No one in Kinkan Town used their front doors. Well, that wasn't entirely true: none of the farmers or cottagers sprinkled along the outskirts of Kinkan Town used their front doors for anything but the most official and formal occasions. For the most part friendly visits and quick errands were done through the kitchen door on either the side or the back of the house, folks felt it was far friendlier and more neighborly that way and using for front door for anything less than the minister or an out of town visitor was met with knowing smiles and amused glances. Thus Fakir was completely surprised when he heard a knocking on his front door.
It was a struggle to open the door, owing to how infrequently the poor door was used, and squeaked terribly once it he had wrestled it open. Fakir was about to add door maintenance to his mental to do list when the surprise of just who his visitor was blew the thoughts right out of his mind.
"Autor! What are you doing here?"
"Well, what a warm greeting for you dear cousin."
"Pardon me, I meant I was not expecting you, you did not even write... just come inside." Fakir stepped aside to let his cousin in, wincing as the door gave another ear wrenching squeal when he closed it.
"What a charming domicile," Autor remarked once he was inside, staring about him in a manner very similar to the farmers' wives who used to visit on a nearly daily basis. "Is this the sitting room?"
"Yes, over there is my office," Fakir pointed to his desk, neatly cleared off at the moment. "Forgive me for not preparing better for your visit, I was not expecting you. At all. Was your letter, perhaps, lost?"
"Do forgive me, I did not send any letter." Autor gingerly sat in the old, overstuffed chair that came with the cottage, "Since we are so close, practically like brothers, I did not think it was necessary."
"Yes, like brothers, how are Lohen and Siegfried doing? I have not seen them or mother and father in ages." Fakir turned his desk chair around and sat facing Autor. "To be honest, I was expecting them to visit before you."
"Your family are all doing fine, Lohen is almost ready to graduate and Siegfried has excelled as your father's aid. But really, Fakir, I am almost offended. Here I am on a friendly visit and you jump right into things without even offering me a drink."
Fakir stood and started for the kitchen, "I have tea."
"Tea sounds lovely," Autor called to Fakir s retreating back. After several minutes puttering around in his kitchen, Fakir returned to the front room with two cups of steaming tea. He was not at all surprised to find Autor standing next to his desk with several pieces of paper in hand. "I see you found my works."
Autor shifted the papers to one hand as he took the cup Fakir offered him. "Forgive me again, I could not contain my curiosity any longer. I worry for you, cousin, you haven't published a single thing since moving to this provincial town. And here I thought the whole point of the move was to improve your writing."
"My writing has improved, I have written quite a lot after I had settled in. Not to mention I'm far happier with everything I have written since the move than with anything I wrote before."
"Happier? With this this ridiculous nonsense?" Autor shook the papers angrily. "You could be the next Shakespeare or Drosselmeier, but instead you re writing fairy tales for children."
Fakir gently took his papers from Autor and placed them on his desk before responding, "Aside from my own personal feelings about both those authors, Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream and Drosselmeier wrote The Prince and the Raven."
"They are still two great men known for their magnificent tragedies."
"Autor," Here Fakir sighed as if tired of old words repeated many times, "You know I do not enjoy writing tragedies. A sad ending does not make a work any more valid or meaningful than one with a happy ending."
"My stars, is that a deer?" Autor's eyes widened as he focused on the kitchen area behind Fakir.
Fakir half turned and glanced behind him, Ahiru was just in sight leaning through his kitchen door, her hair swaying next to the door frame. "Oh yes, that s just Ahi-" he had started to turn back to Autor when he froze mid-sentence, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. Slowly he turned back, now instead of Ahiru he saw a deer with shockingly bright fur, golden flowers on her head, and incredibly blue eyes.
"Ahi? Is this deer a frequent visitor? It certainly seems brave to come into your kitchen. Is it friendly?" Autor walked past Fakir and into the kitchen, but Ahiru had already backed out and was fidgeting nervously in the garden.
"Her name is Ahiru, and she does visit pretty often."
"How can you tell it's a girl?"
"No antlers", Fakir answered in a deadpan, wondering if Autor was going to notice just how unusual Ahiru looked.
"Ah, of course, how silly of me not to notice. Hello girl, nice to meet you." Autor was now in the garden approaching Ahiru with his hand out while Fakir leaned against his door frame and tried not to seem nervous. Ahiru seemed to decide she didn't want anything to do with Autor and turned away, bounding over Fakir s tiny fence with her tail up in alarm. "I've never been so close to one before, are there others?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen any others."
"How can you be sure it's always the same deer?"
Fakir quirked his eyebrow, "Well, she's never had antlers and is always the same size so I guess I just assumed it was the same deer." After a short pause he added, "She didn't seem at all odd to you?"
"Odd? How so?" Autor asked as he headed back in.
"Well the flowers?" Fakir motioned to his head, but Autor didn t seem to notice as he looked around the kitchen.
"Poor Fakir, is she eating your garden? I hear deer can be quite the pest for gardeners."
"Never mind, let's finish our tea and you can tell me how the family is doing."