SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 2

I’d never thought about leaving school to seek work until Miss Nishio mentioned it in her predictions. It seemed as if fate waited to test me until a week after the fortune teller's visit. The young man who owned the wood mill, whom I’d come to know as Mr. Takaya, came to my home one evening and offered my sister the prospect of me becoming a wood worker's apprentice. I remember how formal and business-like he appeared. He had on a suit and tie, and his head was clean shaven. He looked nothing like the person that’d once beat me for throwing pebbles at him. He was standing straight with his hat in his hand, and looked at my sister with such a mature and kindly gaze, that if I had glanced at the two of them without thinking, I would have mistaken them as husband and wife.

To work for a company was one thing, but to be apprenticed under a business owner was considered a great honor, because it guaranteed a future job with a high ranking position. I was moved by his request. I imagined that when he called me little dragon, it probably wasn’t just a hollow nickname, but rather, a title that exemplified potential.

"I hear your brother is one of the smartest children in his class. If that’s true, I would like to begin training him in the ways of woodcraft, and later, in the ways of managing a business." He spoke directly about these things even before he had a chance to sit down at the table and wait for the tea to be served. Though he was older than me, he was still young, and I suppose he still had a lot to learn with regards to balancing manners and business.

My sister was a person who believed deeply in formalities and tradition, especially when it involved the arrival of guests. "Mr. Takaya, while I am honored by your visit, it is my feeling that we can’t even begin such an important discussion until we’ve sat down and sipped a bit of tea. Terr, go to the kitchen and bring us some green tea, then go outside for a while."

I told her I wanted to stay, but she gave me a stern look and shooed me away to the kitchen. Reluctantly, I did exactly as she said. I served the tea, then quickly left the house. I heard a bit of their conversation from outside, but not enough to understand everything they were talking about. Things like money, skills with my hands, my health, all these things I could make out from their muddled voices though the thin walls. The enthusiasm that Mr. Takaya had for me, made me feel quite proud, but by the way my sister described me, with how I did in school and how well I did with chores around the house, made me feel a little like cattle about to be sold to a new owner. I decided to leave before their mumbled prospects of my future drove me mad.

I suppose I should have been angry that I had no say in their negotiations, but that night, I was feeling quite the opposite. There was a strong wind blowing through the streets. The bare trees rustled and swayed and the dead leaves flew about so wildly, I thought for a moment that a swarm of locusts had wandered into the village.

All at once, I felt the need to run. So I hurried down the street chasing leaves, birds and anything the wind dared to move. I felt odd, as I found myself strangely amused by something. Was it the way the wind sounded, how the air moved past my clothes and hair? I couldn‘t even begin to understand why I felt the way I did that night, but I suddenly found myself infatuated, even obsessed by the slightest movements that caught my eye.

There was no way I could have known that, that strange feeling was an omen, one which was certain to change the course of my days after that night.

Like a blind man opening his eyes for the first time, I caught a glimpse of the first lingering clues, which would herald a fate both unusual and mysterious.

In the middle of the empty village square, I noticed a small, blue glow taking form. At first, I thought I’d gotten sick from being in the cold too long and that it was somehow affecting my eyesight. But after a moment, I began to doubt whether or not these were truly hallucinations at all. More blue patches of light began to appear, fading in and out; drifting through the air like smoke. I should have been surprised, but rather, I found myself accepting of their presence, as if I’d always known these strange glows were a natural part of things. Like thin paper, the air in front of me was torn away, revealing a stream of colored light, like the rays of the sun shimmering beneath the water.