construction of a light railway has begun between odawara and atami, two towns in east japan. at the construction site, workers are using minecarts for transporting earth and sand. ryōhei, aged eight, is interested in these minecarts. one day, he pushes one of the minecarts with a construction worker. at the beginning, he is very excited. but as it gets late in the day, he starts to worry about how he will get home. after a while, the construction worker tells him to go home because it is late. ryōhei runs down a dark hill road thinking “i just don’t want to die”. as soon as he comes back home, he bursts into tears.