My last rice ball

Tonight was my last trip to Kamagasaki to make onigiri. The crew was thrilled to see me - despite our wonderful communication, they thought I had left last week. As such, they were especially sentimental tonight. They even gave me umeboshi, one of my least favorite foods in the world (pickled plum). Best of all, they made a cake because they know I like sweets. When we split up at the end of the night, I was showered with hugs, hand shakes, and ogenkides...When I took my usual extra onigiri to drop off on the way home to my usual homeless neighbor, he wasn't around. I just left it on his cart. It was an extremely depressing way to end that chapter in my life, but not entirely unsatisfying. He'll get his rice tonight - a big surprise after he left an empty cart to go look for food. And maybe he'll even remember who gave it to him, the same foreigner every Wednesday night. Then again, maybe he's already forgotten me - and I will try to be okay with that.