On a summer night, Zō-no-hana Park stood in tranquil silence, the city’s hustle and bustle fading into the distance. As I sat on a bench, closing my eyes to the gentle night breeze, a faint chill brushed against my skin, soothing and calm. When I opened my eyes, I noticed the canal before me slowly being enveloped in a soft mist. Like a white veil, the fog quietly, yet steadily, expanded, swallowing the city and the canal alike.
The city’s skyscrapers blurred within the mist, their outlines softened, and their flickering lights seemed distant, as if they were fading memories from long ago. Only the green glow of the Ferris wheel shimmered faintly in the fog, quietly asserting its presence. It resembled the lantern of a ghost ship drifting through the night sea.
In that moment, time appeared to stand still, and everything took on an ethereal quality, as though I had wandered into a dream. Listening carefully, I could barely hear the distant sound of ships passing along the canal, but even that seemed muffled, swallowed by the fog’s embrace. As the world before me gradually faded into white, a strange sense of peace settled within me, accompanied by a wave of melancholy.
The fog concealed everything, absorbing the city and time itself into its silent stillness. Eventually, I found myself alone, standing amidst this beautiful, ephemeral world. It was a moment of mystery, as if something had been lost, yet something new was about to begin, on this enigmatic night.
夏の夜、象の鼻パークはひっそりと静まり返り、街の喧騒は遠くへと薄れていった。ベンチに腰掛け、夜風にそっと目を閉じると、肌に感じる微かな冷気が心地よい。ふと目を開けると、目の前に広がる運河の水面がぼんやりと霧に包まれ始めていた。霧はまるで白いベールのように、静かに、そして確実に広がり、街をも運河をも飲み込んでいった。
街のビル群は霧の中で輪郭をぼかされ、光の点滅は霞んで、まるで遠い昔の記憶のようにぼんやりとしていた。観覧車の緑の光だけが、霧の中で淡く揺らめきながら、静かに存在を主張している。それは、まるで夜の海を漂う幽霊船の灯火のようだった。
時が止まったようなその瞬間、全てが幻想的で、夢の中に迷い込んだかのような感覚が訪れた。耳を澄ませば、かすかに運河を行き交う船の音が聞こえるが、それさえも霧のベールに包まれて遠く感じた。目の前の世界が次第に白く消えゆく中、心には奇妙な安らぎが広がり、同時にどこか切ない感情が押し寄せた。
霧はすべてを覆い隠し、街も時間も、その静寂に溶け込んでいった。やがて、ただ一人残された自分だけが、その美しい幻想の世界に立ち尽くしていた。何かが失われ、何かが新たに始まろうとしているような、そんな不思議な夜のひとときだった。
