Azure Sky

Ying-hui fanned the three joss-sticks in her hand and held it high above her crown. Bowing three times towards the heavens, she then brought it to her eye-level.

``O Heaven above, have mercy on us poor souls! May there be rain for the thirsty crops, and may our river-banks overflow with an abundance of water once again! O Heaven above, please end the drought!''

Ying-hui held the joss-sticks high above her crown once more and bowed three more times. Once that was done, she placed the three joss-sticks into the large incense urn, sticking them upright into the sawdust. Behind her, everyone did almost the same, and started striding in lines to put their joss-sticks into the urn. In short order, the small village temple was full of incense smoke.

Ying-hui walked out of the temple and looked out at the fields. The paddy fields were drying up, most of the land was parching, with only small puddles of water here and there. She had gathered some of the more able-bodied men in the village to cut new irrigation channels to concentrate the poor flow so that a few fields would get enough water to guarantee a decent harvest, while sacrificing the yield from those that were too far from the water source. Despite that, things were looking grim.

The village elders ambled out of the temple and followed Ying-Hui, gazing upon the land as well. It was the hardest drought they had seen in their years of living in the village. The river that they relied on heavily for irrigation was half its original flow, and the ground water wells were at dangerously low levels. It was they who suggested to Ying-hui to adjust the irrigation channels to increase the survival rates of the fields that had the best chance to survive, and to sacrifice the rest. Before the current drought, the village had two or three very good harvests, and therefore had some spare grain and cash---they could afford to the very bad harvest that was to come this year.

``Chief! Chief!''

``Yes?'' Ying-hui replied, turning around to answer the child who called out to her.

``Will the gods hear our cry for help?''

Ying-hui looked up at the cloudless azure sky thoughtfully.

``Perhaps.''