Where the Reeds Grow Thick

Chapter Two

Shige always hated an unsolved problem. The way the world worked, things had to move forward or there would be chaos. If someone dropped a tool in a fire deemed too hot, Shige would sooner plunge her hands into the flames than let someone give it up. Inaction was an excuse for cowardice, her mother always said.

Tonight, Shige sat outside Michigo's home, handing bean pods to Sachi as her little sister shucked them. "Mother will be mad that you're helping me," Sachi whispered.

Shige took a deep breath. "She doesn't get mad; she gets frustrated," she whispered back. "She wants us all to do a good job and do our part in the village. You're almost done for the night, anyway."

Sachi shrugged, her skinny body bouncing with the action. Michigo was a family friend who loved their mother's children like his own; he would have let Sachi play all day instead of work, if he had any say. Shige supposed this was meant to be a life lesson for Sachi: anything left half-done today would mean one and a half times the work tomorrow.

Putting her handful of bean pods back in the basket, Shige turned her attention to her sister's hair. "You can go to bed now," she said as she brushed out Sachi's long, thick mane with her fingers. "I'll get this last dozen."

Shige watched her sister continue to work, the moonlight casting a longbow's shape down the profile of Sachi's mouth. It was far too late for a ten-year-old to be up still; furthermore, Shige didn't want Sachi to keep pouting any longer.

To the west, Shige could see the distant light from the shrines and temple on Mount Tennō. "You know," Shige whispered conspiratorially in Sachi's ear. "Itsui told me today that there's a ghost living on Mount Tennō right now."

Sachi stopped cold in her work."Ghost?"

"Mmhm. A yūrei, a vengeful spirit who died staying up too late working, and vows to eat little girls who do the same."

With enough force to knock the wind from Shige's lungs, Sachi nestled into her chest. "No! I'll go to bed, I won't keep working. Don't let it get me, Big Sister!"

Shige hugged Sachi, rocking her in her lap. "Good girl. Be sure to sleep in tonight, and the yūrei will go away for sure."

Sachi nodded and Shige kept her there in her arms for a moment as the two relaxed.

Shige had her own work to do still, and she knew Sachi enjoyed staying with Michigo's family; still, this small moment made her want to fall asleep with her sister, snuggled up against Michigo's toolshed under the stars.

~0~

"Goodbye, everyone! I'm off to Gion," Eiichi announced, donning his new mino raincoat. Sixteen gourds of broad beans and twenty jars of adzuki beans sat perched on his cart. A small offering to sell, but it would be enough to pay the landlords.

Shige, sat with her sewing at the home's stoop, waved him off. "Good luck! Bring back a sugarcane for Little Sister."

He rolled his eyes and hopped into the driver's seat. "And pearls for you and Mother."

As his ox cart departed, Shige heard their mother gossiping with a neighbor inside the house. She half-listened in case her name was brought up.

"Atsu, you've got some talent!" said their neighbor, Takara. "Your children listen to you so well; they're very productive."

"Oh, no, my children are so reckless and lazy," said Mother. "Your children are far better to you."

This, of course, was just posturing; Takara's two sons were both town drunks.

Takara laughed lightly. "It's the truth," she said. "Eiichi is humble, Shige works hard, and Sachi's... a nice girl. But it's a shame that you never remarried after Yoshirō passed; you might've had another son, for insurance. Jun and I tried for ten years after Genta, but no other children came. It gave me such anxiety, knowing both may die young, but the gods truly blessed me instead."

Shige looked over to her mother for her reaction. Her mother didn't say anything, but her gaze could boil an egg.

"My son is shy," her mother said after a moment. "But he pulls his weight. At this point, a second son is unneeded."

"Mm, then you'd better get your elder children married off soon, in case something happens. You never know."

Shige closed the door behind her, giving herself some silence. She moved to sit by a tree, watching the birds in its branches.

As she watched the birds in the trees, Shige set her sewing down. She put her hands in her lap and rested her head against the tree, letting her thoughts wander.

A sharp-tongued woman stuck in a world full of mores, it was almost a miracle that her mother had caught her late father's eye. He'd been an eccentric man, the type who'd speak his mind perhaps too freely; to her, his wit and sense of justice were infectious--though the town might have thought he'd bring danger. Perhaps, Shige thought, that was why Mother treated Eiichi so coldly, and kept Sachi's behavior closely in check. Best to keep quiet than stand out too much in a crowd.

Just as soon as Shige's eyes drifted closed, a faint wail ripped through the air, echoing from the mountains.

"Damn! Was that a bear, or a fox?" she murmured. Standing, she called to her neighbors in the rice paddy. "Hey, Michigo-san! Was that you all, just now?"

The paddy field's owner waded through the water toward her. "You heard something, Shige-san?What was it?"

The cry sounded human, like someone had reached the pinnacle of sorrow and screamed for it. It was best to ignore the danger; shaking her head, Shige wiped grass from her legs. "Must have been a fox; sorry to disturb your work!" she said.

Michigo's thick brows slumped in thought. "Your sister is in a different sector of the field. If you're bored, why don't you come help plant some rice?" he said.

Shige nodded, and ran to grab her hoe. In the afternoon heat, she felt sleepy and sluggish, but she felt the need for distraction. Something was going on in the mountain, and she felt it wouldn't end soon.

Some of the women sang as they dug out trenches, and Shige listened all the while.

"Crabs wade together

among the shallow shore,

cold water cleaning their shells

as they work

to clean the sand..."