White Light\Black Rain: The Destruction Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki Page #3

That's how l killed

two people.

l gave them water

and they died.

You can't drink

it that fast

when you're completely

dehydrated.

The body gives out.

But l didn't know that.

As l was getting the water,

black rain started falling.

lt covered everything,

turning everything black.

Of course, we didn't know

it was radioactive.

l wanted water

so badly,

but l couldn't speak.

When night came,

it drizzled.

So l licked the water

off the tree and fell asleep.

The next morning,

there was no one alive

around me.

Back then,

during the war,

we had water tanks

for putting out fires.

One after another,

people piled in

to escape the fire.

The tanks were

stuffed with bodies.

l can't describe

what l witnessed.

l don't have the words.

lt's like,

when you burn

a fish on the grill.

That's what they

looked like

to me, as a child.

The boy's face

was swollen.

His eyes were gone.

His body was

completely burned.

His skin was shredded

and falling off.

l couldn't believe

it was my brother.

We used a wooden door

for a stretcher

and looked for help.

My mother tried

to comfort him.

My brother

was fortunate because

he got to hear

my mother's voice

before he went

to heaven.

l found the bones

of two people--

my mother

and my grandmother.

Also, my older sister.

My older brother disappeared.

My other brother too.

My little brother

and a little sister

and one more brother.

l'm the only one who lived.

We were all Catholics.

Ours was the biggest

Christian church in Asia.

How could they

drop the bomb on us?

lf there's a God...

lt was difficult

to identify the bodies.

As we searched,

we cried, ''Mommy!''

l saw two burnt bodies,

not too far away.

l saw that one of the bodies

had holes where

the eyes should be

and one gold tooth.

My mother had one gold tooth,

so l knew it was her.

''Hurry, l found her!''

l yelled to my sister

My sister said,

''l'm too scared!''

l said, ''Come here now!''

So my sister ran over

Together we looked

at the body

We reached out

and said, ''Mommy!''

Before our eyes,

it crumbled into ashes

This happened 60 years ago.

But l'll never forget it.

''Mommy!''

The only things that moved

in Hiroshima were the flies

circling over the dead.

A godforsaken place

covered with dead bodies.

At first, you feel

completely overwhelmed.

Then you become numb

and you can't feel anything.

One after another,

they died.

At first,

hardly anyone survived.

We needed to make room

for those who could

be saved.

l walked among

all the dead bodies

looking for someone

who was alive.

Our faces were swollen

and bandaged.

No one could recognize me.

My mother was looking for me

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