Legend had it that one of the daughters of the Sun God controls the micro weather in Byul Yi’s tiny village nestled at the countryside of Bucheon. Byulyi couldn’t help but think that this offspring might be some kind of a pig’s fart because it had been raining for 12 months. 

The crops had withered. Naturally, the village people were alarmed. Byul Yi’s father, the chief, spent a lot of sleepness nights thinking of a solution. Those solutions were employed to no avail. As a loving daughter Byul Yi made a decision to go see the famed daughter of a God.

She needed to know why the goddess abandoned their village. More importantly, she needed to bring her back.

People led her to a merry-go-round chase as to where the lesser goddess was. Some said she lives near the mountains now, some inside a cave of glow worms, some on top of a dormant volcano, until ultimately Byul Yi met a child who said they met the goddess where the water is still.

Indeed, there she was.  There was only one place where the water was known to be still. The lake at the ajacent village. Byul Yi traveled 3 days and 2 nights to get there. She could only describe the being she saw as a goddess. Her skin seemed to glow under the moonlight, as well as her long dark hair. Then again, everybody could look like a goddess for Byul Yi in her sleep deprieved state. That was her last thought before she finally collapsed from exhaustion. 

She found herself in the same position when she woke up the next day. The sun was already high. If she hadn’t passed out leaning against a tree she would have been baked crispy by now. The goddess, if she was the one, was already gone. ByulYi decided to ask the locals around for additional info on how real the goddess is. They had different versions of how the goddess looked like. Some said she’s got long curly hair yellow like sun rays, others say she got straight hair the color of pink roses, still there are people who say she’s got hair the color of tangerines. Only one thing was certain; she only comes out at night. Byul Yi found this odd. Why would the Sun God’s daughter only come out at night?

Byul Yi camped out on the lake that night and found no goddess. And the night after that. And the nights after that. 

It had been 7 weeks of night vigil with no success. Spring had given the baton to Summer. The nights were already becoming balmy near the lake. Byul Yi’s silver had become sparse. She had resorted to doing odd jobs to get by. She could easily handle those. One thing she couldn’t do was to come back empty handed to her village. 

Tears fell steadily down her face as she read the letter the town pigeon had delivered from her father. A lot of the livestocks had weakened to the point that they were slaughtered before their time, as to not waste their meat. 

If only Byul Yi wasn’t lost in her own head everyday, she would have noticed that it had never rained at the village since her arrival and the only water source they had was the lake. 

“You should try The Arids,” said one of the customers in her makeshift print shop. She stopped carving to look up at the old lady. The lady’s silver hair was parted in the middle and her eyes crinkled over as she smiled at Byul Yi. “She’s almost never at the lake nowadays. Maybe, she’s scared she would dry it up.” 

Byul Yi packed her single bag full of provisions after that conversation. She gave the print of a Sun to the old lady for free, as a payment for her knowledge. The Arids would be just that: arid. It would be hard to locate a goddess in the wide expanse of nothingness.  

The first day was a breeze. She just walked under the sparse shade of trees. The days piled up and the trees got thinner. Along it thinned Byul Yi’s patience and resolve. She would cry if it weren’t such a waste of water and she couldn’t afford that. Her pigskin water bag was inflated. She resorted to wetting her lips rather than drinking from her already dwindling water source. In an act of pure desperation Byul Yi dropped to her knees and prayed. She fe