The Song of Gushe

She was a princess of the empire, and also a wild weed that had grown up in the bitter winters of the northern frontier, fighting fiercely and recklessly to survive. In the coldest depths of winter, she met the one who would capture her heart forever. From then on, the Milky Way used moonlight as bait and the evening breeze as its fishing rod. All she wanted was to be the star in his eyes.

When the unbearable past was laid bare before her, even the bone-piercing winds became a luxury in this world. Scheming, exploitation, pressure mounting at every turn: their devotion to each other gave way to confusion and hesitation. She walked the road one step at a time, until she looked beyond the star in his eyes and saw only a dimming river of stars.

As the year draws to a close, I wish you a peaceful winter. Let us warm wine and tea, and drain this cup: to the poplar fluff scattered across the ground, to the ruin left in its wake, and to the years gone by. I suppose I didn’t understand it then. Looking back now, that bittersweet feeling in my heart was, it turns out, one kind of love in this world.

Worth dying for, so precious.

“I always thought you were a gift fate had given me. No matter how dazzling, a thousand stars couldn’t compare to you. But it turns out every last drop had its price, marked out in secret long ago.”

“After all that hurried passage to the other shore,” he said, “all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.”