Phone Scam By Shitoru Translated by Hamish Smith A brief description of my family to help understand the story. My Home: I have a normal family but we have a odd sized plot of land that we use as a hobby farm (so I can thieve all the vegetables I want). Mom: She thinks she’s sharp, everyone else thinks she’s absent-minded. Brother (Tomo): An office worker and the third born son, still lives at home. Doesn’t own a car. Me: I live alone, but make my way back home any time I need some vegetables. Dog (Aria): Our beloved dog. * * * This all happened on one of the days I had gone back home. My main goal was to get some vegetables. But as soon as my mother, who had just happily turned 60, came back from the farm, the phone rang. Mom: “Hello?” ???: “Oh, Mom! It’s me! I’m in trouble!” Mom: “What? Who? Is that you, Tomo?” (the name of her third son) ???: “Yeah, it’s me Tomo. I’ve just been in an accident… I don’t know what to do…” Mom: “What! An accident? Are you OK? Oh dear, your brother’s been in an accident!” she’s panicking. Me: “What? You mean Tomo?” I said as I grabbed the phone, our dog going crazy at my feet. Mom: “It’s Tomo! Oh dear. I have go and see him right away,” she said as she started pacing back and forth in hopelessness. Me: “Um… Tomo? Mom’s starting to freak out so she handed me the phone. So you had an accident?” ???: “Huh? Oh, yeah! And you should see the other guy…” he said with a teary voice. Me: “Have you called an ambulance? Call the police as well. And where was this accident? Mom’s going out to get you now.” I said as Mom grabbed her car keys. ???: “Ah, I’m really far away,” he said, sounding a little frustrated. Me: “Huh? …(I can tell that something is off. He still lives at home so how exactly would he get into an accident so far away)… Anyway, Chappy (I’m talking about our pet dog, but her real name is Aria) won’t leave me alone so I’m going to put her in her cage. Tomo, just hold the line for a minute.” ‘Tomo’: “Oh? Ah! Just hurry up!!” Me: “…(OK, now I can see that this guy is a phony. Our dog’s name is Aria, not Chappy) … so, uh, just wait, Tomo.” ‘Tomo’: “I hit a kid in the accident!” his teary voice is really good. Me: “Ok, ok, you must be panicking. Tomo, just calm down.” ‘Tomo’: “The kid has been taken to hospital, but, but, they said he he’ll never walk again! And it’s all my fault!” Seriously, this guy can act. Me: “Oh… that’s terrible. And you still haven’t found a proper job yet.” (In reality, my real brother works in an office) ‘Tomo’: “Yeah, I know! That’s why I need to borrow some money from Mom. I’ll pay it all back! I know I made Mom worry, not being able to find a job and everything, but I’ll change. I’ll get myself a real job!!” I could have given him a standing ovation over the phone. Terrific performance. Me: “I see. I’ll tell Mom to take some money over to you. Where are you?” ‘Tomo’: “Oh, no, I mean, I’m really far away. I need you to make a bank deposit, so…” he’s getting flustered. Me: “What do .

1. Phone Scam By Shitoru Translated by Hamish Smith
A brief description of my family to help understand the story.
My Home: I have a normal family but we have a odd sized plot
of land that we use as a hobby farm (so I can thieve all the
vegetables I want).
Mom: She thinks she’s sharp, everyone else thinks she’s absent-
minded.
Brother (Tomo): An office worker and the third born son, still
lives at home. Doesn’t own a car.
Me: I live alone, but make my way back home any time I need
some vegetables.
Dog (Aria): Our beloved dog.
* * *
This all happened on one of the days I had gone back home. My
main goal was to get some vegetables. But as soon as my
mother, who had just happily turned 60, came back from the
farm, the phone rang.
Mom: “Hello?”
???: “Oh, Mom! It’s me! I’m in trouble!”
Mom: “What? Who? Is that you, Tomo?” (the name of her third
son)
???: “Yeah, it’s me Tomo. I’ve just been in an accident… I
don’t know what to do…”
Mom: “What! An accident? Are you OK? Oh dear, your
brother’s been in an accident!” she’s panicking.
Me: “What? You mean Tomo?” I said as I grabbed the phone,
our dog going crazy at my feet.
Mom: “It’s Tomo! Oh dear. I have go and see him right away,”
she said as she started pacing back and forth in hopelessness.
Me: “Um… Tomo? Mom’s starting to freak out so she handed
me the phone. So you had an accident?”
???: “Huh? Oh, yeah! And you should see the other guy…” he
said with a teary voice.
Me: “Have you called an ambulance? Call the police as well.

