Can a 37 Year Old Woman Really Find Love in Hokkaido?

The crisp morning air at the beginning of April reddened Ume Honma's cheeks as she hugged her cousin goodbye. The station was bustling with young men and women, as their parents waved goodbye, as well as the usually commuters going to Sapporo. But Jun Honma wasn't going to Sapporo, his destination was one of Tokyo's top universities. He hugged his older cousin tightly, a little scared to be leaving on his own but happy his friend Toshiro was accompanying him at least. Ume had raised Jun since he was 3 years old, and she had sacrificed her own dreams of studying medicine to raise the now orphaned boy as she was his only living relative. Now watching him board a train to study law in Tokyo, she was, for the first time in 15 years, effectively free. But what could a 33 year old woman who never got to go to college supposed to do now that the sole focus of her life was gone?

Well all she could do was work and live like everyone else. That her home now felt empty was to be expected, and if she looked a little sadder and lonelier than before was probably normal, at least to the patrons of the Happy Turtle Izakaya she had run since her aunt and uncle died so many years before. Not that she let her feelings show, she had still had a job to do if she wanted to live, and as lonely she might now, she did still want to live. This isn't that kind of story after all.

And so life went on Ume much as it had before for the next four years. Jun would visit when he could, which was rare, but he was doing well in his studies. Eventually Jun was placed in a graduate school program, and Ume was proud he was pursuing his dream. Still she was pretty lonely without her cousin around.

It was on a normal spring day when something strange happened. She had been tending the little herb garden behind the Happy Turtle when she saw something strange, a tiny little grey and black animal was crying in the shade of her garden. It was a baby raccoon who had become separated from its mother. A tightness had welled up in her chest as she looked at the sad little thing. That raccoons were an invasive species was something she knew very well, but she also knew that they originally had been brought in as pets. Perhaps this little baby could help ease the loneliness she felt.

Before she knew it Ume had scooped up the little guy, and was rushing it inside. She found a box and threw some warm towels in it help warm the baby, who was still crying. She called the local veterinarian's office for advice and they told her to keep it warm for now, as baby raccoons were very likely to hypothermia if not kept warm. They also told her to keep it hydrated, and that a student aide would be coming by later that afternoon with a veterinarian to check out the raccoon and bring by some kitten formula that would be a good substitute for its mother's milk.

That this would be a day that changed her life was something Ume didn't suspect.