Entry

Everywhere she looked smoke and steam were rising into the air.

In the back seat of the car, clothes clung to her skin, wet from the unrelenting heat. Her eyes begged for rest but she continued to marvel at the earth unfolding before her.

The road was remarkably narrow. A thin gray ribbon wrapped around the lush green mountains, beside the winding Takahashi River, ready to be untied. Layers of mist floated above the river, a diaphanous gauze dressing laid against a deep, unending wound. The August rain fell in sheets against this small town and beat loudly on the roof of the car.

Her heart billowed with the trees and burned with the fires set by men on the side of the road.

Finally, she thought, I am here.