Misae had recently become obsessed with prenatal education.
She had borrowed a stack of books from the library: Prenatal Education Makes Babies Smarter, The Magical Power of Classical Music, Ten Minutes a Day to Raise a Genius Baby. They were piled all over the coffee table.
"Classical music is still the best for prenatal education." Misae turned on the record player and leaned back on the sofa. "The book says babies who listen to classical music become smarter."
She closed her eyes and gently swayed her head along with the rhythm.
Then another sound came from the direction of the hallway.
"Little white snake—wiggle, wiggle—wiggle, wiggle—"
Misae's eyelid twitched.
Shin-chan had both hands raised above his head and pressed together, imitating a snake. His body twisted left and right along with it.
"It turned into white poop—washed away—splash, splash—"
The corner of Misae's mouth twitched. "Shin-chan."
Shin-chan didn't hear her. He continued twisting forward, and the lyrics in his mouth had already evolved in an even more indescribable direction.
"White poop swims in the river—swim, swim—swim into the sewer—"
"Shin-chan!"
Shin-chan's movement stopped. His hands were still raised above his head, maintaining the pose of either a snake or poop as he turned to look at Misae.
"What are you singing?"
"A song I made up." Shin-chan lowered his hands. "It's called The Song of the Little White Snake Turning Into Poop."
Misae opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the part of her brain responsible for language seemed to short-circuit for a moment.
"Does it sound good?" Shin-chan looked at her expectantly.
Misae took a deep breath.
"No."
"But you were swaying along just now."
Misae's body stiffened.
She lowered her head and looked at her shoulders. Sure enough, they were still swaying slightly left and right, keeping the rhythm of Shin-chan's song from earlier.
"I wasn't."
"You were." Shin-chan copied how Misae had been swaying just now. "You swayed like this."
Misae pulled the cushion from behind her and hugged it. "Don't disturb Mom. Mom is doing prenatal education."
Shin-chan tilted his head and looked at her belly.
"What's prenatal education?"
"It means telling stories and playing music for the baby, so the baby can start learning while still inside my belly."
Shin-chan's mouth opened into a circle. "Then I want to teach too."
"What are you going to teach?"
"I'll teach the baby to sing." Shin-chan put both hands on his hips. "The Song of the Little White Snake Turning Into Poop."
"No." Misae's voice rose half a pitch.
"Why?"
"Prenatal education isn't for teaching that."
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it, as if he had suddenly understood something. "Then I'll teach something else."
Misae looked at him warily.
Shin-chan walked to the record player, stood on tiptoe, and looked at the black record spinning on it.
"This doesn't sound good."
"This is classical music."
"It sounds like a lullaby." Shin-chan shook his head. "The baby will fall asleep listening to it."
Misae was about to argue when there was suddenly a faint movement in her belly.
"It moved."
Shin-chan leaned over and pressed his face against Misae's belly.
Inside her belly, everything was quiet. There was no reaction.
"It stopped moving."
"You scared it." Misae pushed Shin-chan's head away. "You were singing that kind of song just now. The baby doesn't dare move anymore."
"No way." Shin-chan leaned in again, cupped both hands around his mouth, and lowered his voice toward Misae's belly. "Do you like listening to Big Brother sing?"
Her belly moved again.
This time, Shin-chan felt it too. "It moved! It moved! The baby kicked me."
Misae's expression became a little complicated. She didn't know whether she should be happy or worried.
"Move aside." She pried Shin-chan away from her belly. "Mom is going to read a story."
Shin-chan retreated to the side of the sofa, propping his chin with both hands as he watched Misae open a picture book.
"Once upon a time, there was a little bear living in the forest." Misae's voice became very gentle and slow. "The little bear had a good friend, a little rabbit."
Shin-chan tilted his head and listened.
"One day, the little bear and the little rabbit went fishing by the river..."
"And then they caught a white poop," Shin-chan added.
Misae's voice got stuck.
She closed the picture book and turned to look at Shin-chan.
"Shin-chan."
"Mm?"
"Can you go play in the yard for a while?"
"But it's hot outside."
"Then go play in your room."
Shin-chan slid down from the armrest of the sofa and circled around to Misae's side.
"I'll tell a story."
Before Misae could stop him, Shin-chan had already begun.
"Once upon a time, there was a chocolate stick spirit." Shin-chan cleared his throat. "He lived on Chocolate Mountain. His house was made of chocolate, the trees were made of chocolate, and even the clouds were made of chocolate."
Misae put a hand to her forehead.
"One day, the green pepper monster came." Shin-chan's expression became serious. "It wanted to turn all of Chocolate Mountain into Green Pepper Mountain."
Shin-chan continued.
"The chocolate stick spirit took out his chocolate lightsaber and fought the green pepper monster. Crackle, crackle! Shoo, shoo, shoo! Boom, boom, boom!"
He added his own invented sound effects.
"In the end, the chocolate stick spirit knocked the green pepper monster flying, and it turned into a green star."
After Shin-chan finished the story, he pressed his ear to Misae's belly and listened seriously for a while.
"The baby is laughing."
"How do you know?"
"I felt it." Shin-chan looked serious. "The baby said the chocolate stick spirit story is better than the little bear fishing story."
Misae placed the picture book on her knees and covered her face with both hands. "Prenatal education isn't for teaching this."
The record player was still playing music.
Shin-chan got up from the floor. "Mom, the song you're playing doesn't sound good either."
"It's classical music."
"Change it to something nice."
"No." Misae was firm. "The book says classical music is good for fetal brain development."
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it. Then he ran off with pattering steps.
Misae reopened the picture book and found the page where she had been interrupted.
"The little bear and the little rabbit sat by the river..."
Her voice involuntarily paused. The image that appeared in her mind was the little bear and little rabbit sitting by the river and catching a white poop.
Misae shook her head hard, throwing that image away.
"They sat by the river, placed their fishing rods into the water, and waited for fish to bite."
From the end of the hallway came the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, followed by hurried footsteps.
Shin-chan ran back, holding up a record in his hand. "Mom, let's play this."
Misae lowered her head and looked at the record.
On the cover were several large words: Youth Training Manual.
"Where did this come from?"
"Guy left it here last time when he came over to play." Shin-chan pulled the record out of its sleeve. "Guy said listening to it makes you run faster."
The corner of Misae's mouth twitched.
"This isn't suitable."
"Why?"
"This is for listening to while exercising."
"The baby needs exercise too." Shin-chan stood on tiptoe, took the classical music record off the player, and put the one in his hand on.
Misae reached out to stop him, but the weight of her belly made her move half a beat too slowly.
The needle dropped.
A very rhythmic drumbeat exploded from the speakers.
The volume was more than twice as loud as the classical music from earlier.
Shin-chan stood beside the record player, his body already twisting along with the beat, his butt swaying left and right as he hummed along.
"Youth—youth—charge ahead—"
Misae reached for the record player, but Shin-chan blocked her way.
"Shin-chan, turn it off—"
Before she finished speaking, her voice suddenly caught.
A very clear movement came from inside her belly.
Misae's hand froze in midair.