& Other Love Stories
by Judith Bronte
Chapter One
No Longer a Child
"For a small moment have I forsaken thee;
but with great mercies will I gather thee."
~ Isaiah 54:7 ~
A hot Japanese sun shone through the white curtains of Izumi Mizukiyo's bedroom. She turned over in bed, ignoring the sun's call to wake up. Not to be ignored, it shone into a mirror standing on the right side of Izumi's futon, reflecting a bright glare onto her sleepy eyes.
"Okay, I'm awake," she said groggily, sitting up. Satisfied with her acknowledgement of the new day, the sun dispersed it's reflection, leaving Izumi to rub her stunned eyes. Though she wanted to move the mirror, the glare served as a useful alarm clock. Sitting up in bed, she began brushing her black hair in the small mirror, talking to the reflection as to a familiar friend. "Did you enjoy my graduation?" Not waiting for a reply, she continued, "I'm so glad you could come! My parents meant to be there, but something came up. I'm sure they would have come, if they could." Her face fell a little, but brightened upon the next thought, "Mrs. Tanaka, our teacher, called us 'young women' at the ceremony yesterday. She never called us that before," Izumi added quickly, as if Mrs. Tanaka's address to her students was proof enough of her womanhood. Izumi picked up her diploma, and read it again, savoring every word.
The Tanaka Young Ladies School hereby certifies that Izumi Mizukiyo has fulfilled the requirements needed to graduate. Izumi has honored her teacher, Mrs. Natsumi Tanaka, by finishing first in her class.
She ran her finger along it's edges lovingly, for this small piece of paper represented long hours of tedious work. A satisfied smile parted her lips. "They will be proud of me now."
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Izumi carefully folded up her partitions, taking care to do it quietly. Her parents slept in a partitioned room against the opposite wall.
Quietly, she put away the futon and placed her mirror on the window's ledge. Izumi tiptoed to the kitchen, and knelt next to a small stove with one burner. It stood solemnly beside a tiny refrigerator that sat on the tatami floor. Unstacking some containers in the corner, she pulled out a bag of rice. Izumi measured portions of the white grain into a pan, carefully rinsing it in the kitchen sink. She quietly set the pan on the burner, and turned on the fire. She then went to the closet, and slid open the thin wooden door. Behind the clothes, Izumi pulled out a small table, about a foot tall. Placing it in the middle of the room, she arranged the bowls and tea things on it.
A Rebellious Daughter
Mrs. Anna Mizukiyo sat down and began eating the rice Izumi had so lovingly prepared. She took no thought to thank Izumi, or God, for her meal. Anna had noticed the omission, however, for the voice of her childhood in America came rushing back, as if it had been yesterday.
"God bless this food ... (in a whisper) did I say it right, Daddy?"
How happy were those memories! Then her mind sped to the day she announced to her parents that she was getting married.
"Guess what? I'm getting married!" Her parents' faces turned grave though, when she told them who she was going to marry.
"Anna, he's not a professing Christian. We forbade you from ever seeing him again. And not because he's Japanese, (her father added, seeing the words on Anna's tongue), but because he openly defies God by his speech and actions. He 'is loud and stubborn;' his 'feet abide not in [his] house.'" (Proverbs 7:11)
"But Daddy, I love him! and he loves me, I know he does! He wouldn't have asked me to marry him if he didn't!" Anna's father sat down on the sofa beside her and looked into the blue eyes of his only child.
"Anna, what did Christ say true love was?" He picked up his Bible and turned it to John 14:15 and 24. "If ye love Me, keep My Commandments... He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings: and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me."
"Daddy, where does it say in the Bible that I can't marry someone who isn't a Christian? Where?" Anna's "where" had an unmistakable ring of defiance in it. Her father patiently read Second Corinthians 6:14.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"
There was a pause of silence before he spoke again. "Anna, you know this verse by heart. I'm not reading it to you for the first time. To marry a non-believer would be sin. For 'To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' (James 4:17) You know better." Anna shook her head.
