I'm glad this wasn't super sad though, it definitely has a melancholic atmosphere but it isn't full blown tragic like I expected something that inspired a Studio Ghibli movie to be! Though you may want to get started with your morning coffee and grooming routine, just spending a few minutes hugging, kissing, or cuddling your spouse can help you start the day off on the right foot.
One thing I have to ask is why is Anna so slow at one point to realize another child is bullying her? If I were to start from there, from those secret emotions, perhaps I would understand better why he had gone and why I, who had always set against the occasional emotional confusion the stable order of our affections, now felt so violently the bitterness of loss, an intolerable grief, the anxiety of falling out of the web of certainties and having to relearn life without the security of knowing how to do it.
Make time for each other.
My God, what an artistic vision! I'm glad I managed to read this before watching Studio Ghibli's animé adaptation that caused such a splash last year.