Ancient Haiku

  Tatsuya pulled the broom from the closet and began methodically sweeping the little Inari Shrine on the outskirts of Nonogawa. His aunt had turned over the duty of caring for the place. If she knew how long it'd been since he'd stopped by, she'd give him an earful about slacking off.   He'd been so busy with the new job. How did she manage a career, a family, and taking care of the shrine on top of being the town's nosy dowager?   Despite it being extra work, he enjoyed the task. It was so peaceful and quiet here. Hardly anyone came to the shrine so he had precious moments to think.   Thud. Rustle. Rustle. Fwip! As he worked toward the inner area of the tiny building, he looked around. Where were those sounds?   Rustle. Clunk. Clunk. There it was again, coming from behind the offering stand! As Tatsuya leaned over to see what the commotion was, a scroll flew into the air, colliding with his face. He stumbled back. Holding his nose, he growled, "What was that for?"   A grating voice responded as the scroll unrolled and coiled like a snake ready to strike. "For leaving me unread for centuries! I've had nothing to do in that infernal case but count the days. The beautiful poetry I contain was ignored as if it was the work of an imbecile!"   Tatsuya's nose still stung. At least there wasn't blood on his hands. "I didn't stick you in that case." Should he ask to read the poetry? The yokai obviously wanted someone to do so. The scroll seemed rather lengthy and he was short on time. What could he do?   His teacher was away. His Aunt was busy in Kyoto. Satou didn't like poetry. Who would have the time to appreciate this ancient, albeit demanding, scroll?   Click. "I'll make you a deal."   The scroll harrumphed.   Despite the rudeness, Tatsuya continued, "After I finish cleaning here, I'll take you over to the Nonogawa River Valley Historic Society. They're meeting tonight. So I'll ask if they'd hold a public reading of the poetry you contain."   The scroll flew up into his face again. This time without the assault to his nose. It's wide eyes sparkled. "Truly?"   Tatsuya nodded.   "Then I, Jiku, will assist."   Tatsuya had to hold his tongue as Jiku tried to boss him around instead of cleaning. His "help" made the job take twice as long. But it was best not to tick off a yokai. You never knew what they might do. Though, Tatsuya wondered what he'd gotten the historic society into.  

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