Outside
the window, the autumn wind teased the willow branches. Akai
Hime put down her ink brush and stepped to the paper sliding
doors. How lovely it would have been to go with her father
on his visit to the shogun. But as a girl, her place was here…always
here.
Akai Hime
turned to her mirror and adjusted her kimono. It had been
a gift from her father. The gorgeous red brocade gleamed in
the sun, its patterns of blue and gold catching the light
like darting fish. A deep blue velvet obi, trimmed with gold
braid, cinched her waist. Upon her feet were sandals perfectly
matched to the red of her kimono.
“My little
sparrow,” her father had exclaimed when she had first donned
his gift.
“How beautiful!”
“My little
sparrow,” Akai Hime whispered now. Her eyes rose to the corner
of her room, where a cage swung in the breeze.
That spring
she had found her friend. She had discovered the tiny sparrow
in the garden, hurt, frightened, hungry. Akai Hime had saved
the bird, feeding and sheltering it in a cage in her room.
Always meaning to let it go, but never wanting to lose her
friend.
Across the
autumn sky came the farewell cries of departing birds. And as
if in reply, Akai Hime stepped to the birdcage. With a firm
hand, she opened the door for the last time.
Next
Pattern: Qing
Dynasty