Queen Sina

I dedicate this story to Tian Lai Zhi Yuan,

and to the kind souls and beloved ones who dwell in the dreams of my intoxicated youth.

In a dimension beyond the reach of our senses, another world exists. Perhaps it is not the best of worlds, for it is primitive and rough, but it is surely the most beautiful.

There, beneath the snow-capped mountains, lies a deep blue sea. Beyond the reach of moonlight is the home of the clouds. There, time cannot easily age a face, and history transforms into a moving legend.

Luya, what you were told about your parents was only a lie your grandmother made up so you could grow up healthy. The truth is exactly the opposite of what you know.

Luya, you are my right eye, plucked from me, and all the beauty and loyalty within my sight.

You are light, you are love, you are purity and pallor. Love makes us holy, but it also brings us endless vulnerability and sorrow.

You... must learn to be strong.

Luya, there are many things I never told you. All these years, they have lain buried somewhere in my body.

They cannot become words. They cannot be put into words; once they are, they will no longer be themselves.

Perhaps they are loneliness, longing, or something even deeper and more desperate...

Luya,

the whole world knows I miss you,

but you don't know, and you never will...