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Posted by Lira on Jul-31-2010 20:22:

Shocking news

Imagine what the life of a girl like that on the right must be like. She probably likes to watch television, and know her favourite stories by heart. Likes to draw what seems to be part of Picasso's Alzheimer Period, if it ever existed, but is very passionate about her works, seeking attention and the approval of adults around her. She's probably a joker, being silly and playing with other children. Can wear shoes but doesn't really understand how the whole lace-tying works. Tries to handle food and pretends to cook, being the best mud pie baker in the household. Has very definite likes and dislikes, but still needs help getting dressed because of those annoying zippers, buttons and snaps. Her days are full of busy explorations of her world, as a lot of what she experiences is quite new to her.

Her 1-year-old brother has just mastered the basics of walking, though crawling is still a favourite way of going back and forth around the house. He's just learned he can use a spoon by himself, though the results vary wildly, and he can also hold and drink from a cup. Cries when his mother is unhappy with him, and he's a very keen observer, imitating her mother whenever he sees her write (though his scribbles are yet to be deciphered). Most importantly, he knows the most existential of all words. Namely, "no".

Now imagine her mother just left the house promising to get some yoghurt for them on her way back. And she eagerly waits, watching cartoons and looking after her younger brother in the mean time (she's the big sister after all!). They get hungry and, though she knows how to speed dial, her mother doesn't answer. As a matter of fact, no one does. The front door is locked and they live in an apartment.

As time passes, the neighbours hear their screams and call the authorities. The authorities buzz the intercom, which she can't reach, and leave off. The neighbours call once more; authorities buzz the intercom, assume it's a prank call. Neighbours insist. Authorities ignore, no more pranks.

The sun goes up and down, and she's still waiting for her mother to come back with her yoghurt. They raided the fridge, consuming all they could reach. She'd give pieces of cheese to her brother, and anything he could chew on. One day, they ran out of food, and the tap water just didn't fool their stomachs any longer. The intercom would make funny noises every now and then, but neither of them could reach it. She tried to climb a chair once but as soon as she got near the intercom, it was silent.

That's when she noticed her brother was sleeping for too long, and had a funny look on his face. She'd call him, but to no avail. Weak though she was, she took him to his room, and let him lay down on an improvised bed by his crib. He stank as she didn't really know the basics of diapering herself. A couple of days later, she joined her brother in his sleep.

Their mother returned, saw them, and left once again. Her name is Sanae Shimomura, 23. The bodies of Shimomura's daughter Sakurako Hagi, 3, and son Kaede Hagi, 1, were discovered in her early on the morning of July 30. She was then under arrest.

My fiancée was visibly shaken by this story, as she deals with small children in a daily basis. When she told me about it, I imagined this short story, and how terrifying it must've been to the kids. The previous saddest news I could think of, and that really impressed me, was the story of a woman whose husband and only child died in a mudslide. The moment she received the news, and her world crumbled under her feet, she died of a heart attack. I tried to imagine how painful it must've been for her to lose her world - and then her life - in a matter of minutes. Sure, my interest in language plays a role here: she never saw her beloved ones after the mudslide, being told they were dead was enough for her to give up living. Still, it made me miserable for a whole week.

Do you often feel this bad after receiving some bad news about people you've never met? If so, what does it feel? If not, why not?

CORe version: Children were left to die. Lira's other half was sad. Lira too was a sad panda soon afterwards.

Posted by Lews on Jul-31-2010 20:37:

Now I'm sad too, shit

Posted by igottaknow on Jul-31-2010 20:41:

You hear this type of story all the time where police/social workers do the minimum and parents do their worst. Child is left with emotional scars that will last a life time and no amount of jail time for the culprits will ever undo what has been done. Reading such news is only good for making one angry and depressed.

Posted by Intellekshual on Jul-31-2010 20:44:

That is so sad it made me teary eyed.

Children suffering affects me more than anything else. Poor babies.

Posted by Arbiter on Jul-31-2010 20:46:

Re: Shocking news

quote:
Police arrived at the scene after a male employee of an adult entertainment shop reported "a strange smell coming from apartment 303 where a lady co-worker of mine lives," at about 1:15 a.m.

"The children are dead," he added.

I know it's cold, but that's some hilarious shit right there.

Posted by yukii on Jul-31-2010 20:59:

Pretty much this:

I cried a lot when I saw this film.

Posted by woscar on Jul-31-2010 21:04:

Yes, whenever I read stories like these on the internet or watch them on TV I often feel a mixture of sadness, indignation, and anger. I think it's pretty safe to assume that those of us that aren't psychopaths or have other neural disorders experience something similar.

Posted by Lira on Jul-31-2010 22:18:

quote:
Originally posted by yukii
Pretty much this:

I cried a lot when I saw this film.

Yeah, I saw this film. But the fact that the children here are much younger makes it really more cruel, I'd say.

quote:
Originally posted by Arbiter
I know it's cold, but that's some hilarious shit right there.

I didn't notice the number of the apartment until you quoted it

Also, it's really sort of funny that the guy was able to guess what had happened, coldly guessed it, but did nothing to stop the tragedy. I figure the laws are to blame to some extent: the legal system is Japan seems to be pretty harsh from what I've seen/studied and they follow the law almost blindly because they don't want to get into a trouble that may put them in a terrible situation, such as being sued for breaking in and saving the children because they don't have the right to enter someone else's property without permission (there's a right governmental body responsible for saving the children, even if they failed to do so in this case). Not to mention the possibility to diffuse responsibility when too many people are involved. Why be punished for something when so many people can get into trouble to save the day?

