These fragment come from an original story I am in the process of piecing together. Any suggestions for names are welcome.
~Kate

When Erin met the Djinn she was 22. They moved to Tokyo until she learned to speak proper Japanese. By that time she was twenty-eight. Then she moved to ### in 1850. It took five years to establish her bees and collect enough honey to make a living, then she opened the inn. She'd been operating that inn for almost twenty years when

when I met ###. By that time I was already being referred to as Ojii-san. We were together for three years before he-- " his eyes darkened. "...before he was killed," he continued softly.

"There was little fox, a she-fox as it turned out, living in the woods near the farmers' fields. A mischief maker, she'd managed to make off with a few of ###'s chickens, as I recall. She would even try to break into my beehives. Silly thing always got herself stung of course, but she was stubborn.

"Well, between her yelping every time she angered my bees and what with ### tramping through my property once he'd determined to hunt her down I just started leaving the dinnertime scraps in the clearing behind the house. I figured that would be the best way to keep her out of trouble, if she knew there was food in easy reach. There was never a shrine there before, I just started posting signs reading 'Don't Disturb the Foxes' to keep hunters from trespassing through my yard. It got so that every night at sundown she'd be waiting for her dinner.

"This worried me. It's not good for a wild animal to be too trusting of humans, but..." he lowered his gaze. "I was selfish. I wouldn't admit it but I enjoyed the company.

Thump! Sakusya awoke to a sudden sound. The Djinn felt a jolt of apprehension. Sealed within the book that had bound him for centuries to be released only occasionally as a slave to whomever opened it until their three wishes were granted, he had for the past few decades become comfortable on the old bookseller's back shelf. Once a year the shabby store was dusted, and it always made him nervous. The anxiety that a curious customer or the elderly merchant himself might pry open the rotting pages of his prison would only relent when he heard the muted thump of his book being returned to its original position.

Erin McCord
Kage Itazura

The loud early-morning croaking of those Japanese crows, still alien to his ears, roused Erin from his bed to scowl at the darkness of another morning that had not yet seen the sun. Groping across the floor of the cramped workshop where he lived, Erin located the straw slippers that afforded his feet no warmth in the early chill. Hooking his fingers into them, he found his way to the door through the dark with the ease of long habit. Drawing a slightly warmer robe around his shoulders, he fumbled at the latch with stiff sleepy fingers until the cold light of the pre-dawn sky seeped into his shop. At the completion of this Herculean task, he rested his forehead against the threshold and squeezed his eyes shut against the unwelcome brightness. "Come on," prodded an interior voice. "Might as well get to the hives before the bees wake." Erin irritably grumbled an incoherent acknowledgement to the voice. Squinting, he stood back to let the door swing inward, dropped his slippers onto the porch, and stepped into them. Arms folded, he plodded towards the shed where he kept his supplies.

The loud early-morning crowing of Arthur's damnable roosters roused Erin from her bed to scowl at the darkness of another morning that had not yet seen the sun. Groping for the bedroom floor, Erin located the slippers that afforded her feet no warmth in the early chill. Hooking her fingers into them, she found his way to the door through the dark with the ease of long habit. Drawing a robe around her shoulders, she fumbled at the latch with stiff sleepy fingers until the cold light of the pre-dawn sky seeped in. At the completion of this Herculean task, she rested her forehead against the threshold and squeezed her eyes shut against the unwelcome brightness. "Come on," prodded an interior voice. "Might as well get to the hives before the bees wake." Erin irritably grumbled an incoherent acknowledgement to the voice. Squinting, she stood back to let the door swing inward, dropped her slippers onto the porch, and stepped into them. Arms folded, she plodded towards the shed where she kept her supplies.

Okugi
Sakusya
Itazura
Kage
Yanagi
Kaze