"I don't see how it's sin to marry someone I love!" As she said this, Anna left her parents' home, and turned her back on everyone who truly loved her. The next day she got married and left America, to live with her husband in Japan. Anna tried to suppress these painful memories, but they came crashing through her consciousness as a giant wave pounds the sand.
Anna thought of the day Izumi was born. She was so proud of her baby! Anna could still see the abundance of beautiful, black hair crowning Izumi's tiny head . And those wide blue eyes! Nurses from every department of the hospital would come, and gaze at the beautiful Japanese baby with blue eyes. Every feature of Izumi's face was Japanese, except those clear pools of blue staring up at her mother. How special Anna thought her new baby was!
Then Anna remembered her husband's reaction to his new baby daughter.
Chapter Three
The Dishonored Son
"Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days."
~ Psalm 55:23 ~
When Anna woke up that morning, she noticed that Yoichi hadn't come home. This was a common habit with him, and she learned early on not to question his whereabouts. So Anna ate her breakfast, without giving her absent husband one thought. If she had known why he was absent this morning though, she might not have had any appetite for the rice Izumi made.
Yoichi Mizukiyo, (the "ichi" at the end of his name means "firstborn son"), would usually spend his nights and mornings in a smoke filled room in Yokohama, gambling his inheritance away. Sometimes Yoichi won, but mostly he lost. In fact, he had lost more money than he realized, playing the addicting games of Mahjong, and Pachinko. (Popular games of chance in Japan.) For several years, Yoichi led a life of gambling excesses, causing him to sink deep in debt. His creditors had allowed Yoichi to borrow money hand over fist, knowing his father was wealthy. Someday the old man would die, and leave his great fortune to his eldest son. This is what they were counting on, and so was Yoichi.
Today would be different, however. After spending three hours in front of a Pachinko machine's hypnotizing lights, Yoichi felt someone tugging at his shoulder.
"What do you want?" he asked impatiently.
"Your father is dying. Come quickly." Yoichi obeyed immediately.
Toshikazu Mizukiyo had led a long life. Now he wanted to die peacefully, confident in the knowledge that the honorable family name would continue for several more generations. He had disapproved of his son's choice of wife, for he had hoped that Yoichi would choose a woman of his own country. The blonde, blue - eyed Anna, (with a Dutch heritage), was not what he had hoped for. But Mr. Mizukiyo knew how hard his son was trying to be worldly, and thought it was somewhat humorous. Yoichi had a lot to learn before he would be as wise as his ancestors. Years would add wisdom to his son.
However, several hours ago, Mr. Mizukiyo received word of his eldest son's gambling fever and large debts. Many of Yoichi's excesses were told him in great detail. The longer he listened, the angrier he became. This was no longer a laughing matter. His eldest and most honored son had disgraced the ancient family name, exposing it to ridicule. He must save face, (save honor), and do it quickly, for Mr. Mizukiyo knew that soon, he would die.
Yoichi bowed and knelt beside his dying father.
"Weariness fills my heart, for your disgrace has come to the doors of my house. The inheritance that you have so long taken for granted is given to Shunji ("ji" meaning "second son"). From this hour on, I have no firstborn son." A stunned Yoichi stared disbelievingly at his father.
"Father, if I do not pay the creditors their money, they will kill me ... or worse!" Yoichi was visibly shaken. Beads of sweat ran down in rivulets on his face. The "or worse", was in Yoichi's mind, more terrifying than death.
"I have no firstborn son," his father repeated. Mr. Mizukiyo would not even look at his dishonored offspring. Yoichi opened his mouth to protest, but the words would not come. He knew his father would never reverse the death sentence he had just given. This was how Mr. Mizukiyo was going to punish his son. Silently, Yoichi left his father's house for the last time.
"The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked."
~ Proverbs 3:33 ~
"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end."
~ Psalm 7:9 ~
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