The First Day of Summer

…It was the first day of summer. The sun had been shining with promised opportunity. The cicadas had started to come out. You even remember what you had done earlier in the day. At some point, you and your wife had decided it would be a lovely day to take a walk downtown. You walked together hand and hand down the boulevard, checking out the shops.{if Female = true}

There was, as always, the odd funny look that you received for walking around together with your wife. But, you’d long since learned not to let it bother you.{endif}

Kaori would often break the grip though, if only so she could run over to the shop windows. You would smile at the way she would stand in front of whatever display caught her eyes. How she would stare up with a gasp of delight on her face.{if Male = true}

At one point, on this particular walk, she found an old, dusty bookstore. Before you could stop her, she rushed inside to go looking around. With a laugh, you rushed after her to avoid losing track of her.{endif}{if Female = true}

At one point, on this particular walk, she found an old, dusty bookstore. Before you could stop her, she rushed inside to go looking around. With a giggle, you rushed in after, calling for her to wait for you.{endif}

You found her sitting on an old reading couch on the second floor. She’d already grabbed a stack of books from the nearby shelf, and was rifling through them one at a time. You stopped in the doorway to watch her. You sighed at the way she curled herself into a ball as she read…the way she nibbled on her finger as she focused…the frequent moves to push her large glasses back up her nose. Reading made them droop frequently.