Toshi found himself walking through a Torii.

 

It had been laughably easy to just walk off the school grounds. A GooHoo search and he found the nearest shrine. A short ride on public transportation and he was here. He knew he should have waited until after school was over, but he couldn't. As he was stepping off the transport, his phone rang.

 

The caller ID was his sister.

 

He answered it long enough to say, "I'm fine. I need to think. I'll call after I deal with this. Please give me space." He hung up. He suspected that wouldn't be good enough and took the time to actually pull the sim card from his phone.

 

Next thing he knew, he was walking through the gate into the shrine proper. He knew he should bow at the gate, but he didn't. He wasn't here to pay respects. He was here for answers. He walked right past the temizuya heading right for the shrine itself. He walked past an old man who was sweeping up the courtyard with an even older broom. Upon reaching the shrine, Toshi dug deep into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change.

 

He threw it at the offering box. Some coins went in, some scattered upon the ground. The clattering sound echoed through the area and then faded as the coins finally came to a rest. He tilted his head upwards and looked to the sky.

 

Nothing happened.

 

The wind blew. The trees swayed. The old man kept sweeping. Toshi kept staring.

 

Nothing kept happening.

 

For ten minutes he stared at the sky, then closed his eyes. He let his head fall forward, "Thought so." He turned to walk away. As he walked out, the old man spoke up, "You seem upset." Toshi stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned to look back at the man who had stopped his work to talk to Toshi.

 

"I need answers, but no matter how I ask the question, I don't get any." Toshi started to turn to leave. The old man nodded and raised his eyebrows as if he was a bit surprised, "Ah. Well. Have you tried listening?"

 

Toshi let out a bark of a laugh and turned back, "Have I tried listening?" He threw his hands into the air and yelled at the sky, "Have I tried listening, he says!" Toshi shook his head and let his arms fall back down to slap his sides, "Yes." He glared at the old man, "I've tried listening." Toshi pointed skyward, "He's not talking." He paused then rubbed his face, "Or maybe he can't hear me."

 

The old man nodded slowly, "Ah. Well. I find listening works."

 

Toshi glared at the old man, then walked over closer, "Okay!" In a mocking way, Toshi leaned in closer and put his hand to his ear as he spoke sarcastically, "I'm Listening!"

 

The old man stared at Toshi, then held up his broom, "Do you like my broom?"

 

Toshi blinked and blinked HARD, "What?"

 

The old man gestured at the broom with his free hand, "This broom has been here a long time. It's been in the shrine for many, many years. As I sweep with it, the straw falls out, so I have to replace it from time to time. Sometimes I have to replace the binding." He turned the broom over to show off the bottom, "It's been replaced many times."

 

Toshi turned and started to walk away, but stopped and turned back, "Okay..." He rolled a hand in the air to indicate he wanted to the old man to get to the point.

 

The old man turned the broom back over, "I broke it." He pointed at the long handle, "The handle. I fell many years ago and broke the handle." He pointed off towards a low stone wall, "Right over there." He took several steps off to the side, "I was much younger then, and so very terrified."

 

Toshi slowly raised an eyebrow. He spoke in a flat tone, "You were terrified of a broken broom."

 

The old man nodded, "Oh yes. It was hundreds of years old. I was the one who broke it. I was in tears. I threw myself on the ground and begged for forgiveness from the old grounds keeper. I expected... well... I honestly didn't know what to expect." The old man turned back to Toshi, "The grounds keeper took the broom, motioned for me to follow, then went this way." He started walking off.

 

Toshi stared.

 

The old man stopped and looked back, "Well? Don't dawdle."

 

Toshi looked at the exit, then back at the old man who had stopped waiting and was walking off. Toshi cursed to himself and ran to catch up with the old man. They walked into the back area of the shrine up to what appeared to be a small tool shed hidden out of line of sight of the typical visitor. The old man opened it up and stepped inside.

 

Toshi followed.

 

Inside there were quite a number of tools for keeping the grounds clean. Some very old, some brand new, but the old man ignored all of them and walked over to the corner where there was a box of straw, a large spool of twine, and a whole bunch of broom handles stacked against the wall, "He came in here, undid the binding, took the straw off the broken broom, and put it on a new handle."

 

Toshi looked at the old man, at the broom handles, then back at the old man, "SO???"

 

The old man just smiled and held up the broom, "Tell me, is this the same broom?" Toshi rolled his eyes, "Of course!" The old man shook his head, "But every single part of this broom has been replaced. None of it is original. How could this be centuries old if none of it is centuries old?" Toshi opened his mouth, then closed it. He did that again a few more times, then just stared at the broom, "It isn't the same broom."

 

The old man snorted as he whacked Toshi in the middle of his forehead with the broom handle.

 

"OW!" Toshi covered his head and glared at the old man, "What the Hell?" The old man waved the broom energetically in front of Toshi's face, "Of course it's still the same broom!" Toshi slowly lowered his hands, "But... how can you say that?" The old man slowly shook his head as he let out an exasperated sigh.

 

"I'm still sweeping with it, aren't I?"

 

Toshi stared with the widest eyes, then abruptly laughed, "Still... sweeping with it?" He chuckled a little as he stared off into the distance, "Still sweeping." He went stock still as all expression drained from his face, "You are still sweeping with it." He snapped his head around to look at the old man.

 

He was gone.

 

Toshi looked around rapidly, then burst out of the shed to search for the old man. Nobody was around. He rushed back to the shrine. He heard noise coming from the courtyard. As he stepped out into the open space, Toshi discovered the place had become quite crowded. There were a few dozen people who had arrived and were at various stages of purification or prayer. Toshi jumped up into the air to look over the crowd and see if the old man was hiding among them, but there was no sign of him.

 

Toshi did see the broom.

 

He jogged over to find it leaning up against a tree. Toshi reached out to touch it, but stopped just short. He looked around to see if the old man was still around, but there wasn't a hint that he was ever here. Toshi looked back at the broom and lowered his hand as he stepped back.

 

"Thanks."

 

Toshi turned and went home.