a 100 word story by Yordie Sands
copyright © 2013
When I became maiko I lived the life of an aspiring geisha. I performed for and served the many businessmen and samurai who visited our okiya.
One day I entertained a distinguished businessman who seemed to admire me. He spoke to me with encouragement, “You have learned your skills well.”
Days later I was informed by okaasan that my debt to the okiya had been paid. That same day a lawyer told me I have a patron, then took me to a garden on the northern side of the hanamachi. He said, “This is a gift from your danna.”
Yordie’s Japanese garden
Being Yordie Sands 