Hell Reflected in Gold Coins

To pay off the gambling debts my father had racked up, I was forced onto the perilous path of illegal border crossing.

On the morning I reached the shore of a foreign lake, I finally saw banknotes scattered along the water's edge. The dollar signs from my dreams had become real, piled up before me.

As I tremulously picked them up, I was stunned to see the creditor's twisted, vicious grin appear on every bill.

The reflection on the water showed magnificent snow-capped mountains, yet in the still lake I caught sight of a corpse drifting below the surface.

Worse still, the corpse had a snake-head tattoo on its wrist, exactly like mine.