1. “QINGLIU”
A calmness that pervades, through moving water; past a green, cerulean vastness and beyond.
清流
Mina dipped her hand into the water, making chaste contact with the river koi, and suddenly let out a small gasp.
She leaned back into the boat, perplexed.
The fish were in a frenzy, dancing about in the clear water. Her brows furrowed, and she paddled on.
As Mina neared her destination, a growing sense of dread began to encompass her. The fish hadn’t behaved like that since the last war.
She kept paddling.
The wood creaked beneath her knees as she took a deep breath. She hadn’t been ‘home’ in years.
The scent of distinct lavender caressed her cheek softly as memories flooded back.
But smells aside, everything seemed different.
It was almost unbearable.
A foreboding, palpable pressure lingered in the air. Mina could taste it.
She gripped her oar, tightly.
The tranquil, green vastness that was Qingliu, her home village, oddly did not seem serene this time around.
Instead, it seemed frenetic.
Looking forward, her eyes narrowed as the smoke came into view.