そのローカル線にはもう小さいころから数えきれないくらい聡は乗っている。三陸海岸沿いを通り、終点仙台あおば通駅まで各駅停車で走っているローカル線の電車。たまに快速や特別列車が走るが、聡は各駅停車が好きだった。

　矢本駅から聡が仙台行き（正確にはあおば通駅行き）の電車に乗ったのは、午前８時半過ぎだった。１時間ちょっとの短いローカル列車の旅。そこから聡の長い旅はいよいよ始まったのだった。というか聡は旅のはじめをこの列車から始めると、以前から決めていた。
矢本駅から15分ほど乗っていくと震災前の路線とは違う山沿いを走り始めて風景が山の薄緑一色に変わる。本格的な春がまだ来ていないこの地域では木々の枝はまだ蕾のままであったが。

野蒜駅は山沿いの高台に移設されていた。震災の津波で海に近かった旧駅周辺は壊滅的な被害に遭い、数年の時を経てこの高台に野蒜駅は移ったのだが、聡は昔の野蒜駅が懐かしかった。夏、野蒜海水浴場に行くときは必ずそこで降りたし、両親と海に遊びに来るときは、その駅からよく歩いて海水浴場に行ったものだった。

話によると、その野蒜海水浴場は、いまだに閉鎖されたままで使われていないということだった。聡も震災後は一度も野蒜海岸には行っていない。毎年夏になると、聡は両親が連れて行ってくれたあの海水浴場の砂浜のにぎわいを思い出す。水泳の得意だった父はいつも競泳用の黒の三角パンツを穿いて海でクロール泳ぎをしていた。母は水着を着るのが嫌いで、いつもスカートを足の付け根までまくし上げて結び、波打ち際で僕の相手をしてくれた。小学生になっても泳げず、海を怖がって、沖に行こうとしない僕の相手を母はしてくれたのだった、、。


　聡はカバンからスマホを取り出して、新しい野蒜駅の写真を何枚か撮った。当分この場所には帰ることはないだろうから、記念写真として残しておこうと思ったのだ。
　野蒜駅を出発した電車は山沿いをしばらく走り、やがて松島海岸駅に着いた。駅から松島の風景がよく見える。駅のホームが少し高い場所にあるので、遠くの海に浮かぶ島々が見渡せるのだった。10人ほどの外国人が、にぎやかに電車に乗り込んできた。彼らの早口の英語の会話が聡は懐かしい故郷の言葉を聞くようで心地よかった。もちろん英会話がまだできない聡にとって、彼らが何を話題に話しているのかはわからなかった。でも中学校に入ったころから、洋楽を聴き始めていた聡は、英語の響きが、どことなく懐かしいのだった。
　故郷を走るローカル線に乗っている聡は、自分が英語を懐かしく感じるのが不思議な気がして一人で苦笑しながら外国人を見ていた。

　　　　　　　　　　　～～旅立ち編②につづく～～

Satoshi has been on that local train countless times since he was little. A local train that runs along the Sanriku coast to Sendai Aoba-dori Station, stopping at every station. Rapid and special trains run occasionally, but Satoshi liked the trains that stopped at every station.

It was past 8:30 am when Satoshi got on the train bound for Sendai (to be exact, Aobadori Station) from Yamoto Station. A short local train trip of just over an hour. From there, Satoshi's long journey began. Or rather, Satoshi had already decided that he would start his journey on this train.

After about 15 minutes from Yamoto Station, the train begins to run along the mountainside, which is different from the route before the earthquake, and the scenery changes to the light green of the mountains. Nobiru Station was relocated to higher ground along the mountain. The area around the old station, which was close to the sea, was devastated by the tsunami of the earthquake, and after several years, Nobiru Station moved to this hill, but Satoshi misses the old Nobiru Station. Whenever I went to Nobiru Beach, I would always get off there, and when I came to visit the beach with my parents, We would often walk from that station to the beach.

According to the story, the Nobiru beach is still closed and unused. Satoshi has never been to Nobiru Beach after the earthquake. Every summer, Satoshi remembers the bustle of the sandy beach that his parents took him to. My father, who was good at swimming, always wore black triangular pants for swimming competitions and crawled in the sea. My mother didn't like wearing bathing suits, so she would always roll up my skirt to the base of my legs and tie it, and she would play with me on the beach. Even when I was in elementary school, I couldn't swim, was afraid of the sea, and didn't want to go offshore.

Satoshi took out his smartphone from his bag and took some pictures of the new Nobiru Station. Since I probably won't be returning to this place for the time being, I thought I'd leave it as a commemorative photo.
After leaving Nobiru Station, the train ran along the mountainside for a while before arriving at Matsushima Kaigan Station. You can see the scenery of Matsushima well from the station. The platform of the station is in a slightly elevated place, so you can see the islands floating in the distant sea. About 10 foreigners busily boarded the train. Their fast-talking English conversation made Satoshi feel comfortable as if he were listening to the nostalgic words of his hometown.

Of course, Satoshi, who still can't speak English, had no idea what they were talking about. But when Satoshi started listening to Western music when he entered junior high school, the sound of English sounded somewhat nostalgic. Satoshi, who was on a local train that ran through his hometown, felt strange that he felt nostalgic about English, and he smiled wryly as he watched the foreigners.

Continued from ~~ ❻ ~~