“A Tale of Two Tarōs”

The boy’s name was Tarō, and he lived on Urashima. Men there were fishermen, mostly, and boys learned that trade from their fathers and grandfathers; but this Tarō was not a fisherman, because he had neither father nor grandfather to teach him. He was an orphan, and a beggar, and sometimes a petty thief — but that last only when he was struggling to get by.

Many years ago, in a fandom auction to raise money after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, I offered a short story based on the auction winner’s choice of Japanese historical or folkloric prompt. Due to some logistical confusion, though, the second-place bidder thought they had won, resulting in some disappointment when they found out that wasn’t the case. I asked them what their prompt would have been . . . and then, over a decade later, when I finally (!) made good on my promise to the winning bidder — oh yes, I apologized to him, quite profusely — I came across my correspondence with the second-place bidder.

And that night a complete story fell out of my head.

As the opening lines suggest, “A Tale of Two Tarōs” is based on the folktale “Urashima Tarō.” It was published in Issue #14 of DreamForge Anvil, in December 2023!