Flash Fiction

THE HAIKU APOTHECARY

First published in the Water Therapy October 2020

Also Published on the WatercoursePublishing.com

THE HAIKU APOTHECARY

Emperor Chottoko Masao had been the beloved ruler of Shigunra until he announced his goal to be the best emperor in all the known and unknown worlds. Many abandoned their families to execute his plan. Then a plague levelled the prosperous kingdom. Half the population became insane. Some people ran away from home. Feverish citizens lay on the sidewalks while enemies of Shigunra planned invasions. Soon, the emperor also got the plague.

In bed, he wept, “I have lost myself.”

Tinctures were useless. Acupuncture sessions failed. He kept his depression a secret for months then he sent for the Sage of Xaymaca.

“Hurry!” he told his messenger, with eyes closed. “You have only two days to return. Be quick or all members of your household, including you, will perish.

The messenger returned in two days with the sage, an incredible task since the sage lived three days away from the royal city. The sage entered the ruler’s chambers. He bowed then folded himself into the sitting lotus position in at the foot of the emperor’s bed. He closed his eyes and chanted, making the sound of a deep wind instrument. The sound surrounded them, like a mother arms around a new child. He sang for thirty minutes.

“Your Majesty,” he paused respectfully, “your name Chottoko means, “a little peace.””

The emperor sobbed, “I can’t do anything! How will I be the best?”

“Who you are is more than what you do, Your Majesty. You don’t have to be the best in all the worlds, just the best within yourself. Become the pendulum. The zero point is home.”

He stood and pulled a scroll from his bag. Stepping over to the emperor, he opened the scroll.

Slowly, he ran his fingers under each line of text. “This is medicine haiku. Focus on one twice per day,” he explained.

The emperor read a haiku and his heart sighed.

“See!” The sage exclaimed, laughing out loud. “One day, contemplation will be effortless.”

The Sage of Xaymaca bowed low and waved goodbye.

As soon as the sage left, the emperor started reading the prescription haikus. The words were a light on his heart. Little vesicles of bad energy popped from his skin, mouth, and eyes and smoke filled his chamber every day for a month. The chambermaids had to frequently wash his bedclothes and sun the heavy drapes to get rid of the putrid smell. In a month, he was writing his own haiku and his depression faded. Then the citizens noticed the a new behavior in Shigunra, the emperor was practicing stillness by Gingko Lake.

Walking through the court he would smile and say, “Citizen, be your best.”

At first, people hissed, “Hogwash!”

But a few families tried writing haiku. Then they practiced contemplation and shared it with family members, even the runaways. It spread like weeds and Emperor Cottoko Masao and the majority of the people of Shigunra recovered their balance. Thus began the first haiku apothecary.