Night has come, and I awake. I don’t know for how long I’ve slept, or how many moons have turned. There’s a space beside me in the bed that still holds Norbu’s warmth.
I slide my legs over the edge, and my feet find a wooden floor. I tiptoe across the room in a thin cotton dress that is not mine. A dull ache cloaks my body.
The door stands ajar and Jié sits asleep beside the threshold. He must have been here all this time.
“Sister, come.” A pair of loving arms receive me, and caring hands guide me through an unlit hallway. She says her name is Lien, and she sits me down next to a stove that simmers in a kitchen. A wool blanket wraps around me. I nod and smile at her, but I’m not sure if I’m really here.
Her tea tastes like the sweet grass of summer, and my insides relish in the invig
