Kyoto, Japan
198X
11 years ago


Through a small gap between the sliding paper doors, you can see outside. Snow falls gently from a grey sky, past the branches of the bare trees, to settle on the earth of the courtyard. The chill wind occasionally seeps through the narrow cracks in the walls to brush against your skin, but the cold is kept back by your winter kimono and the small portable heater your grandfather brought out. Despite his old-fashioned ways, he never complains about modern indoor heating, which today you're grateful for.

Outside, it's a stark winter day, but here inside the dojo, there's enough light to see by, and enough heat to feel warm and cozy.

"Are you going to pay attention to today's lesson?" Your grandfather's gruff voice interrupts your thoughts. "Or are you just going to watch the snow all day, like the frivolous little girl that you are?"

"Sorry, grandpa," you say, embarassed at your attention wandering.

"Hmph. You should be calling me "grandfather" or "teacher." Your father had respect, when he was young, but clearly children these days have none. What's an old man like me to do?"