ある方のお家に “魔物“が出て、ゆでた
白玉（それも大量）が一時、行方知れずに
なり、その後発見されるということが
あった。
実は、うちの家にも゛魔物“が出た。
かれこれ一か月前、ごはんを食べようと
したら ”お箸“がない。
６０年も生きてきて、“お箸”がなくなる
なんてあり得ない出来事であった。
気をとりなおし、家にあった “お正月用”
のお箸の残りを使うことにした。
一気にお正月気分になる。1人お正月よ。
で、昨日、とうとう “お箸”を買いまし
てん。一か月もしてどこからも出てこない
なんて捨てたに違いない。
しかしなんですね、最近の“お箸”は、
先が極細なんですね。なんだか新鮮な感じ
がします。
もう２度と “魔物”に盗まれない（←正確
にいえば、自分でほかしたんやけどね）
ように、気を引き締めていきます。
I heard a strange story from a friend
recently.
A "monster" appeared in their house,
and a huge amount of boiled shiratama
(rice flour dumplings) suddenly disappeared.
Then those shiratama were finally found
later.
Actually, a "monster" appeared in my
house, too. About a month ago, when I
was about to eat dinner, I realized my
chopsticks were gone.
I’ve lived for 60 years, but I’ve never heard
of chopsticks just vanishing into thin air.
It was unbelievable!
I tried to cheer myself up and decided to
use some leftover chopsticks from New
Year's Day. In Japan, we use special
chopsticks for New Year's to bring good luck.
Suddenly, it felt like the New Year all over
again. A New Year celebration just for one!
Yesterday, I finally bought a new pair of
chopsticks. Since they hadn't shown up
after a whole month, I figured I must have
accidentally thrown them away.
But you know what?
Modern chopsticks have very fine, sharp
tips. It feels quite fresh and nice to use
them.
I will stay alert from now on so that the
"monster" won't steal from me again.
(Though to be honest, I’m the one who
threw them away!)