Perhaps as a student of law you can tell if my opinion is mistaken or not.

Posted by Meat187 on Jul-31-2010 22:30:

Wall of text. ******** style.

Disregard that, I'm drunk.

Posted by Adam420 on Jul-31-2010 22:49:

Why was the mother gone for so long?

Posted by Lira on Jul-31-2010 22:56:

quote:
Originally posted by Adam420
Why was the mother gone for so long?

Because she wanted "free time". Her words.

Posted by Lira on Jul-31-2010 23:39:

quote:
Originally posted by igottaknow
But there is usually more going on. For example, where was the father, or his/her grand parents, a responsible landlord should have opened the apartment, etc. Just like in a plane crash there is usually a whole series of mistakes that lead up to it. In any country its difficult to remove children from their mother's custody.

She had just divorced her husband and, as far as I know, in Japan it's really odd for anyone but the mother to have the custody of the kids. Unless, of course, she's not fit to take care of them because she's in jail, in a hospital or in Heaven.

I'll look for some articles in Japanese later tonight to see if they can offer anything we don't already know.

Posted by Intellekshual on Jul-31-2010 23:43:

By the way Lira, your story was well-written and painfully beautiful. I enjoyed reading it, albeit being loaded with sadness and tragedy, but beautiful nevertheless.

Thanks for that.

Posted by Lira on Jul-31-2010 23:51:

quote:
Originally posted by Enigmatik
By the way Lira, your story was well-written and painfully beautiful. I enjoyed reading it, albeit being loaded with sadness and tragedy, but beautiful nevertheless.

Thanks for that.

Actually, I'd like to thank you for the feedback. I don't know if I've mentioned this but I'm working on a novel right now and I'm really self-conscious about it. I even felt like writing it in English but I'm afraid it's too pretentious to write in a language other than my own.

This sort of feedback almost makes me want to try and write it in English rather than in Portuguese so I can reach a wider audience

Posted by Intellekshual on Aug-01-2010 00:01:

quote:
Originally posted by Lira
Actually, I'd like to thank you for the feedback. I don't know if I've mentioned this but I'm working on a novel right now and I'm really self-conscious about it. I even felt like writing it in English but I'm afraid it's too pretentious to write in a language other than my own.

This sort of feedback almost makes me want to try and write it in English rather than in Portuguese so I can reach a wider audience

... and all this while I was under the impression you were writing the novel in English!! Not to mention I've been secretly waiting for a surprise signed copy in the mail. Unacceptable! .. I don't understand Portuguese.

I think your writing is superb and estimable. Shit I thought it was a known fact amongst the TA community that you were great at what you do.

You have my full support. I think you should go for it.

PS: You're welcome, I merely give credit where credit is due.

Posted by smekzg on Aug-01-2010 00:13:

News: This shit happens every day.

Posted by Lews on Aug-01-2010 00:16:

Posted by Intellekshual on Aug-01-2010 00:40:

quote:
Originally posted by Lews
But how am I supposed to read it if it's not in English

I'm sure it will be fantastic. You are a truly brilliant writer

I just hope you'll translate it into English eventually!

Complete agreement.

Other notable TAs who should take up writing of some kind (if they haven't already): Arbiter and Hal. They're fucking brilliant.

SYSTEM_J would be extremely enjoyable to read as well if he was bitching 95% of the time.

Posted by Arbiter on Aug-01-2010 01:17:

quote:
Originally posted by Enigmatik
Other notable TAs who should take up writing of some kind (if they haven't already): Arbiter and Hal. They're fucking brilliant.

I am theoretically supposed to be working on a writing sample at this very moment. But I keep finding other things to do, like browsing internet forums.

Posted by smekzg on Aug-01-2010 01:44:

quote:
Originally posted by Arbiter
I am theoretically supposed to be working on a writing sample at this very moment. But I keep finding other things to do, like browsing internet forums.

Practice makes perfect.

Posted by Intellekshual on Aug-01-2010 01:51:

Posted by Intellekshual on Aug-01-2010 01:54:

quote:
Originally posted by smekzg
Practice makes perfect.

He doesn't need any practice, he needs motivation, perhaps a little inspiration.

Posted by igottaknow on Aug-01-2010 02:36:

quote:
Originally posted by Enigmatik
He doesn't need any practice, he needs motivation, perhaps a little inspiration.

if you want me to write anything i suggest you take pics of yourself in those white pants and be my muse. yes i'm very drunk right now too.

Posted by infiniteJEST on Aug-01-2010 02:43:

quote:
Originally posted by igottaknow
if you want me to write anything i suggest you take pics of yourself in those white pants and be my muse. yes i'm very drunk right now too.

Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven
far journeys, after he had sacked Troy�s sacred citadel.

Posted by Lira on Aug-01-2010 03:08:

quote:
quote:
Originally posted by Lews
But how am I supposed to read it if it's not in English

I'm sure it will be fantastic. You are a truly brilliant writer

I just hope you'll translate it into English eventually!
quote:
Originally posted by Enigmatik
... and all this while I was under the impression you were writing the novel in English!! Not to mention I've been secretly waiting for a surprise signed copy in the mail. Unacceptable! .. I don't understand Portuguese.

I think your writing is superb and estimable. Shit I thought it was a known fact amongst the TA community that you were great at what you do.

You have my full support. I think you should go for it.

PS: You're welcome, I merely give credit where credit is due.

Thanks, honestly

All right, if I do write a sample of the first chapter in English, will you guys tell me whether I'm butchering your language? I'm sure there are going to be lots of mistakes (I tend to mix up most prepositions), but if it isn't annoying to read, then I guess an editor can take care of that

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