08/18/2026
A child asks close to 300 questions a day. By age 10, that number has quietly fallen to a fraction of what it used to be.
Nothing happened to the curiosity itself. What changes is what happens after each question leaves a child's mouth. A few hurried answers, a few distracted nods, and a child learns the question isn't worth finishing next time. Not because anyone meant to teach that lesson. Busy days rarely announce themselves as the moment something quietly stopped.
Every question is really a small request to be taken seriously. The jar does not empty on its own, and it does not stay full on its own either.
Aiino answers the fourth question, and the fortieth, with the same patience as the first.
Save this for the next question that comes back around.