5# The Belief

Jonathan brought James back to his shop. When James stepped into his tattoo shop, everything that he saw was new for him. He had never entered to a tattoo shop before and to see those arts.

James met Jonathan’s tattoo students there. Melissa, Emily, and Sara, who looked were just about 20. He was then asked to introduce himself again to the girls. That was the second time he introduce himself to the others. And he felt quite strange about it.

Jonathan walked to the fridge, and offered him beers. James was just 16 and was not legal to drink. Somehow he had tried to drink when he was in the primary school without his father’s notice.

He began to drunk.

“Alright people, I shall start to introduce myself…” He stood up, with his red drunken face, trying to get his balance to stand.

“My parents met at their working place…”

“What? Begin from your parents?” Jonathan and the girls laughed.

“Very good, boy! Go ahead, go ahead!” Jonathan laughed with his beer on his right.

“I started to learn piano when I was young. But I was forced… I was forced by my dad to learn…”

What did James said caught the girls’ attention.

“Just because my dad failed to be a pianist, therefore I need to fulfil his dream…”

He stopped, continued to drink more beer from the can…

“My dad… When mum was alive, he was a very good man. Because he could rely on my mum… But since my mum passed away, I realised that he is just nothing but a useless guy… He can’t do anything when he’s alone…”

“Jon… is this okay…?” Melissa asked.

“Just let him to continue. In fact he will not like to comment his dad in such a way. For a son or daughter, no matter how useless their parents are, they are still their parents anyway… Since he wants to talk about it, so just let to him say it out…”

Replied by Jonathan, without let going his beer on his hand. Seemed that he understood James’s problem.
“Actually I wanted to cry… Dad wants me to bear his dream and all the burdens…” James continued.

He told them about his pass sport achievements. He was very proud of his speed in the 100m races.

“I think that I could run faster if I practiced more. I was making new records everyday! When I was 14, my record was 11 seconds and 21!”

The girls cheered, they were drunk too. The beer cans were scattered all over the table and the floor. All of them drank a lot. But James seemed to be the one who was totally drunk.

He lean against the wall, slipped down. He sat on the floor…

“During the final I did the best among all my races, but I stopped in front of the end line…”

The girls understood what had happened to him at that time. Obviously it was because of his leg problem.

James stood up, “I want to strip my trousers…”

The girls cheered in joy. They were like interested to see a boy stripped off his pants.

“Stopped from piano, and joined for the race society… Finally the one who forgiven and encouraged me was my dad… But now… When my leg become like this…”

James took off his trousers and showed his right leg with prosthetic.

“He doesn’t even look at me once…”

Tears started to split from his window. He really disappointed to his father, who had never care about him after that incident.

The girls could not laugh anymore. They stood up and walked to James. Emily hugged him and three of them began to cry. Deep inside they were touched and sympathised to James’s catastrophe.

“I guess that dad doesn’t want the others to see me. So he hopes that it’s better for me not to walk at the outside world… Because I’m such a heavy burden… for him…”

“Boy…” Jonathan put down his can onto the table.

“How a father wants to treat his son, the decision is still on his hands. How your father want to be, he is the only one who can decide…”

The girls and James looked at Jonathan.

“You don’t have to be afraid boy… What can you do now for your father now… Either is to believe him, or not to believe him… Understand?”

The words from Jonathan stopped James’s tears from flowing.

“Want some more beer boy?”


Few moments later, James fell asleep. He was just too drunk.

The phone rang, Sara picked up the call. It was the call from the US, inviting Jonathan to be a tattoo master over there. Jonathan was a very skilful tattoo artist thus his talent is not limited in his country only.

Melissa looked at James, who slept on the table.

“God seemed to be so cruel, to take away a racer’s leg…”

“Hey Melissa, since when you believed in God? Haha…” Emily laughed at her.

“But it was really a big impact, to stop in front of the line during the final race. If he could run faster than his record, that’s a good thing isn’t? To be the fastest in our country…” Sara said.