2. And where was this accident? Mom’s going out to get you
now.” I said as Mom grabbed her car keys.
???: “Ah, I’m really far away,” he said, sounding a little
frustrated.
Me: “Huh? …(I can tell that something is off. He still lives at
home so how exactly would he get into an accident so far
away)… Anyway, Chappy (I’m talking about our pet dog, but
her real name is Aria) won’t leave me alone so I’m going to put
her in her cage. Tomo, just hold the line for a minute.”
‘Tomo’: “Oh? Ah! Just hurry up!!”
Me: “…(OK, now I can see that this guy is a phony. Our dog’s
name is Aria, not Chappy) … so, uh, just wait, Tomo.”
‘Tomo’: “I hit a kid in the accident!” his teary voice is really
good.
Me: “Ok, ok, you must be panicking. Tomo, just calm down.”
‘Tomo’: “The kid has been taken to hospital, but, but, they said
he he’ll never walk again! And it’s all my fault!” Seriously, this
guy can act.
Me: “Oh… that’s terrible. And you still haven’t found a proper
job yet.” (In reality, my real brother works in an office)
‘Tomo’: “Yeah, I know! That’s why I need to borrow some
money from Mom. I’ll pay it all back! I know I made Mom
worry, not being able to find a job and everything, but I’ll
change. I’ll get myself a real job!!” I could have given him a
standing ovation over the phone. Terrific performance.
Me: “I see. I’ll tell Mom to take some money over to you.
Where are you?”
‘Tomo’: “Oh, no, I mean, I’m really far away. I need you to
make a bank deposit, so…” he’s getting flustered.
Me: “What do you mean? Bro, you don’t live *that* far away
from home, do you?” (my brother still lives at home)
‘Tomo’: “I… no, I got into the accident on the way to work, I’m
out near work.”
Me: “Work? Your work is right around the corner. Be no more
than ten minutes by car. Your work is closer than the bank.
Tomo, I know you must be feeling pretty helpless, but just hang

3. tight, we’ll be there soon.”
‘Tomo’: “I… uh…”
Me: “But that is terrible. That kid will never walk again, huh…
What kind of accident were you in?”
‘Brother’: “Uh…a car crash.”
Me: “Huh? You didn’t ride your bike to work? You told me that
you hate cars.”
‘Brother’: “We-we-well I had to come by car today! And it was
the first time in a while, and then, I hit a kid,” his Oscar-worthy
tears started up again.
Me: “Really? Your job at the convenience store got you a
company car?”
‘Tomo’: “What?!”
Me: “What?”
‘Tomo’: “…”
Me: “Don’t clam up, keep talking. Go ahead and tell us what the
hell you want us to do,” my tough guy voice.
‘Brother’: “…Sorry!” he hung up and got away.
Me: “And… I win.”
Mom: “What did your brother say? Where do we need to go?”
she asked, flustered and clutching her purse.
Me: “It was a scam, mom.”
Mom: “What?!”
Me: “I told you already that today is Tomo’s day off and he is
having a sleep in.”
Mom: “…Oh”
I kind of got a little worried that day as I realized how easily
mom would fall for a scam.
Mom, you really need to keep your wits about you.
I honestly thought I had saved this home by coming home every
now and then.
That mother of mine was most definitely conned by the
scammer.
So I’ve started visiting home even more.
To all you playing at home – beware of phone scams.
A few days later…

4. Tomo (my real brother): “Mornin’! Boy slept like a rock.”
Me: “Tomo, lornin’! (That’s short for Late Mornin’)
Get a load of this. Just before, someone claiming to be my
brother called up and said that they had been in an accident and
wanted us to wire him some cash.”
Tomo: “Oh? Which brother was it?”
Me: “It was you!”
Tomo: “What? Me?”
Me: “Yeah! But I figured something was wrong so I pull his
story apart and then fought back against him!” I said, really
proud.
Tomo: “And the recording?”
Me: “wha?”
Tomo: “You have to hit record when you get phone scammers
calling up. What did you tell the police?”
Me: “Police?”
Tomo: “Honestly, you just finished up after you outsmarted the
scammer and left it at that. Hurry up and call the police.”
Me: “Oh…Ok”
I thought my brother would be really proud of me, but instead
he was pretty cold. (._.)
Last Name 2
Reflection on Short Story by Shitoru
The short story by Shitoru mimics the everyday life of a family
in the United States. The author is determined to tell the reader
about his family, which explains the graphic description of the
family. The reader can actually immerse himself or herself into
the lives of the individuals in the family. The author’s family
represents a close family because despite everybody having
things to do such as employment, they still manage to come
together. The author takes the reader through the plot gradually,
which makes it easy for the reader to follow the story and
understand where the author is coming from. When reading the
story, it is easy to connect the story to its historical timeline.

5. The reader can determine that the setting takes place in a
suburban home. These homes developed in the period after
World War II when people moved from the cities and large town
to settle in suburban homes. The author wants the reader to
make these connections such that it is easy to understand the
writers’ point of view. The story also alludes to the fact that the
author is a member an immigrant family from Japan. Contrast,
imagery and repetition are some of the stylistic devices that the
author has used. For instance, the author repeats the name Tomo
to make the reader aware that the scammer is pretending to be
Tomo. Second, the style of contrast is clear and it helps the
reader to deduce the historical context of the story. For
instance, the author says that his mother is old and always
thinks she is right. This is a very common characteristic with
mothers of the baby boomers age. The author also makes this
distinction to show the reader that he is relatively young. The
author narrates that he lives away from his parents. This is a
common setting nowadays where young people are expected to
move out of their parents’ house once they find a job.
The author uses the theme of phone scamming to drive home the
importance of filial responsibility. The author, being Japanese-
American, is struggling with the American identity, as well as
the Japanese identity. Although the author comes home for
vegetables, the truth is, he unconsciously comes to check on his
mother who is 60 years old. On one particular day, the author
visits his mother and saves her from a phone scam whereby the
scammer was pretending to be his brother. The phone is
symbolic because it represents a new age of global expansion
and technological advancement. The mother is the group caught
between the pros and cons of technological advancement. This
symbolism is important because it drive the point home that
filial responsibility is still an important task on a young
person’s life. The author is unaware of his role in this
discourse, and is caught up in the American dream, which is
represented by independence of having your own house, a good
job, and a personal car. These symbols are repeatedly mentioned

6. in the passage. Nevertheless, filial responsibility remains as
important as it were before all the advancement in technology
and economy.