Evanescent
He used to change the painting that hung on his living room wall everyday. Still-lifes and landscapes made their brief debuts, then faded into obscurity as he studied for his veterinary license. On graduation day, he hung up an unknown portrait of a dark-eyed Icarus instead. He stood before the painting in his cap and gown. An hour ago, his professors had greeted him without the "kun" honorific that had dogged his name for years. Sakurazuka-san felt Icarus' frightened heart hammering in his hand. The sun-melted wax of false wings ran through his fingers like the grains of time, like the hours of his life.
It was time to find an heir.