“Somehow, if he did… This may cause him to lost the ability to catch up with his next dream. The next target…”

“We can’t ask things to be perfect. Flaw is the thing that pushes us forward… If everything seems to be perfect, what’s the point of life then?”

“Very good, girls…” Jonathan appeared and agreed with things that they said.

James woke up finally. But he was still drunk and could not stand up properly.

“Going back now boy? Let me give you a gift.”

Jonathan took out a sport wheelchair. James was so surprised to see that.

“This is Jon-1. Although I used it harshly and caused it to be a little bit loosen, but it’s function is still good!”

Jonathan lift up his trousers at his right, revealed his right leg, which operated with rotation, as same as James’s one.

“Since we are buddies who are having the same kind of leg, therefore I’m giving you this gift.”

James was touched. It was the first time he found someone who understands him.

“You are not alone…”

He began to cry again, so did the girls. He guessed that he would not cry again after that.

“I’m not alone anymore…”

To be continued...

4# The Wheelchair

10 of them with wheelchair were playing basketball in the court. Jonathan made most of the scores. James knew that sport, which called as “wheelchair basketball” according to the nurse in the hospital, who was about to introduce some sport activities for him.

Unfortunately, James never think that the wheelchair basketball as a sport activity. For him, it is just some kind of physiotherapy, which may cause him to be more depressed.

Jonathan scored again. By sitting on the wheelchair, shots still could be made by Jonathan. Even though the basket board was 3 metres away from the ground.

“Jon is cool right, he represents our country for wheelchair basketball this year.” Said Brian to James, who stood a side over there.

“Represent for international competition…” James was stunned. International competition was once his dream.

Jonathan noticed him, asked him to join their game. James refused, walked away, and left Brian behind.

“He will be back…” Jonathan did not mind that James was acting rude.

The next morning, James went to the court where he went with Brian the day before. No one was there. He noticed that those people were not there everyday. They need to work, of cause.

Jonathan looked like a jobless for James. And James could not imagine how Jonathan will actually look like when he wears in formal.

“Tux and tie… Impossible…” James walked slowly on the road.

People on the road noticed the weird way he walked, and looked at him with one kind.

“What is so nice to look…?” James felt so ashamed with himself.

As he walked forward, he saw Anne. Who was cared of him the most after the incident for the pass 2 years.

Anne was walking to school with her mate. She noticed James. Although James wore his cap, but he was too easy to be spotted by Anne since she knew him since they were young.

James began to run with his prosthetic. He was trying to avoid from her, who was with high school’s uniform… School uniform was something too far away for him.

“Hey Jim! You don’t have to run when you see me!” Anne caught up with him.

James fell. He could not imagine that Anne could catch him up, whom he considered as a girl with no sport cells.

“Thanks for the certificate you brought for me, and everything…” James tried to stand up. Thanked her, without looking into her eyes.

“You’re welcome.” Anne was glad that finally he spoken to her.

James stood up, “So… Goodbye.”

“Jim, wait up!” Anne said.

Without looking back, James said “ Please, I do not want to see you anymore…”

Anne was so shocked to hear those words from James’s. The tears could not be held. She was left behind and standing, crying alone.

In the evening, James went to the basketball court again. Seemed like he was readied to join the crowd. His arrival was under Jonathan’s prediction.

Jonathan offered him a sport wheelchair. The wheelchair designed for sport purposes really looked different from those normal ones.

James could not let go his sight from the sport machine. It designed like an F1 racing car. It meant for sport, that’s why it looked so cool. He wondered would he run with that wheelchair.

He sat on it. The words “I want to run faster than anyone else” flashed through his mind. He asked himself, “Can I still be in sports…?”

“Very good, boy! Alright Jim, introduce yourself.” Jonathan said.

“Hello… My name is James Taylor…” He had not sure to join, but seemed that everyone there welcomed him to play.

