Summary

Flashlight follows Louisa as school and town harden into routine. She walks with Fuyuki and Masako, trades errands with women who lean from doorways, and learns to pass from streets to open country where the temple roof looks like wings above the piled town. In class she kneels on linoleum when the bell rings, and in the temple she dances without thinking about the steps. The rituals that were once strange become part of gym and fire drill, a way to move without trouble.

A day with Mrs. Ishida shows another kind of lesson. She drives them along the coast to a shabby local beach, feeds Louisa a sushi roll, and delivers her back to the station by evening. The hours are quiet and uneasy, and Louisa, who remembers dinner plates and napkins from a different life, tries to ask the question beneath...