"The rain is such a depressing thing, isn't it?" The old woman gazed out of the window, her eyes following the drops that ran down it, "Look at it, forcing us to shut ourselves in." She chuckled.
She brought her attention to her granddaughter sitting by herself reading a book, being calm and quiet for once. The child's mother shuffled her focus from her to the tea she was drinking, moving her fingers along the glass every now and then.
"I think the rain is a lovely thing. People in this town never travel, but don't like to converse with each other. Whenever there's a storm like this around, they have no choice but to exchange even a 'hello'!"
"True, they're anything but social around here." She leaned back and smiled to herself, as her granddaughter ran over and held a book at her face.
"Gramma, what does this say?" She pointed to a picture of a boy clad in green on his horse, then slid her fingers to the text below it.
Her grandmother squinted, running her finger over the ancient text and mumbling words to herself, "Now, I could be a little off with my translation. Mind you, I'm a little old…" She chuckled, patting her granddaughter's head,"But my old eyes can still read! So, from what I see here, the excerpt speaks of how the Hero of Legend came to save the people and left shortly after. Nobody had seen or heard of him since."
The child's mother spoke up, taking her hand off the glass of tea, "Aren't you worried that you're filling her mind with a legend that might not even exist?" She frowned, worried over how her daughter's mind was being molded to believe stories that she did not.
Not understanding what her elders were talking about, the young girl pulled the book away from her grandmother and placed it on the other side of the table, next to her mother, "Mom, do you think there's a Hero out there?"
She brushed her daughter's hair and looked up at the child's grandmother, who was drinking her tea, acting like she wasn't listening, "I believe that there used to be a man who saved others, in ancient times. Those times have now passed, and I hope you understand that the Hero in that story no longer exists."
She hated to admit the truth to her daughter, but it was for the best. However, the child only smiled back to her.
"It's fun to believe in a Hero, Mommy."
Her mother couldn't bring herself to find the right words. She looked away from her daughter and to a few of the other villagers that were sitting down and discussing things completely different such as how their day was or the weather outside, rather than indulging on tales of the old Hero. Smiling to herself, she turned around to her daughter who was still focused on her.
"Alright, Takara. But don't let these stories get to your head, okay dear?"
"Yes, Mom!" She replied happily, as she took her book off the table to go and show it to a couple sailors.
"She's going to try and find that boy." Her grandmother chuckled, looking over at Takara, "Don't pretend you cannot see it, she's got a passion."
"I don't want her to get hurt." Her mother protested quietly, noticing her tea had become cold.
"You cannot keep her forever."
"But what if she spends her entire life looking for that kingdom or that hero and doesn't find a thing?!"
Her grandmother placed her hand over hers to ease her, "Do not fear, she will find something. She's a smart girl."
Taking a deep breath, her mother nodded in agreement and looked over to Takara, who had been reading her book to the sailors that had now gathered around to listen to her story of the Hero and the lost kingdom.