Free Nightblade by Ryan Kirk

in the community. But then the children came. Takako was first, followed by twin brothers and then one more. The business did not grow in proportion to the size of their family. What had been a comfortable existence slid into one of daily struggle. Takako’s father once had dreams, but the never-ending monotony of trying to produce enough to survive wore him down to a shadow of the man he had been.
    Even Takako’s mother could not keep his spirits up. There were still days where everything seemed to be as it should. They would both smile and laugh and the children were all too willing to follow suit. But it could not last and it never did. The periods of happiness would dissipate like the morning fog leaving nothing but the cold reality of day to day survival.
    None of the children were ever abused or neglected. Their father worked hard so they could all be fed and the mother spent every day with her children doing her best to educate them and prepare them for their futures. They all helped with the business doing whatever they could. When they weren’t at the shop they were home cooking and cleaning. Their mother’s willingness to make her husband happy was contagious. Every evening rotated around the whims of the father. Takako’s mother became like one of the children, hanging on to his every word, trying to find a measure of his infrequent approval.
    As the cycles passed, everything worsened and life decayed like an old piece of paper. Takako’s father began gambling with some friends. Until that day he had abstained, knowing there wasn’t enough money for the family to be frivolous with any of it. But one night something had changed his mind, and he adopted the belief that it was his hard-earned money to spend as he desired. He talked it over with his wife and she agreed that it might be good for him to relax with friends and do as he pleased. They ran over the numbers, and figured on a suitable amount for him to take to the halls, expecting and planning for him to lose everything. They would have to trim a couple of corners for the next few days but they figured they could make ends meet without too much difficulty.
    That night Takako saw her father the happiest he had ever been. He came back flush with winnings. He brought treats for everyone and still brought home much more money than he had left with. That night the family celebrated their good fortune with an opulent meal and games. The night became forever etched in Takako’s memory, a colorful, vivid memory against a backdrop of black and white images.
    The happiness of that evening lasted for a while. Both Takako’s mother and father were by nature careful spenders and for almost a full moon the air around the house was jovial. It never reached the heights of the first night, but her parents did not seem as worried as usual and the mood was palpably more relaxed than it had been.
    But Takako had been taught that all things in life travel in a great cycle, and the good fortune experienced by the family slowly returned to the day-to-day drudgery the family knew so well. The day-to-day drudgery uncovered the same tension that had consumed the family earlier. Once again, the merchant went out to gamble, but this time it wasn’t for fun or pleasure. It was to earn money for his family. His wife tried to dissuade him, but only half-heartedly, fearful hope instilled in her as well. The joy of that night was still flush in her mind, and although part of her knew that luck didn’t visit the same person twice in the gambling halls, she wanted to believe it enough she was willing to ignore her intuition and put her trust in her husband’s confidence.
    The whole family waited up filled with expectation, but when the merchant returned, he returned with less money. It wasn’t much less. He had runs of both good and bad luck but had quit before he lost too much. A little less money meant a little less food and a little more tension around the house. But it was