April 7th, 1885 – Home – Afternoon and Beyond

I say goodbye to Isuzu-chan, time to go home. She’s not far from my house so I’m home really quickly. Coming through the gate I see it, sitting on the engawa. Oh, I should put this up…
“Change first!” Okaasan calls out, coming from the inside. “Good afternoon, Makoto-chan. How was school?”
?
“It was okay.” I say. “Are there snacks?” Isuzu-chan’s mom was trying to finish a kimono. She sews really well, but there were no snacks today.
Okaasan comes outside. “I’ll have dinner ready soon… it’s best that you wait, ne?” She touches my hair and I smile up at her. She looks at me for a minute and smiles back before ruffling my bangs.
“Come along, short-hair. Get out of those school clothes and then you may play a while longer, okay?” She teases me about my hair but it was -my- idea! Long hair is pretty on Okaasan is okay but mine got in the way.
So I cut it myself, and Isuzu-chan’s too. It doesn’t take as long to get ready to go anymore (I hated that stupid braid and Okaasan pulling on my hair it was so -slow- every day to get ready), but we were both in a lot of trouble. Okaasan was really upset about it.
She helps me change and I go back out to my new rock. It’s a good one. I run back to my hideout, going under the bush, and add the rock to the ones there. Then I sit on the big one, and through the branches of the bush I can see the ocean. It won’t be a lot longer before we can go play in the sea again!
I think I still like school. I like the teachers and we learned words today in English. “Hello!” I try to say. That’s a hard sound to make. “Goodbye!” Not as hard. I try it again. “Hello-Goodbye, Hello-Goodbye.”
I don’t like the kids so much. But I knew most of them already. They’re stupid. Okaasan said that it’s okay that it’s just me and her. I kick one of the rocks. No! I run and put it back where it belongs.
I want to ask Okaasan about my father again, but when I do she gets all sad. *sigh*
“Makoto-chan! Dinner!” I hear Okaasan from the engawa at the back of the house.
I see a stick on the ground as I go back under the bush, and I think of something else I saw at school. Oh, that might be just right! I place it back in my base and run back to the house.