“Ok everyone, let’s begin.” Jonathan started their activity of the day.

He put his hand on his back, and farted. The stinky hand was then pushed onto James’s face. James was freaked out.

“James is the ghost for today!” Jonathan moved away from James swiftly with his wheelchair.

Their practice was run-and-chase. Everyone was trying to avoid from James moved as fast as they could with the wheelchairs. Other than James himself, the others were adults but still yelled like a little kid.

It was the first time James sat on a wheelchair. The first time he played the game. He was once the one who was the fastest for 100m races. But now, he was the slowest among all. In the end, he could not catch anyone.

“Don’t worry boy, everyone was that slow too like you.” Jonathan tried to console him.

“But anyway… I haven’t decide to join y’all or not…” James replied.

“Do you want to be the slowest man?” Jonathan stared at him like one kind.

“Of cause not…” James showed that kind of expression to him back.

“Anyway boy, welcome to join our team – The Scorched team! Haha…”

James was then officially joined to Jonathan’s wheelchair basketball team. From that moment on, he found something significant for him when he was empty and nothing.

To be continued...

3# The Meanings

Since the day he lost his right leg, everything changed. His mind was messed up, things were like moving up and down… Nothing seemed to be normal for him. Could be described by whatever ways.

His mind had never seemed to be tranquil. He was born over there, but he felt so uneasy. The place was like not meant for him to be. The world… already split into two sides. The world he was, and the world without him.

As usual, James went to the hospital for checkups. With a cap, which tried to cover him up from the others’ view. And also with his backpack, walked slowly with the prosthetics.

“James… Hey James…”

James turned back. He recalled that the guy on the wheelchair who called him was Brian. But he just did not understand that how would Brian knew his name.

“Although you are walking with the prosthetic, but seems that you can walk fast. Not bad man!” Brian said.

“Oh, I’m from Shaffer School’s race society” He added.

James was shocked to hear that. Shaffer School was considered as a prestigious school in his area.

“Ha… It’s not that special as you can imagine…” Brian did not think that his school was special.

After stunning for few seconds, Brian said,

“I got the disease when I was 5…” He spoke with his eyes filled with sorrow.

James could feel the pain too as he also one of the victim of the tragedies.

“Let’s go to the grill house, shall we?” Suddenly Brian asked.

In the restaurant, they got their orders on the table. They are just like everyone else in the restaurant. Just that Brian sat on his wheelchair instead of the chairs over there.

“At the beginning, it was very easy to fall. After that everything seems to be tough.” Brian started to reveal his history.

“The time I began to have difficulties in walking, I started to have interest in running… How should I tell…?”
“Even though I understand that it’s impossible to run like them, and deep inside the sorrow is indescribable. But the sad feeling turns out to be an envy feeling towards people’s ability to run.”

When Brian was young, he always walks to his school’s racetrack. The scene where racers ran in speed was something unattainable for him. He could only watch it at a side.

He was very interested in 100m short races. He could even name all the champion racers in the secondary schools. He finally joined the race society as an assistant.

“Craig Turner, Shawn Johnson, Dave Lee… James Taylor…”

James was shocked when Brian mentioned the champion racers names with his name included.

“I was not the one who won that year!” James claimed.

“Actually I can’t remember who won it that year… But I remember that… You ran faster than anyone else in that race…” Brian replied.

It was just two years after James’s incident. But now he could not tell, whether he had changed compared to the last time. He felt, he had entered to the other phase of his life.

Brian continued… “About that time, finally I can’t walk anymore. Wheelchair is the only choice for me. After a few more years, wheelchair can’t even help.”

James, felt sad to hear his condition.

Brian continue eating his food, seems that he could tell his story when he was eating. “ I will not able to grill food for myself, and I can’t even eat these grilled foods then…”

He stared at James, “ Later I will lost the ability to sit like this. Finally the part which can move will be the muscles on my face and my fingers.”

“Hey James, your food almost scorched.” Brian stopped and said.

