Book #1: The Wind and The Rain: Kutzu and Namie

Chapter Two- Poundering New Ideas

The next morning Namie woke up on the ground. She looked back down at her scratch. It wasn't bleeding but it still hurt and had a dried rusty stain of blood on it. It was still raining but lighter. Namie got up, her kimono was wet and dirty. As she stood in the rain with no shoes and one tabi sock she jumped up.

  I better check the mail! she thought. 

Namie ran over the tomato patch and the ginseng patch into the grass. Then she ran around the side of the house to the front door. The Bamboo stick that held up the mailbox was tilted because of the rainy weather. Namie opened the top of the straw box and saw three letters. One was from her best friend, Annie, one was from her mom's co- worker and one was from her father. She screamed so loud her neighbor stomped out the door in her juban and she shook her head. The rain started to fall harder. Namie ran inside the house dripping mud from her kimono. Her sister, Ai, was still asleep. 

She ran to her mom's room and screamed, "Mom, there is a letter from dad!" 

Her mom ran from the bathroom her hair half finished and snatched the letter out of Namie's hands. She ripped open the letters red velvet seal and read it out loud. It read:

Dear My Family,

I hope you are doing well. I'm okay I guess. I miss you guys a lot. I have some bad news you guys are not going to like. I will be coming back later that I thought. The fields are drying up because of the lack of rain in Osaka. It's funny because I heard it's pouring in Yoroido. My boss says I don't work that hard so he cut down my pay by 16,000 yen. I now make 2,000 yen a month. I love you guys so much, see you in four more years.

Love,

Jun Lao

Namie's mom dropped the letter on the ground and nodded. Her eyes were burning with sadness. You could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She walked to the bathroom to finish her makeup and hair. Namie went into her room and grabbed a long bandage with dried blood all over it. Namie ran outside and to the river. When she got to the river she pulled up her kimono and waded into the river. The water was colder than usual. She rubbed her bloody leg with her hand. Namie looked up at the sky and saw a bird. The bird was a beautiful crane with wigs that were bluer than diamonds and a beak sharper than a Japanese knife. Namie put the bandage into the river and washed off the red peeling blood. Namie walked out of the river onto the bank. The slimy rocks under the water line stuck to her feet. On the bank she wrapped her leg in the bandage and then walked back to the house. Namie walked into the kitchen and grabbed the water bucket so she could go to the town and get water from the well. Ai was in the kitchen eating rice with mint leaves. She looked very sad, she must have heard the news. 

"Mom, I'm going to Kyoto to get some water!" Namie yelled as she slipped on her zori sandals and light rain kimono. 

Her mom came into the doorway in her beautiful work kimono and powdered face she went to the front door and put on her shoes too.

 "I have to go to work now," she said as she grabbed her umbrella.

 They both walked out into the rain storm and walked down the stone pathway. They said goodbye and parted ways when they saw the big oak tree. Namie walked in the squishy grass and watched the rain hit the pound like dancing on the river banks. As Namie slowly walked to the city's center she saw a ton of people crowding around the fresh tuna market to get some tuna. She walked past it but then heard a loud clash of the hour gong. The loud clash startled her so much Namie fell with a loud bang. Her bucket started to roll down the hill. Namie tried to get up but the crowd of impatient tuna lovers kept her down. Eventually she had an idea. She started to roll down the hill to where the bucket rolled. Then she hit a cherry blossom tree. Namie sat up and grabbed the bucket. The rain dripped down from the leaves onto her nose and feet. She thought about some things that she missed such as going to school and seeing her dad after school, but now she couldn't be happy about these things. Namie pondered what she would do in her life. She then stood up and walked to the well. On the well post there was a damp, dripping sign that read:

Be A Geisha. It's More Than You Would Know!

She looked again at the sign and saw the beautiful photo of a rich geisha in Gion, Kutzu. Kutzu's eyes were brighter than the stars in Yoroido. Her kimono was more elegant than the grand Mount Fuji. Namie looked at the address of Kutzu's apartment, 4537 Giji street Gion Kyoto, Japan. Namie ripped the poster off the well and looked at it more. As Namie stood in the rain with a full water bucket she knew what she had to do. She had to be a geisha.