Inspired by Hiromi Goto's The Kappa Child

I dig into my house-coat pocket and grab the slender, green fruit of a Japanese cucumber. What a beauty! Half the size of the grotesquely enlarged English variety, and a lovely curve in the tail. Shaped like an uppercase J. The bumpy skin tickles through the wool of my mittens and the green is bamboo-fresh. Bite off the bitter stem part and spit it toward my feet. Crunch. Chew. Wedge. Ahhh. The unexpected one is consoled.