Short story "Once in a Lifetime"

Short story "Once in a Lifetime"

Setting: Futoan, a small teahouse in Higashiyama, Kyoto
Characters:

• Tsumugi: A young woman studying the tea ceremony at WABISUKE.
• Shigure: A young man who visits a tea house during his travels.
• Tomori: The owner of the tea room. An elderly tea master.

story

On a drizzly afternoon in late autumn, Tsumugi was to hold her first tea ceremony at the tea house "Futoan." Her teacher, Akari, had only one thing to say.

"Today's guests may never come again."

Although Tsumugi is nervous, she chooses the words "Once in a Lifetime" for the hanging scroll. The flower is a camellia blooming in the field. The dish is a cracked Karatsu ware left to her by her grandmother.

The guest who arrived was a young man named Shigure dressed in traveling attire. He spoke little, just quietly breathing in the air of the tea room. Tsumugi made a cup of tea. The sound of the water, the movement of the tea whisk, the warmth of the teacup—everything felt like the first and last time.

Shigure takes a sip of tea and suddenly smiles.

"I'll never forget this taste."

Leaving only that behind, he left, without telling me his name or where he was going.

That night, Tsumugi asks Akari.

"Why was it him?"

The light answers.

"Tea is a form of encounter. The tea you made was you. That's how he met you."

Conclusion

A few years later, Tsumugi becomes the owner of the tea house. One day, a young traveler visits. He resembles the old Shigure. However, Tsumugi no longer questions him.
He just quietly prepares tea.

The tea contained the memories of that day, the wind of today, and the horizons of the future.