I’ve added a new adventurous fairy tale: The Fire-Flower Dragon. In it, a young boy prays to his ancestor, a marathon monk, for guidance and wakens a fire-flower dragon.

Adventurous Fairy Tales are written for kids of all ages and middle year kids. Below is an excerpt. I’d be grateful if you follow the link if you’d like to finish reading. As usual, comments are greatly appreciated. Peace and Joy to all of you!

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The Fire-Flower Dragon

Osaka Castle

“Fireworks!” my mother, Akemi Shou, exclaimed, while I played my Sakuhachi, my traditional bamboo flute. I had learned to play it after hearing it at Osaka Castle.

I looked up, my fingers still moving automatically, my breathing deep and controlled. I looked right into the bright eye of a fire-flower dragon. Time stopped, but my heart continued to beat. I stopped playing for a moment in surprise, and I saw fireworks. I played my flute, and again I looked into the bright eye of the dragon. The dragon’s scales moved so fast, the air broke into colorful bursts that tricked human eyes into seeing fireworks, luminous ever-changing flashes of color in the twilight sky.

My father, Akio Shou, sighed with pleasure. “The fireworks must be part of the Kyoto Fire Festival that starts tomorrow. Funny, I never heard of fireworks here.”

I continued to play, looking at the dragon, who had risen from the rocks on the mountainside. My parents and I had been praying to Buddha and our ancestor, Isamu Hayato, for guidance on whether or not to leave Kyoto and move to America to join my father’s brother. I wanted to stay here in the land of my ancestors, with all my friends, but my father’s company wanted him to go to Boston. I asked them to go without me. We had hiked up the mountainside, a journey taking all day. We followed in the footsteps of my ancestor who had been a marathon monk hundreds of years before. He had run over fifty miles a day on these steep, rocky paths for almost one thousand days. Perhaps he had paused briefly at the same sacred spots to worship.

To continue reading, click here.