Classroom of the Heart, Part 4: A Mystery Extracurricular Activity at Age 8

The first day of the 'Classroom of the Heart' ended.

On the way home, my mother, excitedly asked, 'Did you see it? Did you get on the elevator?' But when I replied, 'I got on. I marked with ticks and crosses on the paper with a brush. But I didn't like how the ink dripped when I held the brush from the bucket,' she just said, 'Oh, I see...' and didn't ask much after that.

After that, it was about six or seven times, I think? On Sundays, I attended the Classroom of the Heart with my mother.

From the second time onward, during the 'explanatory-ish time,' I was always left in the room with a low table and read Doraemon. Then, during the 'training-ish time,' I was called into the room.

The 'training-ish' things, I actually don't remember much! Riding the elevator with the teacher's guidance was consistent, but... I vaguely recall going to various places like the sea or mountains through the teacher's guidance... Maybe trying to enter the sea or searching for food in the mountains... I feel like we did those things, but also didn't do them... I should have done various other things too, but an eight-year-old's memory is too distant.

Oh, there was something about going down in the elevator, making your hand a magic hand, and healing others... But I remember, during that healing, the teacher just said to me during the training without any explanation, 'If you do this, your hand becomes a magic hand, and you can relieve others' pain.' So, I just thought, 'That can't be true!' and didn't take it seriously, didn't train seriously.

Anyway, like that, we reached the last day of the Classroom of the Heart.

At the end, everyone does their own breathing exercises, gets on the elevator by themselves, goes to a place they like, does something they like, and comes back by themselves. But eight-year-old me wasn't good at 'deciding a theme' before going. Even when told, 'A part of yourself you want to fix (character, body),' I didn't quite understand. Even if told, 'Think of an acquaintance with poor health,' everyone around eight-year-old me was healthy. In the end, every time, the theme was 'callus on my finger' for training. Because I already knew that if I stopped writing, it would heal. And I believed that it wouldn't heal as long as I kept writing. It was a theme totally unsuitable for training.

However, just before the last session, a relative, my uncle, fell ill. This was the first time I decided to try something other than the callus theme!

During the final session, the teacher just sat in front. Each of us started the breathing exercises at our own pace, and I quickly dived into it myself. As a child, I could dive just for the sake of 'fun,' not knowing where I was diving. Writing this and remembering now, I'm amazed. If it were now, with zero explanation, I'd probably be full of doubts and fear and wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

By the end, I found the elevator tiresome, so I closed my eyes, made a hole in the darkness on my own, and jumped in. Slowly floating down, I thought, 'Counting from now, where my feet touch at zero will be the place I must go today. Today, I'll dive for my uncle's recovery.' Counting down from 10... 9... 8... as I fell. Landing at zero.

But at that point, my feet were in shoes I didn't recognize. Eight-year-old me thought, 'Diving must be something like this' without any questions and just ignored it.

There were grass and plants around my feet. Looking up, it seemed like a savanna? Wide open, with occasional trees. To the right, I could see the beginning of a forest.

I noticed something was falling around my feet, picked it up, and it was a puzzle piece. Found another a little further, walked, picked it up. Kept finding and picking up puzzle pieces...

While picking up more puzzle pieces, I entered the forest. Even inside the forest, puzzles were scattered around. I picked them up while crossing fallen trees, walking, picking up, walking, picking up...

Finally, I reached a spring in the forest. There was a large tree stump by the left side of the spring. The last piece of the puzzle was lying in front of the stump, and somehow I knew it was the final piece.

I walked up to the stump, picked up the last piece, and made the puzzle on the stump. The completed puzzle showed my uncle smiling happily.

Satisfied with completing the puzzle, I tried to leave. Just after thinking it'd be a hassle to go back the way I came, I realized, 'There's a shortcut from the spring to the savanna.' Somehow, I knew that if I passed by the left side of this tree and through here... then passed under this tree... there! I'm out in the savanna! Why did I know that? Oh well, never mind... let's go back.

That's how it was.

I ascended from the savanna in the elevator. In the middle of the savanna, there was an elevator door, just like an 'Anywhere Door' from Doraemon.

This was my first experience using the 'Classroom of the Heart' without the teacher's guidance, just on my own. It would take about 30 years for me to begin to understand what the savanna, forest, and spring were, where they were.

Next, I'll write about the 'Signs of a Beginning' that I encountered at the 'Classroom of the Heart' when I was 38 years old, 30 years after.

(11.02.2016)