The Night Watercress Became Porridge

Airnote  ·  Kanna  ·  Jun 13, 2026

I made watercress porridge.
A little salt, a little soy sauce, some kelp.
I kept it light — I didn't want to lose the watercress's scent.

Cooked with the island's water, it came out soft.

Picking it myself, cooking it myself.
I'd eaten watercress before, back when I lived on Island Line,
but this was the first time I'd made it on my own.
It tasted different, somehow.

Yu was eating while looking toward the bookshelf.
Oh, we're eating that, Yu said.

In the painting, Yu is holding watercress up close to smell it.
That same watercress was here now.

Picked, cooked, eaten — all in the same day.

The steam rose slowly.