclaimed.

As I began to answer the reason why, I remembered the incident that had happened. How was I to tell her? Would she believe me that a stranger incinerated before me? The answer was clear.

“You were meant to be back at 3! She shouted, tougher than the grip I was holding my phone with.

“I’ll be there in a minute, traffic is bad” I lied. We both knew that it was early in the morning. It was lame, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“Traf-” She began.

I put the phone down, and threw it on the passenger seat.

It repeated the tone again; the noise floated eerily whispering the name ‘Jess’. I turned the phone off with one swift click, threw it back down and watched as it fell further than I wanted it to. I set my eyes back on the road, and read the road sign that noted I was 4 miles from home.