Immediately James took his food up from the grill plate and ate the partially burnt chicken meat.

Brian took a sip of cold coke, and said,

“After that, I will die about 20.”

James was totally stunned.

“ So this is the condition I got.” Brian said, and continued eating his food like nothing happened.

“But… but how could you still so relaxed?” James was trying to know why someone who is going to die could still be so chilled out.

“What?” Brian questioned instead.

James looked down at his leg…

“ I… I always… Always have a lots of questions come through my mind. How could this happen? Did I did anything wrong?”

James held his knee, “How could I avoid it? If I safe it earlier, could this leg be saved? Was it because of the doctor? The doctor who said I practiced too much! Was it really unavoidable?”

“ Is this my fate? If it is, my pass life and time that I spent for the race society… Are they all meaningless?” Tears started to flow down from his eyes. James still could not accept the truth.

James went back home, sat in front of the altar, which his late mother’s photo placed with.

“Mum… I’m such a useless people. I complaint to a person whose condition is worse than me. I thought that I would feel better if I told… But I don’t. Whatever, I think that I’m not going to meet him anymore…”

Actually James did not mean to reveal his feelings to Brian. He always wanted to complain. But he won’t do it to his father.

“How could it be meaningless?” James thought back what Brian said to him.

“You should not have that kind of thinking Jim… You haven’t set your target yet, so you should not end your life just like that.” Brian said, when they were walking out from the grill house.

James wiped his tears with his hand. Brian moved in front of him, and touched his right knee.

“You did rotation because you still want to get involved in sports, don’t you?” Brian could read his mind.

“Wait for me at Starbucks at 5 Jim, I want to show you something…”

Brian was already waiting for James when he arrived. James still mind what Brian said to him…

“After that, I will die about 20.”

“Jim, let’s go. It’s just in front of that shop…” Brian guided James to somewhere he wanted, on his wheelchair.

James could not hold his questions anymore, and asked,

“Brian, you don’t afraid? Since you already know that you can still go on for a few years only. How can you stay so strong?”

“Have you been to the roller coaster before Jim?” Brian questioned.

“It’s just about a few minutes when you sit on the roller coaster. Within that few minutes, if you keep on asking yourself, how many minutes, how many seconds remaining… So what’s the point of sitting the roller coaster?”

He looked back at James and added, “If you have that kind of feeling, then you would not know why you were born to this world.”

Words that Brian said to James dragged him out from his questions.

“I do not have time to think about it.” Brian made his conclusion to James’s question.

“If life is so short, then just make it more happening, and fight with it…! But to say fight with it sounds a little bit funny, haha…” Brian added.

They reached at the destination. It was an indoor basketball court.

“You are so damn late Brian!” Said a guy in the court, who was sitting on the wheelchair and playing basketball with a few more of them.

It was Jonathan, who James had met in the hospital. James noticed Jonathan’s right knee. It was the same. Jonathan also did rotation operation at his right leg.

Too be continued...

2# The Prosthetic

The paper written “I want to run faster than anyone else!” was still there on his wall. Metres away from that wall, James was sleeping on his bed. He looked miserable, seemed like he could not sleep tight because nightmares were frightening him.

He saw himself, running on the track for the final race. So fast and no one and there was no one in front of him, no one could stop him. Out of a sudden, he saw blood spilled out from somewhere. When he looked back, he saw his right leg broken, and left behind the track…

James woke up from the nightmare. With tears and sweat on his face. Looked tortured and painful. He touched his right leg; it was not there with him anymore.

In his room, it was totally messed up. Rubbishes scattered on the floor, his clothes everywhere… And also his prosthetic thrown by him onto the floor.

He still could not accept the truth that he lost his right limb. Touching his trousers hoped that it was still there for him. Endlessly, crying for something, which was not with him anymore.

At the same time, James’s father was at the living room. Talked to James’s mother’s picture at the altar, with tears.

