Trail of Angels

"Rain misted the green hillside, and the bleating of sheep and small lambs could be herd in the cool silence. The rice paddies were filled, and the water rippled as one by one the falling droplets struck its smooth silver surface, distorting the greenery of the surrounding landscape. HuiLing sat in the second floor window of the stables where the hay for the horses was stored, her mother was out in the mountains, somewhere. Farming the ginseng before they were so drowned in water they’d die. She’d been scolded just this morning for playing with her brothers and getting dirty in the mud and rain, and in her head she was picking apart the lecture piece by piece. ‘You must be as fragile as a single grain of rice. Not running around like a dog.’ The ending was harsh but it got the point across. And HuiLing didn’t speak back, because she understood what her mother was trying to enforce. ‘You are no longer a young toddler. It is time to grow up, and learn your place in this world.’ "