First day of training

Zairo had already told old man to help him set the alarm for 4:30am. So when the alarm rang in the morning, he rushed out of bed, he got himself freshened up, wore what he had and by 4:55am he was ready. He wasn't really sure that Old man knew anything about fighting though because he didn't look like the fighting type, but right now he couldn't care less about that. The thought of him learning anything about fighting was what made him happy.

He stood in front of the clock, counting every minute and second that led to 5am. Then finally it was 5 o'clock. He ran straight to the door of Old man, and raised his little hands to knock on them with all his strength, but before his hands could touch it, the door swung open, causing him to fall into the room.

He picks himself right back up, "good morning Old man, it's 5am already, can we start now, what are we going to do first,..oh, am I going to learn how to throw kicks first,...no, no, no,.. I want to learn how to use a sword first, or nunchucks, they are so cool, I've seen them in movies, I want to know how to use them and twist them round and round my body in different styles".....he continued talking and talking, moving along with Old man, he didn't even realize that they were already outside.

They were at the back of the house. A place that Zairo suddenly realized he had never been to before. The old man opened a big door and revealed a huge room. The inside of the room made Zairo's mouth curve into a big "OOOOHH" but the sound was somehow stuck in his throat. "Old man, what is this place? The room was not what he had expected, it was better. On one side of the wall was different set of swords, of different lengths and sizes, another part of the room held spears. And yes,....there they were, nunchucks. He ran into the room and looked at the whole place in wonder. He never wants to leave this place.

"This used to be my office" the old man says... "it's been a long time since I have been in here,.... I almost forgot how it looks like".... "why is it closed, what did you do, did you teach people how to fight, did you sell swords? He was very curious to know why anyone would close such a wonderful place. "you can say I used to catch the bad guys" he gives a simple answer to the questions.. "wow,..that is so cool...so are you going to teach me how to catch the bad guys, I want to be strong so I can also catch bad guys..... Like the ones who took my mom. They were really bad." he suddenly turns sad.

Old man pats him on the head, "of course, if you don't catch them who will." he was happy to here these words. "so what are we starting with? he asks, now really ready for his training. Old man goes out of the room picks up a two brooms, "we clean." This was not what Zairo expected, he was ready to learn how to fight not learn how to clean. "how does this help fighting? He asks in a tone that showed he definitely did not want to do it.

" it helps you stay calm and focused,.....and also the place is very dusty I haven't been in here for years" the old man says with a mocking laugh. "oh,... I get it,....when I can master the art of cleaning with a lot of patience and calmness, it will help me stay calm when am facing a stronger opponent right? the child was determined to see things positively. Old man did not understand a word the boy just said but "yes,..yes,..if you say so".

He happily collects one broom from Old man and starts sweeping and dusting, he even gets a rag and a bowl of water and wipes the whole floor clean. It was obvious the child really thought he was learning something.... Or maybe he was actually learning something but he himself didn't know it yet.

By 8am in the morning, they were done the place was sparkling clean. The boy was exhausted.

"Old man since the whole place is clean, that means we are done with today's training right?...he asked really hoping they were actually done for the day..."of course not" Old man says..."but,..but,..we cleaned the whole place and I even mopped the floors, and I haven't eaten anything" the boy said almost in tears. Old man looks at him for a while as Zairo makes silly pitiful faces...."Alright, alright, okay"

"yes yes yes, thank you, thank you" he jumps around the room happily. "but first thing tomorrow morning we continue your training okay?...." yes, okay first thing tomorrow morning we continue." Zairo says happily and runs out of the training room... or office.

The next morning when Zairo heard the alarm he jumped out of bed got himself ready and waited patiently for Old man. In a few minutes, Old man was ready and they both went into the training room. Old man brought out a little chair and table and tells him to sit down. He sits down happily, expecting to see the moves that Old man was going to show him. Old man goes to a wardrobe and opens it, but the wardrobe turns out to be a bookshelf.

A lot of thoughts were going through the mind of the young boy. "could they be books of different kind of fighting styles," he really wanted to know, he just couldn't wait to start throwing kicks in the air and throwing punches, and a lot more. Old man brought out some books, placed them on the table and sat down next to him. "Now we are going to to start with writing the alphabets"

"WHAT???