I Fell in Love with the Vending Machine Girl

It happened on the way to kindergarten, led by my mother. A sweet, clear singing voice reached my ears, and I, a toddler wearing a yellow kindergarten cap, turned around. In front of the vending machine attached to the stationery store I saw a mysterious woman in her twenties. Startled, I pointed at her and looked up at my mother. However, all my mother did was make a puzzled smile and say, ‘What is it? Do you want some juice?’ (My mom can’t see that lady.) (Maybe she’s different. She’s not human.) Since then, whenever we approached the stationery store, I would tug my mom’s hand to hurry and move away. I had thought she was some sort of earthbound spirit or something, unable to leav...