[One-Minute Story]The Forty-Year Reach (No. 8)

Seven middle-aged men came to a record company in Shibuya. Every one of them claimed to be the baby.

The album in question had come out forty years ago. The production budget was minimal, and the photograph used for the cover was taken on the spot, of a baby who happened to be nearby at the time. Both arms raised above the head, in a pose that looked like reaching for something. A snap decision by the designer that had somehow become one of the most recognized album covers anyone could name.

As the fortieth anniversary approached, the record company began searching for the baby, and inquiries flooded in. Seven men came forward in the end.

The person in charge, Horiuchi, put his head in his hands. No documentation from the original shoot had survived. After a week of deliberation, he arrived at a solution. “In that case, could each of you recreate the pose from that time? Whoever does it most convincingly will be recognized as the real one.”

All seven lined up in the conference room. A man in a suit. A man with a belly. A man with white hair. Each one, face perfectly serious, raised both arms above his head. In the silent room, seven middle-aged men were all reaching at once. [1] Horiuchi suppressed his laughter and continued the judging. In the end, the man in the suit, who had executed the pose with the greatest precision, was certified as the genuine original, and his likeness was adopted for the fortieth anniversary edition.

Three days before release, a letter arrived. It was from the family of the photographer who had shot the original cover. A set of handwritten shooting notes had turned up among his belongings. There was a single line.

“Subject: female infant, eleven months old.”

The release went ahead as planned. The fortieth anniversary edition outsold the original.

[1] “Shiin” (しーん) is a Japanese sound word for complete, absolute silence, an onomatopoeia for the absence of any noise at all. The original sentence uses it to set the scene, creating a quietly absurd image: a room so still it has its own sound, filled with grown men solemnly performing a baby’s pose.

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【1分小説】40年目のおねだり(8作目)

渋谷のレコード会社に、7人のおじさんが訪ねてきた。全員が「自分があの赤ん坊だ」と言う。

問題のアルバムが出たのは40年前だった。制作費は格安で、ジャケットに使ったのはたまたま近くにいた赤ん坊の写真だった。両手を上に伸ばして、なにかをねだるようなポーズ。担当者が思いつきで採用したそれが、気づけば誰もが知る一枚になっていた。

40周年を前に、レコード会社が赤ん坊を探し始めると、問い合わせが殺到した。最終的に7人のおじさんが名乗り出た。

担当の堀内は頭を抱えた。当時の資料は残っていない。1週間悩んだ末に、一つの方法を思いついた。「では、当時のポーズを再現していただけますか。一番きれいに決まった方を本物とします」

会議室に7人が並んだ。スーツの人、腹の出た人、白髪の人。全員が真剣な顔で、両手を上に伸ばした。しーんとした部屋で7人のおじさんが一斉におねだりをしている。堀内は笑いをこらえながら審査を続けた。結果、最もポーズの完成度が高かったスーツの男を本物と認定し、40周年盤に採用した。

発売3日前、一通の手紙が届いた。当時の撮影を担当したカメラマンの遺族からで、遺品の中から撮影メモが出てきたという。そこには一行だけあった。

「被写体：女児、生後11ヶ月」

発売は予定通り行われた。40周年盤はオリジナルよりよく売れた。