I was worn out, too. It was all I could do to make it to my futon. Still dressed like a yamabushi, I crawled under the covers and slept till noon.

Granny Shige says: “You’ve come this far. You’re almost there. There’s nobody around to compete with, so don’t rush. If a boy and a girl spend time together, they’ll naturally get sweet on each other.”

Mom opened a notebook in her hand and started reading aloud. “Only the moon never sleeps. From the window, it peers in on my heart.” Crap, she was reading from Book of My Poems! I lunged at her in mute fury. Dammit, I’d kept that hidden in my desk drawer. “Give it back!” “No. Unless you want me to make copies and share them with your friends, off

Then the small trees that got chopped down today wouldn’t go to waste. They added nutrients to the soil and could even prevent landslides. I pondered these things as I followed Iwao back up the slope.

Anyway, threatening a kid with kappa in this day and age? Really? And what’s the deal with shirikodama? There’s no such thing in my butt, that’s for sure. But the kid wailed, “No kappa, they’re scary! I won’t do it anymore, promise! I’m sorry!” He was on the verge of tears. Talk about innocent. It’s as if all the villagers stepped out of a

Kamusari village, a place where grown men had in all seriousness just put on a show for the sake of a dog. A place that was growing on me more all the time.