Written in 2012
He is a young man with weary eyes bringing his lunch to the park. He eats near the pond because he likes the toads. The day is bright, a contrast to his mood.
A mound under a tree nearby moves and he doesn't notice until a figure uncurls, revealing an old woman who leans against the trunk. She wears a brightly colored dress, has a pile of flower crowns in her lap, and most interesting of all, wears no shoes.
He finishes one of his sandwiches except for the crust which goes in a pocket.
The young man walks over to her saying, "Madam, would you like to share my lunch?"
She smiles at him and takes his last sandwich.
"What do you do with all these crowns?"
"I sell them. If there's any left I like to put them on statues or happy dogs out with their family."
"I'd like one."
"Gimme a dollar."
"I gave you half my lunch!"
"That was charity, this is business."
Her wit makes him smile despite himself as he makes the exchange.
She hands him a crown of dandelions, clover flowers, daisies and assorted flowers he couldn't name.
"Those nicer bits come from the sidewalk florists."
He wears the crown with dignity and excuses himself so he can feed the toads crumbled bread crust.
He goes back to the barefoot old woman asks why she has no shoes.
"A fashionable young man like you don't know skin is in?"
She asks him what he does and why he likes toads.
He says that apart from school he learns swordfighting from his father and that he likes toads and other reptiles because they are dependent and loyal. She tells him that she likes dogs for the same reasons.
They are quiet for a moment, both staring out at the pond. He thinks of the autumn wind on her old skin and offers to give her his jacket.
"Ooh, I am a lucky gal to have met such a gentleman but a fine jacket would be stolen from me. A bit of its fur ruff would be more than enough."
He agrees and she uses a pocketknife to do the deed. She is pleased that the mass of fur is nearly a scarf.
"It smells like a dog. You have any?"
He nods.
"Tons."
She told him about the disastrous camping trip her family took when some wolves attacked, orphaning her. Park rangers' dogs had found her a week later.
"I've had a great appreciation for dogs ever since."
Later, when he says goodbye, the young man thinks that he'd like to have met her earlier or reverse time's effect on her. He had found it easy to tell her about his half-brother and his father's unfaithfulness.
Sesshoumaru regrets that he didn't even think to ask for her name.
