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A Short Story

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It rained the evening before Shiro went to the edge of the world. It was a light rain, cool and soothing, glimmering with the swiftly fading light of day, and Shiro and his parents rushed to get the last of the harvest under cover: most went into the musty, creaky, but surprisingly still-solid storehouse, and the rest was assembled in wicker baskets on the porch, to be eased down rickety wooden steps, with the aid of a lamp, into the cellar afterwards. They had begun as soon as the first drops fell, but it was pitch black, lit only by the lantern dangling outside the front door, by the time that aching legs and arms and backs finally carried them onto the porch for the final time and into the house. Dinner was waiting there, hanging over …show more content…

The storehouse could’ve sprung another leak, she might’ve found a den of mice in the cellar again, and he’d be stuck at home again at the end of harvest dealing with the latest in a never-ending cycle of domestic disasters.
“It should be. I imagine your father and I can still manage a day or two without you. These bones aren’t that old yet.”
“Really?” Shiro was genuinely surprised. It had been two years since he’d last been allowed a whole few days to himself and before that he had been too young to stay out overnight on his own. On a few occasions he’d managed to convince his father, and once even his mother, to take him out exploring the forested hills that surrounded their farm, but those excursions were rare as well.
“So long as you’ve finished up your work for school. It starts up again right after you’ll be getting back, remember, and I don’t want you wandering around for the rest of your break ignoring your schooling.”
A MIT Student/Journey/2 Shiro groaned. “Why do I need so much of an education if I’m just gonna be a farmer like you and dad? Farming’s all there is here ...” he muttered quietly, half-hoping his mother wouldn’t hear. She did.
“We’ve been over this before, Shiro,” she said in the weary tones of someone tired of justifying something obvious.
“Yes mom.” He acquiesced more gracefully and quickly than he’d expected to. The news that’d he’d be allowed go out alone for a couple of days had definitely helped. “I’ve almost finished

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