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I was in the first grade of Noburyo Primary School when the enemy air raids got bad. So, Mother and I left Hiroshima City and went to stay with relatives in Miyajima. On August 4, we went to a Buddhist memorial service held at the home of one of our relatives in Hiroshima. We had finished our breakfast and were getting ready to go back to Miyajima.

Then from nowhere came that tremendous flash. Surprised, I said to my mother, "What happened?" My mother answered slowly, "I wonder what it was?" Then I heard a terrific crash, and it suddenly became dark — so dark that I could not even see my mother's face clearly, though she was right next to me. Suddenly, I felt as if I were being pressed down by something very heavy. "Mom, Mom!" I shouted desperately. "Setsuko, Setsuko!" I heard my mother calling to me. Her voice seemed weak and jerky. "Here, Mom. Here I am," I shouted back. "Setsuko, try to move your legs," my mother's voice said. I started kicking my legs with all my might. Then I heard some clattering sounds as if things were being taken off my chest. Finally, I managed to crawl out of the debris.

"Mom, get up! Quick!" I shouted and pulled at her hand. She cried, "Ouch! Ouch!" but couldn't move. I looked and saw that there was a heavy piece of wood lying across her back and right arm. She had helped me out with her left hand. I put my hands under the piece of wood and tried to lift it, but it was too heavy for me. Again and again, I tried to move the piece of wood, but it wouldn't budge. Cries of "Help! Help!" were coming from all directions. I shouted for help, too, as loud as I could but nobody came. The fire was right next to us. The flames blew toward me and stung my hair. I shouted, "Mom! Quick! Get up quick!" but there was nothing either of us could do. I heard my mother saying, "Hurry up and go! I'll come later."

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I told her ¹ wouldn't leave without her, but the flames were closing ² around us and my clothes caught fire and it ³ so hot that I couldn't stand it any longer. "⁴, Mother," I cried as I ran as fast as ⁵ could through the flames. There was fire all around, ⁶ there was no way to escape so I jumped ⁷ a water tank by the side of the road. ⁸ of sparks were falling from the sky so I ⁹ a piece of tin over my head to keep ¹⁰ off. The water in the tank got hot like ¹¹ bath. There were four or five other people in ¹² tank, too, and they were all crying and shouting ¹³ names. As I sat in the water, I started ¹⁴ get a dreamy feeling and finally passed out. I¹⁵ know how long it was before I came to, ¹⁶ it seemed to be morning. Smoke was coming up ¹⁷ here and there and I could hear the cracking ¹⁸ popping of things smoldering on the ground. In the¹⁹ beside me, there was a dead woman lying back ²⁰ peacefully as if she were asleep. As soon as ²¹ noticed her, I got scared and shouted to a ²² man for help. He lifted me out the ²³ and told me that there was a first-aid station ²⁴ ahead. I walked beside the man. Just as I ²⁵ wondering what had become of my mother, I happened ²⁶ take a look at my hand. The skin was ²⁷ and sore. I also felt a pain in my ²⁸ and back. At the station, they took care of ²⁹ and gave me some rice balls to eat. Then ³⁰ got in a truck that took me to a ³¹ school outside the city. There were hundreds of injured ³² there groaning with pain. The people in charge there ³³ all very kind, making our meals, and comforting and ³⁴ after us. But day after day — scores of injured ³⁵ died and there was a bad smell coming from ³⁶ corner of the playground where dead bodies were cremated ³⁷ piles of sticks. I was very worried about my ³⁸ and cried every day. There was a man who³⁹ to go with me and help me search for ⁴⁰ mother. We went back into Hiroshima City together, but ⁴¹ we came in front of the Fukuya Department Store, ⁴² said to me, "Wait here for a while," and ⁴³ away. He never came back and I trudged along ⁴⁴ myself through the burned-down area. We had been having ⁴⁵ weather for several days and the sun was so ⁴⁶ that the ground felt very hot under my feet. ⁴⁷ saw a lot of dead bodies by the roadside ⁴⁸ there were also carcasses of horses and dogs. I ⁴⁹ not to look. The town which had once been ⁵⁰ busy with people and traffic was now turned into ⁵¹ vast burned field. Only the concrete buildings remained standing ⁵² and there like so many giants. Everyone was looking ⁵³ someone or other. They were dragging themselves along feebly, ⁵⁴ tears filled their eyes. I saw people digging out ⁵⁵ bones of their relatives and friends and putting ⁵⁶ into urns. What had become of my mother? Could ⁵⁷ have helped her escape after I left her? I ⁵⁸ up to every woman who passed by and looked ⁵⁹ at her face partly hidden by the air-raid hood ⁶⁰ she might be my mother. When I saw that ⁶¹ wasn't, I was sad and disappointed. Enemy planes were ⁶² low in the sky. I hadn't had anything to⁶³ or drink since breakfast so I was hungry and ⁶⁴ and so exhausted that I couldn't walk any further. ⁶⁵ I sat crying by the roadside, a passer-by placed ⁶⁶ small bag of hard biscuits in my hand and ⁶⁷ me to a sip from his canteen. I still ⁶⁸ how happy this made me. Then a policeman came ⁶⁹ and asked me what the matter was. After I ⁷⁰ him my story, he took me to a police ⁷¹ where I stayed for the night. When I told ⁷² that my grandmother lived in Miyajima, he made out ⁷³ pass and gave it to me. With the pass, ⁷⁴ got a ride on the suburban streetcar from Koi ⁷⁵ then took a ferryboat to Miyajima, where at long ⁷⁶ I found my way to my grandmother's house. She⁷⁷ overjoyed to see me and immediately asked, "Where ⁷⁸ Sueko (my mother's name)?" When I told her about everything that had happened ⁷⁹ us, she broke into tears. One day about five ⁸⁰ later, she said to me, "Your mother is really ⁸¹ after all." A relative had found and brought back ⁸² ashes. She had burned to death, unable to get ⁸³ of the wrecked house. I hugged the urn that ⁸⁴ her ashes and I cried loudly. I couldn't keep ⁸⁵ the tears which kept streaming down my cheeks. ⁸⁶ wife, son and daughter of the family we were ⁸⁷ had all died in the same way. It was⁸⁸ that I would stay with my grandmother. It was ⁸⁹ that time that my hair began to fall out, ⁹⁰ the burn on my hand got worse. At first, ⁹¹ was very kind as she comforted me and changed ⁹² bandage on my hand. But later she became cold ⁹³ me. Whenever I noticed this change in my grandmother, ⁹⁴ would be filled with resentment and sadness, and many ⁹⁵ of my kind, gentle mother and pleasant times ⁹⁶ had together would go racing through my head. Night ⁹⁷ night I cried endlessly. I don't know how it ⁹⁸ about. But when the bright red of the maple ⁹⁹ in Miyajima had faded, and the chilly autumn winds ¹⁰⁰ to blow, a relative of mine in Kyoto City came to take me away with him.