Looking down the slope, he could see the winding stone steps, lined on either side with prayer wheels. There was a stiff wind, and as it blew the wheels turned, creaking, on their hinges – sending out useless prayers to a bodhisattva of compassion who was evidently not listening. Ash danced in the air, which itself seemed to be shivering – distorted by the heat of the small fires that still burned in the forest – so that it seemed the whole world was shaking with grief. At the bottom of the steps was a pale grey oblong where the Hokke-do had stood. Taro could see monks moving over it, as small as ticks crawling on the skin of an animal, sifting through the debris to look for the scrolls, or any trace of Hana. Because Hana was in there, or had been in there. Consumed by the fire. Taro had just left the body of his mother, and now he was expected to accept that Hana was dead too. He felt something tear inside his chest, and thought that thing might have been something he needed, in order to be Taro.
What do You think about Lord Oda's Revenge (2011)?
