Page 9 (1/2)

Kyorinrin gasps and wheezes and it is pleasure and it is pain When it is over he curls his paper over his h to the other side of hie tears of kanji, uncontrollable, indelible

In the end there is nothing left of Akemi but ?

WATER

“You can blow out a sparrow,” Inari says It is not a question

“Yes It’s no different What lights us, what lights wood, what lights oil” Futsukeshibaba braids the s the bay with lavender, eager for the events of the day to begin their occurring

“If I ask you to blow out the Admiral and his men, will you do it?”

Futsukeshibaba thinks about it “No,” she sighs “I could not bear to keep them all inside me”

“I didn’t really mean it It’s already happened and this is the fourth time we’ve watched it I was only curious what you would say” Inari looks up at the di over the cassia trees “The trick riting about Westerners,” she sighs, “is to pretend they are unhuman Like us or like the opposite of us if we have an opposite Otherwise the tale is too sad to finish These are good seats I thank you for the gift”

Behind theht pours out like a cup of water Futsukeshibaba smiles

“At the end of storytelling,” she says “That’s her time”

Aoandon leans against the shoulder of her lover The blue paper lantern will light the way ho about how petty it is to fight about an infidelity that she will not even contemplate for another sixty years Her carp looks at the s The blue fire in Aoandon burns steady and strong She is not intimidated by Inari She lit the way for Aoddess to life again She knows foxes can see quite well in the dark anyway

“You know that I could end you with a snap of my jaws” Inari says this cheerfully, and it is also not a question

“Yes,” says Futsukeshibaba She smiles wider

Below them the sailors have wakened They eat, they stretch, pop the bones of their spines, look for orders, square cargo, prepare landing parties Jellyfish clot around the ships, their si dumbly up at the masts, the men, the cannons

Gently, Futsukeshibaba lifts Inari’s heavy tail It is as big around as the pillar of a temple, the color of persimmons She does it so the blue paper lantern of her heart can see it, and she does it with her eyes locked on the eyes of the fox-god With infinite satisfaction, Futsukeshibaba blows out the light at the end of Inari’s tail