You Saw Nothing!

Today was so sneaky,

it almost snuck through

without being seen!

Just like a ninja!

Today is Ninja Day.   ­­­

Ninjas were professional spies,

sneaking in, finding secrets

and killing people

without being seen.

Before you throw today

 into the Crazy Day basket

 and leave this page…

you should know

that the white House security

and American SWAT teams

are trained by real-life ninjas.

Cool.

So, perhaps, ancient ninjas

were originally mountain priests.

Back between 592 and 710,

there are many references

to ninjas and their ability

 to sneak in,

gather information

and sneak away!

The most famous time for ninjas,

 however, was between

the 12^th and 16^th centuries.

During wars, they were hired

 as assassins

and were used as spies.

  Once things settled

and the country became peaceful

once more,

no-one needed anyone killed…

no secrets needed to be known…

the ninjas moment

to shine was over.

They were now jobless…

what to do?

They began writing…

explaining their training…

their tools…

their weapons…

and their skills.

Stories were written about them

 and movies were made.

While one time,

they dressed to blend in

 with the people around them

(black clothes and a mask

hardly hid you in a crowd!).

 Most ninjas wore blue outfits –

 the same clothing worn

by pheasants of the time.

People soon wrote about ninjas

 as though they were magical,

black-wearing sleuths

and killers…

superheroes and legends…

and this is still how

 we consider ninjas to be.

Perhaps, you could sneak up

behind someone tonight…

act like a ninja and scare them

(killing them may not be

 such a good idea –

just give them a good scare!)

Happy Ninja Day!