“Doctor said it was a knee tumour. The cancerous cell would spread to the lungs in a very short time. Although from the outside it looked normal, but we had no choice.” He began to cry again.

“The removal of nerves and veins at the leg causes the foot unable to get nutrition, and everything. Therefore, the leg must be cut… I understand what the doctor said to me… But why? Why our son must accept this?”

In James’s room, he tore down the paper that he wrote before the race, leaning his head against the wall. Tore the paper into pieces, threw it onto the floor, and jumped back to his bed with his only left leg.

He took the photo taken when he won in his school race, the moment he broke his record, which was 11 seconds and 21. He stared at the picture, and said “Which one is more important for me?”

He threw the picture onto the wall, and his answer for himself was “My leg…”

James’s teammates came to visit. There were 5 of them. But his father declined to let them in. The reason was because he felt that those people were too much different with his son. They were not belonged to the same world.

He entered James’s room. James was covering himself with his blanket.
“Jim, there were your team mates came to visit you. But I called them to go back, I won’t force you to meet them…”

James remained silent.

Weeks after, 3 of his team mates came for visit again. Once again his father refuse to let them in. Since that incident James had never meet his old friends and mates anymore.

Time flies, months later, there was just only a person who never give up trying to visit him. Anne, James’s team mate. She always left some books at the doorstep for James. At the last time she came, she left an application form for him. Mail school application form.

“Jim…” His father called him outside his room’s door.

“Your friend brought you a form for mail school. If you do not want to study for high school than you should consider about this…”

“Whatever.” A simple word he replied.

After two years of studying by mail for high school, Anne brought him the certificate. This time James’s father would really like her to see his son.

“Jim, she is the only friend you have left. She has never stop try to visit you. So I think at least you should go and thank her…” Outside James’s door he said.

“No thanks dad, please tell her that I do not want to meet her…” James replied.

“Alright, I’ll tell her not to come anymore”

In James’s mind, he kept on thinking. Hoped that she would not come to his place anymore. He did not want to see her again.

“It’s impossible for me to see her anymore…”

James pulled his trousers at his right up and revealed his right leg after the operation. His right leg was cut off, but he remained his right foot. The foot was reversibly joined to his thigh. With the foot sole facing up.

It’s a kind of surgery called “Rotation”. Removal of leg but remains the foot and joins it to the thigh. In order for easier wearing of artificial limb so that the person can still involve in sport.

One day, James left a note on the table for his father.

“I went out for medical appointment.”

James walked to the hospital for check ups as usual. Without using walk sticks, seems that he could walk on with the prosthetic. Just that he could not walk as a normal person does, and his pace was slow.

In the hospital, James heading to the clinic which he had appointment with. At the corridor, James heard someone called him.

He turned back, he saw someone with wheelchair moved swiftly to his back. Seems that the person was trying to play with him. James turned back again, now he saw whom exactly the person was.

“Hello James! This is Jonathan, you can call me Jon.”

This guy who appeared from the middle of nowhere had freaked James off.

“You cut it off?” He asked.

Jonathan approached him closer and touched at James’s right knee.

“Very good!” He said.

“Huh?” Before James could react with what the stranger said, there was a guy behind him who was on the wheelchair as well.

“Oh… you are James… This is Brian”

“What?” James felt strange to have two strangers appeared who knew his name.

“Alright I got to go!” Jonathan said, and he added,

“You should use the wheelchair!”

“Alright Jon, let’s go…” Brian called.

Two of them went off with their wheelchair, like playing with each other at the corridor. Numbers of questions appeared in James’s mind. “Who are they? How did they know about my name and my condition?”

Somehow, these two guys could be considered as the most important people who led James back to the normal path…

To be continued…

1# The Beginning

Narrated and Edited by Mike, original story by Inoue Takehiro.

He stared at the paper he pasted on the wall. Written, "I want to run faster than anyone else!" Thinking of the race, which falls next week. He had never told his father about his race in the school.

"Jim, can I come in?"

