On the morning of Keichitsu, the soil at the edge of Dragon God’s Pond stirred and shifted .
“…Spring. It’s spring.”
Peshan slowly lifted his great body up from the ground. dirt clung to his soft, doughy back, with a few dry leaf fragments still stuck on top.
“He’s up! Peshan’s up!”
Kopo bounded over to greet him.
“What were you doing all winter?”
“…Sleeping.”
“Any dreams?”
Peshan thought about it for a while.
“…A dream of spring coming.”
Sonchō laughed from his bench. “Feh-feh. Turns out the one making the surest prediction underground all along was this fellow .”
Kopo said, a little frustrated , “Maybe if I burrowed into the dirt too, I’d see the future.” But he quickly added, “Actually, that sounds scary.”
The water of the pond caught the morning light, swaying as though slowly unraveling .
Margin note: When the dirt fell from Peshan’s back, one small green sprout came off along with it.
【Today’s Drop】
- Keichitsu (Insects Awaken): One of the twenty-four seasonal divisions of the traditional calendar, marking the time when insects that hibernated in the soil through winter begin to emerge onto the surface. keichitsu falls on March 5 in 2026.
This is an English translation of “土の下の声”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).