むかしむかし…

(+ A story and a no snowing photo)

A long time ago there lived an umbrella maker. And this umbrella maker had a young apprentice. Umbrella maker despised his apprentice and not a day passed without him beating or scolding the boy as the master was jealous of apprentice's youth and skillful hands. On one midwinter day the umbrella maker sent his apprentice on an errand to a neighbouring village and he ordered him to take a path through Crow Mountain because the path was steeper and snow was deeper there and he hoped the boy would fall down and freeze to his death. The apprentice obeyed his master and took a path through the mountain, although he knew people rarely entered those parts as they feared the wrath of The King of the Crows, who resided in the mountain.
The wind was blowing terribly and soon the apprentice was so cold he could barely walk. Snow was getting deeper and deeper with each step and the path was no longer to be found. The boy stumbled and fell down. Last thing he saw before he closed his eyes were snowflakes covering sleeves of his kimono.
When people from the village went looking for the boy, they couldn't find him, nor his body. They say the boy disappeared. And some of the villagers say the fearsome king of tengu from the mountain took him.

I had this story in my head for years, I had planned it way before I even had money to afford buying Gabriel. And speaking of the people who almost froze to death: I intended to give the story some kind of a cozy-cuddly happy ending. It was not meant to be, not a single photo came up any good, maybe one day... Well, not only I need to learn photography, but I also need a 190 cm tall bodyguard to carry my two huge dolls in their respectable carriers, a handbag full of props, a DSLR, and to call me "Your Highness". Wait a minute, wasn't there an anime about that...?