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Taiorato: A History
[Prologue]
trusting the magic of new beginnings
*.*.*.*
He had waited forever for this day to come.
The young boy swayed back and forth on the shore in anticipation, shifting his weight alternately between his heels and the balls of his feet. He was so close he could almost taste it. All that stood in his way now was an enormous lake and some fifty names that didn't matter to him.
Today was going to be the first day of the rest of his life.
And he was so ready for it.
September 1st.
The day was marked in her calendar with brightly colored stars and hearts making it obvious to any outsider that the day held extreme importance to her. A new school term didn't usually cause this much excitement, but if there was one thing she learned in the last few months, it was that anything was possible. After triple- and quadruple-checking that she had everything in her trunk, she raced into the living room to tell her mother that she was finally ready to go.
She found mother sitting stiffly on the couch, worry etched in her face. The young girl swore that her mother's face was permanently going to set in a frown if she kept it up. Not even her mother was going to ruin this day for her.
"Don't worry, mama," the child said cheerfully. "I'll be fine, I promise! There's no way this isn't real, nobody could make up something this crazy!"
Her mother could only groan in response.
He stared at the express train while clutching the acceptance letter in his left hand like a vice. Loath he was to admit, his mother hadn't been lying about anything yet, and as the initial surprise of successfully making it onto the platform wore off, the next fear gripped him suddenly. He was going to have to find a compartment for himself... alone.
Normally he preferred to do things independently, but this was so out of his comfort zone that he actually wished he had someone around to keep him company. But like always, his dad was busy and his brother was too young, so he'd just have to suck it up and get it over with.
He took a deep breath as the train whistle echoed off the walls around him marking its imminent departure.
Well, here goes nothing.
*.*.*.*