“Yes, dad.” James replied.

It was 5.20pm, time which he must sit on the seat and get his fingers on the keyboard. Before he could represent his class for the 100m races, he got to take his performance certificate exam at first.

“Jim… can you please pay a more time for your piano practice than racing practice at school?”

He kept silent, stared at the scores with his fingers dancing on the keyboards. He did not like to play piano. To be a pianist was not his dream, but it was his father’s one. He really wish that he was in the school, run as fast as he could…

“Look Jim, your performance is just 3 more days to go. Forget about your race next week, it is not important at all. You know, to be a pianist. The simplest thing that you must do is to spend your time as long as possible with the piano… You have the talent, so just keep up your work.”

“Alright dad… I’ll try my best…” He answered. Even though he got 100 reasons that he dislike being a pianist in his heart. But his father is the only one left for him, so he got to obey what his father wanted.

3 days after, James’s performance in the Grand Hall.

He sat down in front of the grand piano. At his right, there were hundred and hundreds of audiences. And not to forget, and also his father who hoped that he could play well for the performance.

James started to play, as commanded by his brain. He had practiced that song infinite time under his father’s guidance. What in his mind was not about the melodies, but instead he could not forget that he must practice as much as he could for the 100m races.

“Pak, pak, pak…” James’s legs were stepping the floor, like he was running. His act had freaked the audiences out. James’s father stood up and could not believe what happened on his son. His fingers were like programmed to play to the piano, but he could not stop his leg for not stepping. He could not resist. He did not want to play the piano, but he wanted to run!


4 days after the piano performance. At the field of Davis Secondary School, a 14-year-old young boy had broken his own record.

“Teacher, how fast was I? James gasped out.

“11 seconds and 21, excellent job James! You have run faster than your previous recorded time!”

James yelled in joy. He had won in his school’s race, and also qualified to represent his school for the final race. He had sworn in front of the paper he wrote, he wants to run faster than anyone else. The feeling of leaving others behind was the greatest thing that he could ever feel.

The final race was one more month to go. James stayed back in school daily for more practice. His father had finally understood what James wanted. And he allowed James to do what he wanted to do.

During the Mathematic class, James screamed out of the sudden.

“What’s wrong with you James? Dreamt that you lost in your final race?” The teacher asked sarcasticly.

James looked blurred, as he had just waked up from his nightmare. He dreamt that something was pulling his leg when he was running for the final race.

“Excuse me sir, I need to go to the toilet.”

In the toilet, out of a sudden James felt a strong pain at his right knee. The pain caused him fell on the floor. He was crying in pain until his teacher came to find him in the toilet.

The X-ray of James’s knee was out. Nothing suspicious. The doctor told to the teacher to have less running practice for James. And he was asked to stop running for 3 days. In fact, other than school practices, James did practices as well during the way back from school to home.

Every night James cried in pain with holding to his right knee.

“What’s wrong with me? Did I practice too much…?”Various questions appeared in his mind.

Each of every time before he practice in school, he needed to run to the toilet. Everyone thought that he had stomach ache. Actually James ran to the toilet to rest because he could not stand the pain of his knee. After he took pain killer, he went back for practice again.

In the end, James was in the stadium for the final race. Felt so proud to represent his school. Felt so happy if he could leave the others behind and run faster than anyone else.

“Ready… Set… Go!”

James began to run, just like a launched rocket onto the sky. He considered that was the very first time which he could ran that fast. He managed to be at the first of all 7 opponents. He maintained his speed. He was about to win the race because the end point was just metres away in front of him.

The feeling of overtaking the others was just indescribable. " I want to run faster than anyone else!" He had finally attained his dream. He was the fastest among all.

Suddenly, his right leg was like stepping into the mud. James stopped at 3 metres in front of the read line. The others overtook him. Tears flowing out from his eyes…

James, 14-year-old. Knee tumour.

The last time of his run had ended under the painful blue sky.

To be continued…