Akio spoke the words to activate the oracle, and again keyed in the numbers. The answer was the same. He scratched his head.
“Give it to me,” Norio puffed with exasperation. “You need to divide percentages by a hundred. You know that!”
Akio felt the pressure building up inside his head. One week until the apprentices’ examination. One week. And it seemed that the closer the date came, the more mistakes he made.
“Stop thinking about that girl!” Norio yelled. “She’s housebound, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. Did you not think you’d be seen in the street? That word wouldn’t make its way to Rika’s mother and then to Builder Kazuki’s ear? You won’t see Rika until after the examinations are over, so just concentrate!”
“I’m trying my best,” Akio protested.
“Well try harder!”
Akio felt the pounding in his head grow in intensity. The blood rushed to his temple, and the oracle in his hand wavered.
“Do it again, and this time divide by a hundred. I saved for a year to buy you that oracle. Use the thing!”
Akio looked at the beginning of the arch in front of him. Behind it was the large marble block he was cutting the stones from. He had nowhere near the number of stones he would need.
Looking at his scowling father, and then at the amount of work in front of him, Akio suddenly couldn’t take it anymore.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t have!” he cried. “Maybe I need to figure things out for myself sometimes. Maybe if you hadn’t been pushing me so hard, I would have learned on my own. Did you ever think of that?”
Norio drew back, his eyes wide with shock, but now that Akio had started he couldn’t stop.
“It’s just you and me,” Akio said. “I remember you saying that after Mother died. But it’s always about you! What about what I want? Did anyone ever ask me?”
Even as he said the words, Akio knew they were wrong. Norio regarded him with an expression that said that Akio was old enough to know better.
As Akio waited for his father to speak, Norio instead turned and without a word he walked away, leaving Akio alone in the quarry with the sun setting and all the other apprentices gone home.
Akio sat down on the hard rock, staring at the marble block and the cart he was supposed to use to bring his completed arch back to the village.
In a fit of rage he took his large hammer and smashed it into the huge marble block, again and again. Chips and chunks of stone flew off in all directions. Finally Akio kicked the block, and it tipped backwards, half-falling onto the cart.
Akio sat down and wondered what he would do.
~
The village was buzzing with the news that Prince Masaki was finally in town. High Lord Koraku’s son was young, handsome, and unmarried. The village women had been run off their feet the previous week, not only ensuring their homes and husbands were looking their finest, but also that their daughters were looking their most presentable.
Norio raised himself onto his toes as he tried to look over the shoulder of a tall man holding a baby. He was in the village square, a wide space paved with cobbled stones under the watchful gaze of the earth temple’s spires. The square had been cleared, with the townsfolk packed along the sides; it was not permitted to move further into the judging area. Norio pressed into the crowd and struggled to see through the mass of people.
A score of apprentices nervously stood next to their wheeled carts, and on each cart stood an apprentice's creation. Each work was covered by a cloth which would be removed when the High Builder and the guild master – Builder Kazuki, Rika's father – made their assessment. For added excitement, Prince Masaki would accompany the examiners on their grading. Builder Kazuki was puffed with importance to not only be in the company of the High Builder but also the High Lord’s son. He knew this boded well for his career.
Norio could see Rika standing in the crowd, not too far from her mother. Rika looked especially beautiful in a summer dress of blue and orange, although she wore a scowl on her face as her mother fidgeted with her hair.
Another apprentice entered the square, the drudge-pulled cart eventually coming to a halt, and suddenly Norio’s heart was in his mouth. It was Akio.
When Akio hadn’t come home, Norio had returned to the quarry, but Akio was gone. Norio’s son had taken the block of marble and his tools with him, and vanished into the forest.
Norio now tried to get his son’s attention, but Akio couldn’t see him. His son’s rising and falling chest betrayed his anxiety, and Norio’s heart reached out to him.
Norio closed his eyes, and gave a prayer to the Lord of the Earth.
He opened his eyes but was still unable to catch Akio’s attention.
Please, let it all work out, he thought to himself.